Rock Hill to Host Six College Basketball Games on Opening Day Marathon

Forward Cam'ron Fletcher (left) and High Point will kick off the marathon at 12:01 am on Monday, November 2. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)

The road to the Final Four in Detroit will start with a marathon in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Those cities will host a total of eight games on November 2 as part of a day-long tip-off event for the 2026–2027 men’s college basketball season being brought to life by the Field of 68 media network.

The college-basketball-focused media company partnered with Visit York County at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as well as Sanford Sports and the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to host the games, which is formally titled The Field of 68 24-Hour Opening Day Marathon. All of the games will stream exclusively on Field of 68’s YouTube channel and its X channel.

The games and times (ET) in Rock Hill will be:

12:01 a.m.: High Point vs. Liberty
3:00 a.m.: Grambling vs. Northern Illinois
6:00 a.m.: Appalachian State vs. Merrimack
9:00 a.m.: Winthrop vs. Queens
5:30 p.m.: UAB vs. McNeese State
8:00 p.m.: Furman vs. Bethune-Cookman

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The first four of those games will take place at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. High Point was the only mid-major school to advance to the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

The games in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will be held at the Sanford Pentagon. Those games are Murray State vs. Tennessee State at 11:30 a.m. ET and UTEP vs. Northern Kentucky at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The event is the brainchild of Field of 68, a platform founded by college basketball journalists Jeff Goodman and Rob Dauster, and is meant to evoke a similar event that was part of ESPN’s coverage of the sport starting in 2008 and lasting for nine seasons.

“It is an honor to be in a position to bring back this event, and to be able to platform some of the elite programs in the country that exist outside the sport’s traditional power structure,” said Dauster. “This is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide more coverage for these teams that frankly don’t get enough, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly.”

Three Years Running

This is the third season Field of 68 has produced a tip-off event, but the first time it has stretched across the entire day. There were three games played to tip-off the 2024–2025 season, and in 2025–2026 the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon expanded to six games at three venues. Sioux Falls has been a part of the event each time, while this is the second straight year Rock Hill will take part.

“The Sanford Pentagon is honored to be part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon for the third straight season,” said Jesse Smith, vice president of Sanford Sports. “We’re grateful to Rob, Jeff, and the entire Field of 68 crew for including the Pentagon and the city of Sioux Falls in what’s become one of the best traditions in college basketball.”

In an unattributed statement, Visit York County said, “This event is a testament to what can be accomplished through strong partnerships, and we’re grateful to work alongside Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism, Discover South Carolina, and the Field of 68 Media Network to continue elevating Rock Hill and York County on the national stage.”