PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – Mississippi State men’s basketball will make the trek north to ‘The City of Brotherly Love’ as the Bulldogs square off with Akron from the Mid-American Conference announced earlier this week by event organizers.

The inaugural Barstool Sports Invitational is slated for Friday, November 11 at Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.

Tip time is on-tap for approximately 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed online only at www.Barstool.tv/live. Toledo and UAB will proceed State’s matchup with Akron at 4 p.m. CT.

In less than 50 days, Mississippi State will open its 2022-23 campaign and play its first game of the Chris Jans era versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 7), a 2022 NCAA Tournament participant from the Southland Conference, at Humphrey Coliseum.

Fans can purchase season tickets through Mississippi State’s Athletic Ticket Office starting as low as $155 at www.HailState.com/tickets or by calling (662) 325-2600/(888) 463-2947 (GO DAWGS) for the program’s much-anticipated first season under Coach Jans.

Akron has amassed a top four MAC finish in three consecutive seasons under sixth-year coach John Grace. The Zips won the 2019-20 MAC regular season title cut short by COVID-19 and nearly upset UCLA at last year’s NCAA Tournament. Akron has won both previous meetings over the Bulldogs during the 2005-06 and 2011-12 seasons.

Mississippi State’s non-conference slate is already highlighted by a Saturday SEC/Big 12 matchup with TCU (Jan. 28), a consensus top 25 preseason pick. The Bulldogs also have a return trip to Big Ten country to meet Minnesota (Dec. 11) to complete a home-and-home series.

Mississippi State will take on Marquette (Nov. 21) from the BIG EAST Conference, a program who has appeared in three of the last five NCAA Tournaments, to open the 2022 Fort Myers Tipoff. The Bulldogs also have a guaranteed matchup with either Georgia Tech or Utah (Nov. 23) in Fort Myers.

Mississippi State has a neutral site matchup with Drake (Dec. 20) who has averaged 23.8 wins per season going back to 2019-20 at Battle in the Vault hosted by Nebraska’s Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Once again, the Maroon and White is scheduled to play a non-conference game at Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Bulldogs have traveled to the capital city during eight of the last nine seasons. Further details for State’s mid-December non-conference matchup in Jackson will be announced at a later date.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men’s basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching ‘HailStateMBK’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.