Highlighted by four opponents that made the NCAA Tournament last season, and a total of 11 games against teams that qualified for the NIT or NCAA Championships a year ago, UCF men’s basketball head coach Donnie Jones announced the Knights’ 2015-16 schedule on Tuesday.

UCF will be challenged early on, taking on a pair of 2015 NCAA Tournament teams in its first two games of the season. The Knights open up at Davidson on Nov. 14 and then return to CFE Arena for their home opener, Nov. 18, against reigning Big West champion UC Irvine.

“This non-conference schedule will be a great test for us,” Jones said. “We will be playing some talented teams – with the likes of Davidson, UMass and George Washington – which will help prepare us for the always difficult American Conference season.”

A home contest against UNC Greensboro on Nov. 21 precedes a pair of road contests at Miami (Ohio) and Stetson. The Knights travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Redhawks for the first time ever on Nov. 28, before returning to Florida to make the short trip up to DeLand on Dec. 2 and aim for their 16th straight victory over the Hatters.

UCF will then return home to play five out of their final six non-conference games on the blacktop at CFE Arena. Illinois-Chicago (Dec. 5), UMass (Dec. 8), Florida Atlantic (Dec. 12), Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 22) and George Washington (Dec. 29) are slated to visit Orlando before the year comes to a close.

The Knights are 2-1 all-time against the Minutemen with their only loss coming in the NCAA Tournament back in 1996 against Marcus Camby and John Calipari. George Washington went 22-13 overall as a member of the Atlantic 10 last season and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

UCF will make a trip to Detroit on Dec. 19 to take on the Titans. The Knights won 75-70 at home last season in the first ever meeting between the two teams.

The Knights’ third year in the American Athletic Conference begins on Jan. 2 with a trip to East Carolina. The Pirates eliminated UCF form the conference tournament to end the Knights’ 2014-15 campaign, winning 81-80 in overtime.

UCF will take on each league opponent twice with the exception of SMU and Cincinnati. The Knights will only play the Mustangs on the road and only host the Bearcats.

The home conference slate for the Knights consists of USF (Jan. 6), East Carolina (Jan. 16), Memphis (Jan. 26), UConn (Jan. 31), Temple (Feb. 6), Cincinnati (Feb. 9), Tulsa (Feb. 21), Houston (Feb. 24) and Tulane (Mar. 2).

SMU and Cincinnati represented The American in the NCAA Tournament last season, while Tulsa, UConn and Temple qualified for the NIT a year ago.

“This is going to be a great league once again this year,” Jones said. “There are some historic programs with great coaching and a lot of talent in the American, but our young core gained a lot of experience during conference play last season.”

After rounding out the regular season on the road at UConn on Marc. 6, UCF will gear up for the AAC Championships to be held at Amway Center in Orlando. Beginning with First Round play on Thursday, Mar. 10 and culminating with the Finals on Sunday, Mar. 13, all games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.

Information written and provided by UCF Athletics