BROOKINGS, SD (GoJacks.com) – South Dakota State will serve as the headliner for the second consecutive year of a nationally-publicized event in college basketball. The Jackrabbits are scheduled to take part in The Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon on Monday, Nov. 3, when SDSU faces Merrimack at 8 p.m. CT in the Sanford Pentagon.

A year after being part of a trio of games in the Field of 68’s inaugural event in 2024, South Dakota State will be the late game within a marathon slate of programming that includes six games across three venues.

“We’re fired up to be at the Pentagon and to be in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon,” said SDSU head coach Bryan Petersen. “We experienced it last year and our players absolutely loved the event.”

The 2024-25 Jackrabbits opened their campaign last season by defeating McNeese State, 80-73, inside the Sanford Pentagon. That Cowboy squad went on to defend its Southland Conference championship and eventually won its opening round game in the NCAA Tournament against Clemson.

“We are honored to be involved in this event, which as some of the elite programs in the country that exist outside the sport’s traditional power structure,” Field of 68 founder Rob Dauster said. “This is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide more coverage of these teams that frankly don’t get enough. What we do at the Field of 68 is try and give teams at all levels the coverage they deserve.”

Three matchups take place in Rock Hill, S.C., while three others are set to be played in Sioux Falls. The other two games in the Pentagon begin with a meeting between Murray State and Omaha, followed by Drake and Northern Arizona.

Tickets go on sale on Sept. 5 at Ticketmaster.com for the games in Sioux Falls. The games will be broadcast on The Field of 68’s YouTube channel and X feeds, and the network’s popular After Dark show will be broadcast live with a set at both venues.

SDSU’s meeting against Merrimack will be the first between the two programs. The Warriors went 18-15 overall last season. Merrimack took second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 14-6 league record before the Warriors fell in their tournament semifinals.