JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Austin Peay State University's basketball team has a heading for the 2025-26 season, with the Atlantic Sun Conference announcing the Governors' 18-game conference schedule, Friday.

For the second-straight season, the Governors begin the ASUN schedule against North Florida (Jan. 1), with the first of two meetings in 2026 coming on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena. Last season, APSU opened the conference slate with an 97-89 win against the Ospreys in Jacksonville, Florida, before earning a 90-69 win against them in the opening round of the 2025 ASUN Basketball Tournament. The last time the Govs and Ospreys met in Clarksville, APSU came away with a 101-98 overtime victory in the 2024 ASUN Basketball Tournament's quarterfinals, marking the program's first postseason win as a member of the league. 

After hosting UNF, the Governors close their first of three, two-game ASUN home slates against Jacksonville (Jan. 3) in the first meeting against the Dolphins in Clarksville since the 2022-23 season.

Austin Peay then heads south for a pair of contests in the Sunshine State to face Florida Gulf Coast (Jan. 8) and Stetson (Jan. 10). After returning home to play host to longtime rival Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 15), the Govs head down I-24 for an in-state matchup against Lipscomb (Jan. 17).

Just two weeks removed from their first matchups, the Govs play host to FGCU (Jan. 22) and Stetson (Jan. 24) for APSU's fifth and sixth contests against programs from The 27th State. 

January then concludes with back-to-back road contests, as the Govs head to Richmond, Kentucky for their final regular-season meeting against Eastern Kentucky (Jan. 28) before facing West Georgia (Jan. 31).

Three of APSU's next four contests come on its home hardwood, where it hosts Lipscomb (Feb. 5) and rival North Alabama (Feb. 7) in a rematch of the 2025 ASUN Quarterfinals game in Florence, Alabama.

After facing Queens (Feb. 11) in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Govs host Bellarmine (Feb. 14) in a Valentine's Day matchup for their penultimate home game of the regular season. 

Up next is the Govs' second trip to Florida, where they face North Florida (Feb. 19) and Jacksonville (Feb. 21) once again before facing Central Arkansas (Feb. 26) in Clarksville. The regular season then concludes in the Bluegrass State against Bellarmine (Feb. 28).

The first round of the 2026 ASUN Basketball Tournament (March 4) will be hosted on campus sites, with the remainder of the tournament (March 6-8) taking place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena), located in downtown, Jacksonville Florida. 

The NCAA Selection Show airs March 15, with the NCAA Tournament officially beginning with the First Four (March 17-18), in Dayton, Ohio. 

Schedule Notes

• All-Time Against The ASUN: The Governors are 163-134 all-time against its 2025-26 ASUN Conference schedule, with its most wins and meetings against a single opponent being its 67 and 125 against Eastern Kentucky.
• Gipson At The Peay, Season Three: Corey Gipson prepares for his third season at the helm of his alma mater. His 33 wins thus far are the third-most by a head coach in their first two seasons and trail only Matt Figger's 41 from 2017-19 and Dave Aaron's 39 – prior to APSU being Division I – from 1946-48. Gipson's 33 wins already rank him as the eighth all-time winningest head coach in program history, as he needs just seven wins to pass Rob Bargatze (1979-83) for seventh all-time.
• Protecting F&M: The Governors are 22-8 in their two years in F&M Bank Arena and have combined to outscore opponents by an average of 8.0 points per game at home. 
• New Govs On The Block: The 95th roster in program history features five veteran newcomers and three freshmen. The five veterans consist of one Division I transfer (Rashaud Marshall, Arkansas State), two from Division II (Matt Enright, Missouri-St. Louis and Creighton Morisch, Sioux Falls), one from the NAIA (Collin Parker, Columbia College), and one from the NJCAA (Travis Torain, Panola College). Each of the Governors three freshmen additions (Zyree Collins, Tyler Wagner, and Ja'Corey Robinson) also were all listed as three-star recruits out of their respective schools. 
• Returning To The Court: Austin Peay returns five student-athletes – Tate McCubbin, Terrell Gaines, Anton Brookshire, Quan Lax, and Hansel Enmanuel – from the 2024-25 season, all of which earned at least one start. The returners combined 2,932 minutes across 136 games played a season ago.
• TM Returns: The reigning ASUN Freshman of the Year, Tate McCubbin led APSU with a freshman-record 71 three-pointers in addition to a team-best 146 rebounds in 2024-25. He finished fourth on the team with 10.6 points per game with 15 double-figure scoring performances, five 20-point games, and a team-best 30-point outings. 

Follow The Govs On Social

For news and updates ahead of the Governors' 2025-26 season, follow the men's basketball team on X and Instagram (@GovsMBB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.