Why is a Kentucky basketball team playing the same school in consecutive games?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- EKU women’s basketball is playing a two-game series against North Dakota.
- The Colonels host the Fighting Hawks on Nov. 16 and will play at North Dakota on Nov. 18.
- In recent seasons, Eastern Kentucky has played in Alaska, Hawaiʻi and Ireland.
Under the direction of head coach Greg Todd, the Eastern Kentucky women’s basketball team has established a winning culture while also making some distinct travel plans.
Now in his fifth season in charge of the Colonels, EKU, Todd has gone 78-55 (58.6%). That includes back-to-back seasons of more than 20 wins during the past two campaigns.
Along the way, Todd — previously the coach at Morehead State and Transylvania at the college level and Lexington Catholic and Berea Community at the high school level — has prioritized giving his team unique off-the-court opportunities.
Over the past three seasons, EKU has played in Alaska and Hawaiʻi, and overseas in Ireland.
This season, there’s another quirk on the Colonels’ scheudle.
On Sunday afternoon, EKU (2-1) hosts North Dakota (0-3) for an afternoon game at the newly renovated Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond. Less than three days later, the schools will play each other again.
EKU will make a more than 1,100-mile journey from Richmond to Grand Forks, North Dakota, for a Tuesday night return game. The Colonels and Fighting Hawks will face one another in consecutive contests.
The schools agreed to the series in July. The contract for the series, which the Herald-Leader obtained via the Kentucky Open Records Act, classifies the back-to-back, two-game series as part of a “Multi Team Event (MTE) hosted by both parties.” The series is also being dubbed the “1,115 Mile Challenge.”
Because the home-and-home with North Dakota is classified as an MTE, Todd said, Eastern Kentucky can play two more regular season games. The Colonels are slated for a 31-game regular season before the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament in March.
“I’ve always wanted to play a full schedule. We tried to have a home MTE here, (but) it didn’t work out,” Todd said last month at EKU’s media day. “But North Dakota was willing to come, and you can do a home-and-home in one year and make that an MTE.”
Playing the same opponent in consecutive games is an occurrence far more common in professional basketball than it is in college. Even when teams face each other multiple times during conference play, there are usually weeks in between games.
For context, the last time the UK men’s basketball team played the same opponent in consecutive games was during the 2014-15 season, when Kentucky faced Florida in back-to-back contests. But those games came in the regular-season finale and in a third-round SEC Tournament matchup.
Looking strictly at the regular season, the UK men’s team last faced the same opponent in consecutive games in 1966 (Tennessee).
With only two days between games, Eastern has a full travel itinerary planned for its trip up North. The Colonels will fly into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Monday morning. From there, EKU will fly Monday afternoon to Hector International Airport in Fargo, North Dakota. That airport is located about 75 miles South of the North Dakota campus.
Both of EKU’s flights are commercial.
“It should be unique,” said Todd, who is under contract at EKU through the 2027-28 season. “I’ve been fortunate to cover most states in my life... Kind of get (North Dakota) off the bucket list when we head that direction. But that is a unique matchup.”
Beyond the opportunity for Todd to have his team visit the Peace Garden State — one of several monikers used to refer to North Dakota — there also are practical basketball benefits to playing the same team in such quick succession.
Todd pointed to the chess match that played out in the NBA Finals earlier this year, when the Oklahoma City Thunder prevailed over the Indiana Pacers in a seven-game series.
“It’s the same kind of deal there. You’re going to find some things, and then that home-court advantage is big in basketball,” Todd said. “You hope you can take care of business at home, and you’ve got to really focus when you go back there on the road. It will be a quick turnaround.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
