CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Men's Basketball announced today its schedule for the 2026-27 campaign. The slate features six non-conference home games, including four against in-state foes, and its annual seven home outings vs. Ivy League opponents.
 
The Crimson opens the season with an exhibition game at Lavietes Pavilion against UMass on Oct. 23. Although the contest will not count toward the win-loss record, the games between the schools have been close, with 10 of the last 12 meetings since 2012-13 having been decided by single digits.
 
The year will officially get underway on Nov. 2, when MIT makes the short trip to visit Harvard. The Crimson is 56-10 all-time vs. the Engineers and has won the last 18 meetings, including last year's 79-50 decision at home.
 
After the brief stay at home, Harvard will embark on its longest road stretch of the season, beginning Nov. 8, when it visits UChicago. The game marks the first of four on the road with the others set for Nov. 10 (at Northeastern), Nov. 13 (at George Washington) and Nov. 15 (at American). The Crimson leads the all-time series against the first three teams of their trip, owning a 1-0 advantage over Chicago, a 41-20 lead over Northeastern, and a 5-3 edge over George Washington, which played in the 2026 NIT. Harvard, however, will look to close the series gap with American after winning just once in five previous meetings (2023-24).
 
The four on the road will give way to three consecutive outings vs. state of Massachusetts teams. First up is Boston College at Lavietes Pavilion on Nov. 18. The Eagles own a 36-16 series lead over the Crimson, but Harvard is 7-4 vs. the Chestnut Hill school under Tommy Amaker, who is entering his 20^th season in Cambridge. Two days later, the Crimson will make the ride to Worcester to face Holy Cross on Nov. 20, looking to secure its eighth win in its last nine outings vs. the Crusaders. Then on Nov. 24, Harvard will welcome Boston University to campus for the first time since the 2017-18 season, and is 8-1 in its last nine games vs. the Terriers.
 
The home contest vs. BU is the first of a two-game homestand, which concludes vs. Fordham on Nov. 28. The teams last met in 2022-23, and Harvard is 5-2 vs. the school under Amaker.
 
Five of the Crimson's next six games will be away from Lavietes Pavilion, including four of five during the month of December. Harvard will be at fellow-New England school, New Hampshire, on Dec. 2, looking to extend a seven-game winning streak vs. the Wildcats. The local tilt precedes the highly anticipated date at Duke, which is slated for Dec. 4 and is part of the Blue Devils' Brotherhood Run series. Duke, which advanced to the 2026 Elite Eight, will honor Amaker, who played at the school from 1983-87. A four-year starter at point guard for the Blue Devils, Amaker helped lead the team to the 1986 NCAA title game before earning All-America honors and recognition as the nation's top defensive player in his senior year of 1987. Amaker started all 138 career games at Duke, setting an ACC record.
 
Following a break for final exams, the Crimson will reconvene on Dec. 20, for a home game vs. Northern Kentucky before heading out to face, in succession, 2026 NCAA participant Saint Mary's (Dec. 22), Bryant (Dec. 29) and Dartmouth (Jan. 4). Outside of the Big Green, the Crimson has limited history vs. its other opponents. NKU will be a first-time foe, SMC leads the all-time series, 2-1, and Harvard has never dropped a game vs. Bryant in six tries. The Crimson, meanwhile, has split its two games vs. Dartmouth in each of the last three seasons.
 
The road game vs. the Big Green is the first of seven games in the month of January, with just three set for Lavietes Pavilion, including a Jan. 9 date vs. Columbia, a team that it has defeated 15 straight times.
 
Next up for Harvard will be the three teams that are located the farthest away from Cambridge in Penn, Princeton and Cornell. The game vs. the Quakers is set for Jan. 16, followed two days later by a contest at Princeton (Jan. 18). Then on Jan. 23, Harvard will face the Big Red in Ithaca, New York. The Crimson swept the season series vs. the Tigers and split two regular-season meetings vs. Penn and Cornell. Harvard, however, fell to the Quakers at Cornell in the Ivy League Tournament.
 
The Crimson will close the first half of Ivy League play and the month of January with home games vs. Yale (Jan. 29) and Brown (Jan. 30) in its first back-to-back of the conference season. Harvard enters the tilt vs. the Bulldogs having won two of the last three meetings, with the one outlier being a one-point overtime loss at home. The Crimson, meanwhile, swept the Bears in 2025-26, and has won three of the last four in the series.
 
The second half of Ivy play will begin like the first, with a game vs. Dartmouth. The Harvard home game is set for Feb. 6, before another back-to-back against Yale (Feb. 12) and Brown (Feb. 13), this time on the road, takes the Crimson's full attention.
 
After a road-heavy first half of conference action, the trend flips with three straight games at home. The Crimson welcomes Cornell to the Commonwealth on Feb. 20, followed by a back-to-back against Penn (Feb. 26) and Princeton (Feb. 27). Ivy League play concludes for Harvard on March 6, when it travels to New York City to face Columbia.
 
The Ivy League Tournament, for which the Crimson is looking to qualify, is slated for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and will take place March 12-13.
 
Harvard is coming off a 17-12 season in 2025-26, and a 10-4 performance in Ivy play, which was good for second place. The Crimson also returns four of its five starters from last year, including All-Ivy selections Robert Hinton (first team) and Thomas Batties II (second team). Batties, meanwhile, will serve as co-captain for 2026-27 alongside senior teammate Xavier Nesbitt.