HBCU College basketball fans who want to watch Grambling State open the 2026-27 season might want to set an alarm — or simply stay up all night.
Grambling State will face Northern Illinois at 3 a.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 2, as part of The Field of 68’s Opening Day Marathon, a 24-hour celebration marking the start of the college basketball season.
The Tigers are one of three HBCU programs included in the eight-game event, joining Tennessee State and Bethune-Cookman.
Grambling’s matchup with Northern Illinois will be played in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and will follow the marathon’s opening game between High Point and Liberty at 12:01 a.m.
All eight games will stream on The Field of 68’s YouTube channel and X account.
Grambling gets unusual 3 a.m. spotlight
The middle-of-the-night start immediately makes Grambling’s matchup one of the more unusual games on the early college basketball calendar.
The Field of 68 is reviving a concept similar to ESPN’s former college basketball tipoff marathon, which featured games throughout the night and into the following day before ending its run in 2017.
Six of this year’s eight games will be played in Rock Hill, while two will take place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
For Grambling, that means beginning a new season when much of the country will normally be asleep.
Three HBCUs included in Opening Day Marathon
HBCU basketball will remain part of the event long after Grambling’s early-morning appearance.
Tennessee State will face Murray State at 11:30 a.m. ET in Sioux Falls.
Later that night, Bethune-Cookman will close out the HBCU portion of the marathon against Furman at 8 p.m. ET in Rock Hill.
The complete schedule begins at 12:01 a.m. and stretches across eight games:
- 12:01 a.m. — High Point vs. Liberty
- 3 a.m. — Grambling State vs. Northern Illinois
- 6 a.m. — Appalachian State vs. Merrimack
- 9 a.m. — Winthrop vs. Queens
- 11:30 a.m. — Murray State vs. Tennessee State
- 2 p.m. — UTEP vs. Northern Kentucky
- 5:30 p.m. — UAB vs. McNeese State
- 8 p.m. — Furman vs. Bethune-Cookman
For HBCU basketball fans, Opening Day will offer three programs spread throughout the marathon.
But Grambling will have by far the most unusual assignment.
The Tigers’ season begins at 3 o’clock in the morning.