Prudential Center Completes 2024-2025 NCAA College Basketball Schedule

The Rock to host the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball East Regional for the first time since 2011

Seton Hall Men’s Basketball to host 14 home games in Newark

NEWARK, N.J. (November 4, 2024) — Prudential Center is set to host an exciting lineup of NCAA basketball events for the 2024-2025 season, featuring high-profile matchups and celebrated tournaments. The Rock continues to be New Jersey’s town hall of entertainment and the state’s home for collegiate basketball. 

Opened in 2007, the state-of-the-art arena is the home of the Seton Hall University’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball program, National Hockey League’s (NHL) three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, Professional Women’s Hockey League’s (PWHL) New York Sirens, and more than 210 concerts, family shows, and special events each year. Prudential Center hosts over two million guests annually and is currently ranked as a top five venue in the world according to multiple industry publications.

Seton Hall men’s basketball returns for their eighteenth season at Prudential Center and is led by 2024 Peter A. Carlesimo Metropolitan Coach of the Year Shaheen Holloway. The Pirates are looking to build upon last year's NIT Championship triumph and a 25-12 record which included tying a program record with thirteen wins at The Rock.

Seton Hall’s season tips off on Monday, November 4 against Saint Peter’s. The rest of the out of conference home schedule will features a BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle contest against Oklahoma State at Prudential Center on Sunday, December 8 and games against some of the top programs in the Metropolitan Area.

The Hall’s first Big East league home game will be on Sunday, December 22 against Georgetown. The Pirates will open the New Year in Newark against DePaul on Wednesday, January 8 with four of Seton Hall’s seven games in January being played at Prudential Center, including a Saturday, January 18 clash against local foe St. John’s.

Seton Hall will welcome the back-to-back National Champions UConn Huskies to Prudential Center on Saturday, February 15 on FOX at 2:30 PM. The Pirates have won their last three meetings at Prudential Center against the Huskies. The Hall wraps up their regular season home schedule at Prudential Center against Creighton on Tuesday, March 4.

On Sunday, November 24, the Saatva Empire Classic, benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project, will feature a thrilling contest between the Villanova Wildcats and Maryland Terrapins.  This will be Villanova's fourth appearance in the Empire Classic where they have a 5-2 all-time record in the event, winning the championship in 2020. Head Coach Kyle Neptune, in his third season leading the Wildcats, welcomes back a strong core that was recently picked seventh in the Big East Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

This marks Maryland's fourth appearance in the Empire Classic where they have a 7-3 all-time record in the event, winning the championship in 2006. Also entering his third season, Head Coach Kevin Willard makes his highly anticipated return to Newark, after coaching Seton Hall for 12 seasons. Maryland adds a top recruiting class to a young nucleus returning from last year's team.

The seventh edition of the Never Forget Tribute Classic, returns to Prudential Center on Saturday, December 21. The event will feature a high stakes New Jersey showdown as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who welcome the highest-ranked freshmen class in school history which is ranked as high as second in the nation, taking on the Princeton Tigers, who finished with the best record in the Ivy League in 2023-24. The game will air on FS1 at 12:00 PM ET.

The two schools have faced off 121 times in the past 116 years. The Tigers and Scarlet Knights are each other’s most frequent out of conference opponent in their program’s history. Princeton leads the series, 76-45, and has won four of the last five matchups; Rutgers had won 10 of the 11 meetings prior to that stretch. The two teams faced off last season, when the Tigers edged out the Scalet Knights 68-61.

Taking place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 20, the first-of-its-kind Division I women’s basketball doubleheader, Coretta Scott King Classic, comes to Newark. All four of the participating teams are currently ranked in the top twenty of the AP NCAA women's basketball poll. Broadcast nationally on FOX, the games will take place at 3:00 PM and 5:30 PM ET, with matchups of #5 UCLA vs. #12 Baylor and #4 Texas vs. #18 Maryland.

The Coretta Scott King Classic (CSKC) was formed to honor the legacy of Mrs. King and celebrate female empowerment in sports. This is the first time the names of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King have been licensed for a sporting event. The CSKC joint venture partners, including Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment/Prudential Center, have partnered with The King Center, founded by Coretta Scott King and currently led by their daughter Dr. Bernice A. King, to launch this event.

Prudential Center will finish off the exciting college basketball season by hosting the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball East Regional. This will mark the return of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to Prudential Center for the first time since 2011, when No. 4 Kentucky defeated No. 2 North Carolina in the East Regional Final.

The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds will take place on Thursday, March 27 and Saturday, March 29 and will wrap up an exciting season of NCAA College Basketball at The Rock. All eyes will be on Newark to see which team cuts down the nets on their way to the Final Four.

Newark’s Prudential Center will be the place to be this season for unforgettable moments for all college basketball fans.

Guests can purchase tickets for all upcoming events by visiting ticketmaster.com or prucenter.com. For the most up-to-date news on event announcements, follow Prudential Center on Facebook, X, and Instagram @PruCenter.