OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 8, 2021) – Oklahoma Christian's final men's basketball exhibition game of the season will provide the Eagles with a rare opportunity against a NCAA Division I opponent.

For the second time in three seasons, OC will visit North Texas, with the Eagles set to face the Mean Green at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in UNT's Super Pit in Denton, Texas. OC rolled past Calvary (Mo.) 86-34 on Saturday in the Eagles' first exhibition game at home.

North Texas beat OC 79-40 on Nov. 5, 2019, in a contest that counted as a regular-season game for the Mean Green and as an exhibition for OC, which competes in NCAA Division II. Four current OC players competed in that game – senior guards Johnatan Reyes-Valdez and Anthony Johnson, junior swingman D.J. Walter and sophomore center Hunter Staten.

This season's game will also be a countable one for North Texas and will serve as the Mean Green's season opener. North Texas, the two-time defending champion in Conference USA, is coming off an 18-10 campaign in which coach Grant McCasland's Mean Green upset Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Villanova.

North Texas has won 20 straight games over non-Division I opponents and eight straight season openers. 

"The experience is great," OC coach Kendre Talley said. "Being able to go play at that (Division I) level, in one of those arenas, is an experience you'll never forget. Even for me as a coach, to get to go in there and play a game is special. We're very appreciative of North Texas and coach McCasland for giving us the opportunity."

A handful of Division II teams annually play Division I opponents in exhibition games, and every season, more than a few of the Division II squads win. Just this season, Quincy (Ill.) beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 62-61, Flagler (Fla.) beat Valparaiso 70-67, Ashland (Ohio) beat Valparaiso 87-78, Michigan Tech beat Ball State 70-69 and Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) walloped Pepperdine, 77-50.

Closer to home, East Central pushed Arkansas to the limit before falling 77-74 and Central Oklahoma went to Stillwater and stayed close all the way before losing 76-68 to Oklahoma State. So it's certainly possible for a Division II team to compete with even a successful Division I opponent.

"What (North Texas) will give us is a look that's similar to our league," Talley said. "We play in a really, really tough league – physical, athletic – and coming off the year that (North Texas) had, they have a really, really good team. It's an exhibition for us but it's a real game for them, so it's going to be very, very realistic. I'm just looking forward to the challenge of us going down there and competing and getting better."

Opportunities to play against Division I foes – either in exhibition or regular-season contests – haven't come along often for the Eagles. Since 1975, OC has played in only seven such games.

Perhaps the biggest win in OC basketball history came on Dec. 3, 1979, when the Eagles faced Memphis State (now just Memphis) at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn. OC, then coached by Jerry Jobe, led most of the way and beat the Dana Kirk-coached Tigers 90-76. During the 1982-83 season, OC gave Division I San Diego a scare before falling 70-61 in a regular-season game.

In exhibition play, the Eagles are 0-5 all-time against Division I foes. OC played at Oklahoma State in 2005 and led the Cowboys early in the second half before losing 84-62 and in 2006, the Eagles played a Halloween night game at OU and lost 79-51 to the Sooners.

On Nov. 3, 2013, OC led NCAA tournament-bound Oklahoma (with then-sophomore guard Buddy Hield) 41-38 at halftime before eventually falling 88-76 in Norman. Among the OC players who appeared in the game were Talley, then a senior guard.

OC also played an exhibition game at Tulsa on Nov. 2, 2016, losing 72-53.

In the early days of OC basketball, the Eagles played a handful of regular-season games against teams that would be considered NCAA Division I, facing opponents such as New Mexico, New Mexico State, West Texas State, Texas-El Paso, Wichita State and North Texas. OC played at North Texas on Jan. 19, 1971, falling 70-69.