2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule | 2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule
2020-21 Men's Soccer Schedule | 2020-21 Women's Soccer Schedule

In a Wednesday announcement, the PacWest's Northern California pod approved a 12-game schedule for men's and women's basketball that will begin on January 22, 2021. The pod also agreed to a six-match double round robin soccer schedule that will begin on February 2, 2021.

Each men's and women's basketball team in the Northern California pod will face each other four times. The majority of the season will consist of Friday-Saturday doubleheaders in an effort to minimize exposure. Each soccer team match up with twice in the spring iteration.

The basketball season is slated to begin with matchups against Dominican on consecutive days (Jan. 22-23) followed by pairings with Fresno Pacific to close out the month on Jan. 29-30. The Urban Knights' first opponent in February will be Holy Names (Feb. 5-6) followed by the second set of back-to-back contests versus Dominican on Feb. 12-13. As the second tour of Northern California matchups progresses, Fresno Pacific will be next on Feb. 19-20 followed by Holy Names on Feb. 26-27. The final week of the regular season is still open, providing teams flexibility to add non-conference games or schedule make-up games should any get canceled over the course of the first six weeks of the season.

"The ART U women's basketball family is profoundly thankful for the opportunity to play," said Women's Basketball Head Coach Krystle Evans. "The safety and testing procedures at our university, and our discipline to adhere to these guidelines, have provided us the chance to do what we all love. Our primary goals are the same as they have always been: compete for a championship and prepare our student-athletes for their career choices post college. We do that this year with renewed perspective, intentionality, and sincere thoughts for all impacted by COVID-19 and racial inequality."

Among the conference's Northern California women's basketball teams in 2019-20, Fresno Pacific had the highest finish (sixth) and made its second straight PacWest Tournament appearance. In men's basketball, Academy of Art had the best finish among the teams in the NorCal pod, taking sixth and reaching the PacWest Championship Tournament for the second consecutive year.

"Our program could not be more excited that the PacWest has made the decision to continue with a return to play protocol," said Men's Basketball Head Coach Scott Waterman. "For everything our student-athletes have been through over the past nine months, being able to return to the court and compete will be a great opportunity and return to a sense of normalcy. All of the Bay Area programs are going to be extremely competitive and every weekend we are going to have to compete at a high level to have success every weekend. We look forward to the opportunity to return to practice after winter break and pursue our goals."

Academy of Art men's and women's soccer begin by hosting Fresno Pacific on Feb. 2 then will compete against Dominican in San Rafael on Feb. 6. The third and final Northern California opponent, Holy Names, will then welcome ART U on Feb. 11 and the final road match of the spring will be at Fresno Pacific on Feb. 16. Academy of Art is slated to host Dominican (Feb. 21) and Holy Names (Feb. 26) to conclude the campaign.

On the men's side, Dominican tied for the fourth in the conference standings and was the highest among Northern California teams last season. At seventh in the standings, Fresno Pacific finished just ahead of the Urban Knights for the top result among PacWest women's soccer teams in 2019.

While postseason play was canceled for fall sports, basketball teams will have a chance to participate in the NCAA Division II Championships in a reduced field of 48 teams during the month of March. 

Tipoff and kickoff times will be announced at a future date and in-person fan attendance will not be allowed this season. The sites for all ART U home contests are yet to be determined. Due to the nature of the pandemic, all dates are subject to change.

As previously outlined in the conference's return to play announcement this past November, schedules for the other 11 PacWest sports will be announced in the coming weeks as they become approved. The Academy of Art University and PacWest Conference's return to play is contingent upon compliance with the guidelines set forth by local, state and national authorities as well as those set out by the NCAA.