Oregon State women's basketball is headed back to Maui for the 10th edition of the Maui Classic, and this year's four-team field looks entirely different from last season's. Ball State, Idaho State and the University of San Francisco join the Beavers for the two-day tournament set for Dec. 18-19, with each team playing two games across the weekend.
The event marks its 10th year, according to Maui Now, which reported that the tournament takes place over two days at the Seabury Hall gymnasium in Makawao. Oregon State has hosted the Maui Classic since its founding, and this year's roster swaps in three new programs for a fresh look at the holiday-season event.
The Schedule, Hour by Hour
Per Vertical Sports Maui, the 2026 Maui Classic field consists of Ball State, Oregon State, Idaho State and San Francisco, with each squad playing two games across the weekend. The opening day on Dec. 18 sends Idaho State against Oregon State at 5 p.m., followed by Ball State taking on San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. The second day flips the pairings: San Francisco meets Idaho State at 2:30 p.m., and Oregon State closes out against Ball State at 5 p.m. All times are listed in Hawai'i Standard Time, and teams are guaranteed at least 27 minutes of on-court warmup before tipoff, the tournament's event page notes. The organizers have also built in flexibility for close games, specifying that Friday's second contest won't start before 7:30 p.m. and Saturday's nightcap won't tip before 5 p.m.
Ball State Brings Championship Pedigree
Ball State arrives in Maui fresh off back-to-back Mid-American Conference regular-season championships, according to ballstatesports.com. The Cardinals' broader non-conference slate this season includes four opponents that qualified for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the athletic department's release states, suggesting the Maui trip is just one piece of a deliberately difficult early schedule.
More Than a Basketball Trip
Beyond the four games, the tournament carries a community mission that's been part of its identity for years. Each participating team visits local Maui schools for assemblies, basketball clinics, and reading and literacy programs, the tournament's organizers say. Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck has called those visits the highlight of the team's trip, a sentiment echoed on the tournament's own event page.
Maui Now also reported that the tournament is guided by Hawaiian values of aloha, laulima, pono and kuleana, and that teams meet directly with Maui youth during their stay. Vertical Sports Maui, described as a Maui-based nonprofit supporting youth development through sports programs, runs camps, clinics, tournaments and school partnerships beyond just this event. All proceeds from the Maui Classic go toward funding those ongoing youth sports programs, and the weekend also features a silent auction benefiting Maui youth sports opportunities.
A Different Field From Last Year
The 2026 lineup is a clean break from the field that played in the tournament's most recent prior edition. That event, held Dec. 19-20, featured Oregon State alongside Liberty, Montana State and Hawaii at Seabury Hall, according to the Maui News. Montana State played Oregon State at 5 p.m. and Hawaii faced Liberty at 7:30 p.m. on the opening night, before Hawaii met Montana State at 3:30 p.m. and Liberty took on Oregon State at 6 p.m. the following day.
Oregon State won both of its games in that tournament, beating Montana State 53-51 and Liberty 64-57, which pushed the program's all-time Maui Classic record to 15-3, per mauinow.com. That same report noted the tournament has been played every year since Oregon State founded it in 2016, with the exception of 2020, and has been held at the Erdman Athletic Center on the Seabury Hall campus for the past three years.
For last year's tournament, the Maui News reported tickets cost $10 per day for spectators ages 15 and older, with children 14 and younger admitted free, and each day's pass covered both games along with entertainment, an online silent auction, merchandise and food trucks. Whether those same terms carry over to this year's 10th-anniversary event remains to be seen as the December dates approach.
