A LOOK AT THE GREYHOUNDS' 2025-26 MEN'S SCHEDULE

By Chuck Embree
Special to Moberly Area Community College

Moberly Area Community College men's basketball team will look to extend its streak of earning at least 25 game wins in a single season for the 10th straight year when the Greyhounds tip off its 2025-26 campaign hosting its Orscheln Industries Classic come Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The entire first-semester portion of the Greyhounds' schedule is against non-league opponents.

MACC  head coach Patrick Smith enters his 17th season at the helm of the Greyhounds while compiling a 396-156 record with the Moberly program. The Hounds posted a 26-6 record last year and were ranked 13th in the final NJCAA Division I regular-season men's poll.

In addition, MACC has competed for the Region 16 tournament championship game for seven consecutive seasons, winning five of those contests. Moberly lost last year's regional title to Three Rivers CC of Poplar Bluff by a score of 72-61 in the tournament championship game held at Jefferson College of Hillsboro to put an end to the Greyhounds' campaign last March.

The new 30-game regular season ledger lists MACC hosting its other weekend feature in late November, and a pair of classics taking place in West Burlington, Iowa, and at Sedalia. In addition, the Greyhounds hit the road to compete once again at the 8-team tournament held at Highland CC in Freeport, Ill., which consists of four grueling games played in just two days to close out the calendar year come Dec. 12-13.

However, before MACC officially begins its next official campaign, Greyhound fans will have an opportunity to watch the Greyhounds in action on their home floor at the Fitzsimmons-John Arena on Oct. 23 when Moberly squares off against North Central Missouri College of Trenton for a preseason scrimmage.

Moberly's new schedule begins on Halloween weekend by hosting its annual Orscheln Industries Classic, which will feature both men's and women's games.          The Greyhounds men's first test on its ledger will be against Southeast Community College Bobcats of Lincoln, Nebraska, on Oct. 31, and the next night against Wabash Valley CC of Mt. Carmel, Ill. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m., and the MACC Lady Greyhounds team plays at 5 p.m. each night. The other men's team participating in this classic is Southeastern CC of West Burlington, Iowa.

The following weekend has MACC men competing at the annual Midwest JUCO Challenge that matches up Missouri community college teams with those from Illinois or Iowa. Southeastern CC of West Burlington, Iowa. plays host to this year's showcase that's being held Nov. 7-8. Moberly will face Highland CC of Freeport, Ill., and the next day they will tip off against Sauk Valley College of Lee County, Ill.

MACC Greyhounds remain on the road Nov. 14-15 playing at the State Fair Classic in Sedalia, where they encounter a pair of NJCAA Division II programs in Kirkwood CC of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and West Iowa Tech CC of Sioux City, Iowa.

Moberly's annual Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 28-29 has the Hounds playing a pair of colleges from Illinois: Southwestern CC of Belleville, and Highland CC of Freeport, at 7 p.m. both nights. The St. Louis Shootout on Dec. 7 is being played at St. Louis Community College, which pits MACC against John A. Logan College of Carterville, Ill.

Greyhounds saga with Blackhawks

While the second-semester ledger mostly consists of matchups against Region 16 foes, Moberly is scheduled to have a home-and-away series of non-league games against a long-standing rival, Southeastern CC, Iowa. The Blackhawks from West Burlington arrive at the Fitzsimmons-John Arena on Nov. 22, for the 131st meeting between the two storied programs in NJCAA basketball history, and the Hounds travel to West Burlington, Iowa, on Feb. 21.

The Blackhawks are Moberly's most common opponent outside the state of Missouri, and they have battled on the court in every decade since the end of World War II.

MACC's overall record against Southeastern Iowa is 67-63. Last season, the Greyhounds won two of three meetings between them, and these two storied programs are ranked in the top four of all-time team records within the NJCAA record books.

The Hounds also have non-league contests with Southwestern Ill. at Belleville (Nov. 11), and a home-and-away series with Olney Central CC, Ill. (there on Dec. 6, here on Jan. 31), and at St. Louis CC of Forest Park (Jan. 3).

Region 16 Ledger

Come Jan. 3, 2026, MACC will begin its Region 16 portion of its new campaign in which each league foe competes with one another three times in the regular season. Moberly is facing defending regional tournament champion Three Rivers CC at its home floor in Poplar Bluff to ring in the new year on this date. Last season, the Raiders knocked off Moberly 72-61 in the title game played at Jefferson College in Hillsboro. Other scheduled matchup dates are Jan. 24 at Moberly and Feb. 11 in Poplar Bluff. The two programs split their four encounters last season, and during the recent 11 years, Moberly owns a 25-8 record over Three Rivers.

The Grizzlies from Missouri State University-West Plains arrive at MACC on Jan. 10, as well as on Valentine's Day in February. The teams will meet again on Jan. 28 at West Plains. Moberly carries a 27-2 record against the Grizzlies during the past 11 seasons.

MACC will look to extend its winning streak to 32 in contested games played against State Fair CC when the Moberly Greyhounds host the Roadrunners Jan. 14. The streak covers 11 years, but the Hounds had to forfeit their March 10, 2020, game to State Fair due to an NJCAA rules violation. Moberly will travel to Sedalia to compete against the Roadrunners on Feb. 4 and Feb. 25.

Meanwhile, the first of three meetings with Mineral Area College will be Jan. 21 at the Cardinals' home floor in Park Hills. Moberly hosts the Cardinals on Feb. 7 and wraps up its regular season schedule on Feb. 28. Mineral Area has been the most formidable foe the Greyhounds have faced since the 2014-15 campaign. Moberly claims a 19-14 advantage over the Cardinals in regional games played, and this includes meeting for the Region 16 tournament championship for five consecutive years (2020-2024).

This season's NJCAA Division I Region 16 Tournament will once again have its games played at the home court of the higher seed. It begins with the fourth seed team hosting No. 5 on March 3, with the winner advancing to the semifinal contests set for March 5. The regional championship game is March 7.

The Region 16 tournament winner will travel to battle against the Region 4 champion at its home court in the NJCAA Midwest District Championship game on March 14. The survivor will compete in the 2026 NJCAA Division I Men's National Tournament held March 21-28 in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Moberly in NJCAA History

According to current NJCAA national basketball tournament records, Vincennes owns the organization's community college program record in all-time wins at 72-55, while the Greyhounds of Moberly Area Community College are second with a record of 68-39. Hutchinson CC, Kansas, the home site of NJCAA nationals, is third (55-30), and fourth in all-time tournament wins is San Jacinto-Central CC, Texas (54-24).

In addition, Vincennes has the most national tournament appearances with 39, while Moberly is second with 32, and both programs have four national championship titles to their name. Resting third overall in national tourney appearances is Southern Idaho with 28, and Hutchinson has appeared 24 times for fourth all-time.

Another NJCAA historical footnote involving MACC's name is that Moberly sits in fourth place in the category of a program's all-time career record, with 1,898-894. Hutchinson CC is tops (1937-652), followed by Vincennes University (1930-605), and Southeastern CC, Iowa is third best with a record of 1897-823.

The Smith File

Patrick Smith is the only person in MACC history to have held the position as head coach over the course of two separate stints. He served from 2001-04 before taking on such careers at Bemidji State University in Minnesota for a couple of years and then at Trinity Valley CC in Athens, Texas, for six seasons, before returning to Moberly in 2012. 

This makes the 66-year-old Smith the longest tenured and winningest coach here at Moberly, compiling a 396-156 record entering this 2025-26 campaign..

During his tenure at Moberly, Smith has won 8 Regional Championships, 6 District Titles, and 8 appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament.

The Moberly Greyhounds program has enjoyed 9 consecutive full seasons (2020-21 was a COVID-19 year) of 25 or more wins, along with 5 Regional and 4 District Titles in the last 7 seasons under Smith's leadership. The native of Somerset, Kentucky, has also seen 11 of his Moberly teams finish the season ranked in the NJCAA Top 20. 

In addition, he has coached the Greyhounds to nine appearances at the NJCAA National Tournament, including a fifth-place finish in 2002.

His first job in the college ranks took place in 1982 at the now-defunct Sue Bennett Junior College in Kentucky. Smith has served as head coach at a variety of colleges, both at the junior college and NCAA levels. His coaching destinations led him to a variety of colleges located in Kentucky, Illinois, Texas, Kansas, Florida, Minnesota, and ultimately here in Moberly, Mo. He served as a head coach at the community college level for more than 38 years, while averaging 22 wins a season.

Smith has been honored with 21 Coach of the Year Honors and has been inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, and NJCAA Region 16 Hall of Fame.

With all of this said, Smith has garnered a career coaching record of 893-434 over the course of 40 years. This ranks him second-best among all active NJCAA men's basketball coaches behind Southwestern CC, Illinois head coach Jay Harrington (1007-592, 51 yrs.). Steve Schmidt of Mott CC, Michigan, ranks third on this list at 834-248 (35 yrs.).

According to the current NJCAA record book, Smith is ranked No. 5 on the all-time list for most coaching victories. Former Three Rivers CC coach Gene Bess is tops, having a remarkable record of 1300-416 during his 50-year tenure. Third best overall behind Harrington is Bill Carlyle, who retired from Walters St. CC, Alabama at 945-430 (46 yrs.). The late Bob Kirk, who retired from Allegany College, Maryland, posted an overall 927-168 coaching record in 34 years, is ranked fourth.

NOTE: Rayshawn Simmons and Luke Norman are the new MACC men's assistant coaches this 2025-26 season. 

Simmons is from St. Louis and played for the Moberly Greyhounds under head coach Patrick Smith in 2012-13, and moved on to finish his collegiate basketball career at Central Michigan University before playing professionally in Europe.

Norman spent the previous five years serving as head coach at Highland CC of Freeport, Ill. where he compiled a Cougars' program record of 93-56.