Northwestern to host Bryant in nonconference game in 2016-17 season

Northwestern men's basketball will host the Bryant Bulldogs in a nonconference game this season, according to the Providence Journal's Kevin McNamara.

The game is technically part of the Legends Classic, a tournament in which Northwestern will head to the Barclays Center to play two of Colorado, Notre Dame and Texas.

In a column about how the Providence Friars don't have Rhode Island in-state foe Bryant on their 2016-17 schedule, McNamara revealed that the Bulldogs will travel to Northwestern — as well as Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Ohio — in non-conference play.

Bryant, located in Smithfield, R.I., only started playing in Division I in the 2008-09 season and became a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) a year later. Before that, the Bulldogs competed in the NCAA's Division II and reached the NCAA Tournament in their final five seasons before making the transition. Last season, Bryant -- led by coach Tim O'Shea -- went 8-23 overall (5-13 NEC) en route to a 9th place finish in the 10-team league. They finished 344th out of 351 teams in KenPom ratings.

The matchup with Bryant is Northwestern's fifth 2016-17 individual non-conference matchup to be either announced or reported. The Wildcats will also take on Butler (in the Gavitt Games), Dayton, DePaul and Wake Forest (in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) before beginning Big Ten play.

No date has been announced for the Northwestern-Bryant game as of right now. The rest of Northwestern's non-conference (and Big Ten) schedule will be released in the coming months.