CHICAGO -- UIC will begin the 2017-18 regular season at home on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. CST, when the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champions, North Carolina Central, invade the UIC Pavilion on opening night. It is the second time in three seasons under head coach Steve McClain that the Flames will lift the lid on the season at home.

Before the ball is tipped, fans are invited to a free tailgate at the UIC Pavilion parking lot. The event begins at 4:30 p.m.

The matchup is unique in that it pits last season's most experienced and least experienced teams against one another. According to KenPom.com, the Eagles were the most experienced squad in the nation during the 2016-17 campaign as they boasted an average of 2.91 years of Division I experience on the roster. NCCU won 25 games a year ago as it captured both the MEAC regular season and postseason championships. The Eagles represented their conference in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, however much of that experience graduated as the team lost all five starters and its top five scorers from last season. Despite the losses, NCCU has reloaded and was recently chosen to finish third in the 13-team conference, and it received six first-place votes.

UIC was the least experienced team in the country, according to KenPom.com, with an average of 0.67 years of experience. Yet the Flames banded together and emerged as one of the nation's most improved teams with 12 more wins that the previous season. McClain's squad was invited to participate in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and gained valuable experience while making a run to the semifinals. Like NCCU, UIC was chosen to finish third in the Horizon League preseason poll that was released last month.

Below are more notes in advance of Friday's season opener:

SWEET HOME CHICAGO

• UIC begins the regular season with four consecutive home games for only the third time in the Division I era (since 1981-82).
• The stretch features four games in eight days from Nov. 10-18.
• Flames last welcomed Drake, Roosevelt, Eastern Illinois and Northwestern to open the 2013-14 season.
• UIC hosted Norfolk State, Oregon, Central Michigan and IUPUI to begin 1999-2000.

TWO FLAMES EARN PRESEASON HONORS

• Despite being limited to 10 games last season, sophomore Dikembe Dixson was named to the Horizon League Preseason First Team this fall.
• Dixson was averaging 22.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest in the nine full games he played. He scored at least 31 points in three of the nine outings.
• Both Street & Smith's and Lindy's pegged Dixson as the Horizon League Player of the Year in preseason publications.
• Senior Tai Odiase was selected to the conference's Preseason Second Team for the second year in a row.
• The 2017 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year led the conference and ranked fifth in the NCAA with 2.89 blocks per game last year.
• After Dixson went down, Odiase became the team's leading scorer and rebounder with 11.4 ppg and 6.9 rpg last year.

UNDER(CLASSMEN) ACHIEVERS

• UIC is one of six program's to begin 2017-18 with three or fewer upperclassmen.
• The Flames carry two seniors in Tai Odiase and Clint Robinson and one junior in transfer Naradain James.
• The other five teams are: Kentucky (2), North Florida (2), Chattanooga (3), The Citadel (3) and George Mason (3).
• Head coach Steve McClain's roster features six sophomores and three freshmen.
• UIC returns 72 percent (5,238) of the minutes played and 132 starts from last season.

BLOCK PARTY

• Tai Odiase enters the season with 249 career rejections, second most in program history.
• Scott VanderMeer, who played from 2006-09, is UIC's all-time leader with 273.
• Former Youngstown State standout Damian Eargle is the Horizon League's all-time leader with 309 blocks.
• Odiase has averaged 100.5 blocks per season since 2015-16.

BROTHERLY LOVE

• UIC's roster features three players with brothers who are also active Division I basketball players.
• Senior Tai Odiase's brother, Ken Odiase, is a redshirt junior at Chicago State.
• After beginning his collegiate career at Kentucky, Charles Matthews, younger brother of UIC's Dominique Matthews, plays at Michigan.
• Freshman Jacob Wiley's older brother, Jonathan Wiley, is a senior at Southern Illinois.