OREM, Utah - With the both the men's and women's basketball teams opening Great West Conference action on Thursday at Utah Valley, the staff at FightingSioux.com will begin a series highlighting the cities and universities that the Fighting Sioux will compete against in their new Division I conference. Neither of the UND basketball teams has ever faced the Wolverines on the hardwood.

Both teams are playing their inaugural conference games against the Wolverines after spending all of their Division II days as members of the North Central Conference. Thursday's games can be heard locally in the Grand Forks area on 100.3 Cat Country with Paul Ralston handling the play-by-play. A video streaming of the contest is also available on Utah Valley's athletic website: www.wolverinegreen.com.

Here are 10 interesting facts and figures on the city of Orem, Utah and the Utah Valley Wolverines:

1. Orem, Utah (which uses the moniker, "Family City U.S.A.") has a population just over 90,000 and is located 40 miles south of Salt Lake City. It borders Provo, Utah, which is home to another Division I university - Brigham Young.

2. Utah Valley University made the transition from a Junior College to a four-year school six years ago and its athletics programs made the jump from the JUCO ranks to Division I immediately. The NCAA lifted the school's provisional status in July of 2009, making the Wolverines official members of NCAA Division I.

3. UVU offers 13 sports - six on the men's side (baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, track and field and wrestling) and seven on the women's side (basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track and field and volleyball).

4. The elevation of Orem, Utah is 4,770 feet above sea level, which is almost 4,000 feet higher than the elevation of Grand Forks (834 feet).

5. Utah Valley is one of six Division I basketball schools located in the state of Utah. The Wolverines are joined on that list by Brigham Young (Mountain West), Southern Utah (Summit League), Utah State (WAC), Weber State (Big Sky) and Utah (Mountain West).

6. Both the men's head coach (Dick Hunsaker) and the women's head coach (Cathy Nixon) have been with their respective programs through the transition to the Division I level. Hunsaker is in his seventh season, while Nixon is in her 15th season.

7. The Wolverines share two of their athletic facilities with minor league teams. The Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League uses the McKay Center, while the Orem Owlz (a rookie league team and affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels) share Brent Brown Ballpark with UVU baseball team.

8. The men's basketball team finished the 2006-07 season with a 22-7 record, which was the best showing a Division I independent in more than 20 years. The 1985-86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish led by head coach Digger Phelps posted a 23-6 record. In their six seasons of Division I basketball, Hunsaker has never posted a losing record.

9. The women's basketball team finished with its best record at the Division I ranks a season ago, posting a 17-10 record and claiming three-consecutive tournament titles to close out the season.

10. This will be the first of two trips to Orem for both the men's and women's basketball teams as they will return in March for the inaugural Great West Tournament at the McKay Center. The tournament will run from March 10-13 at the 8,500-seat venue (opened in 1996).