Men's Basketball Schedule Released

And here it is...the Falcons released their home basketball schedule for the coming season.  You can see it below.

A couple of notes.  

In the past, the schedule was modular--you played the first 5 games in your division, the middle six in cross division games and the final 5 back in your division.  That's being changed...now the first 11 games are mixed and the final 5 are strictly within the division.  

I do like finishing within  the division because I think it makes the races more exciting and limits the advantage someone might get from a random schedule where maybe one team had an easier schedule in the last couple of weeks.

For our Falcons, it is clear that the marquee matchup is the long awaiting arrival of MSU at the Stroh.  I'd hope we can expect a sell out for that one.

The second marquee event is the pre-season NIT.  This is a nice get for BG, and, as noted by Coach Orr, provides us with additional opportunities to bring our team around before MAC play starts.  It is not clear who the opponents will be, but they first two games are in Ann Arbor, which is nice for our fans.  If BG wins then it is on to Madison Square Garden, if BG loses than its is onto two more games at an undisclosed location.

Beyond that, there are some games that are decent home D-1 contests, if against people we typically play.  For example, we play Detroit a lot.  They were in the NCAAs last year.  Youngstown State was a little over .500 last year, and both Wright State and Samford lost 19 games.

On the road, BG will visit South Florida (won two games in the Big Dance), North Dakota (hopefully winnable), and a very good Temple team we beat at the Stroh last year.

Also, we now have a non-conference game in the middle of the MAC game.  There's the bracket buster and then there is a visit from New Orleans.  They are an independent, which means they have open dates throughout the year, and so they will make a trip to BG in February. 

We have a decent number of home games, which is good for fans, even though they are all bunched up in a couple of weeks (the non-conference games).  There's only one non-D1 game on the list, and it is the first game (which I also like) and we can see the games in Ann Arbor, too.

The other home games are not super exciting, but the most important thing is that we have home games on the schedule in the non-conference season.

2012-13 BGSU MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Date Opponent
Nov. 4 Central State (exh.)
Nov. 9 Lake Erie
Nov. 12-14 Preseason NIT (at Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Nov. 19-20 Preseason NIT (location TBA/if a loss Nov. 12-14)
OR
Nov. 21, 23 Preseason NIT (at New York, N.Y./if two wins Nov. 12-14)
Nov. 27 Detroit
Dec. 1 Youngstown State
Dec. 3 Wright State
Dec. 8 Samford
Dec. 18 Michigan State
Dec. 21 at South Florida
Dec. 28 at North Dakota
Dec. 31 at Temple
Jan. 9 at Central Michigan*
Jan. 12 Eastern Michigan*
Jan. 16 at Miami*
Jan. 19 at Buffalo*
Jan. 23 Kent State*
Jan. 26 at Toledo*
Jan. 30 Akron*
Feb. 2 Ball State*
Feb. 6 at Northern Illinois*
Feb. 9 at Ohio*
Feb. 13 Western Michigan*
Feb. 16 at Akron*
Feb. 21 New Orleans
Feb. 23 at ESPN BracketBuster
Feb. 27 Miami*
March 2 Ohio*
March 5 at Kent State*
March 8/9 Buffalo*