Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Announces 2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule
September 10, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Sept. 10, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball program has announced the 2008-09 schedule. Head coach Louis Orr and the Falcons will play 11 games vs. opponents that advanced to national postseason play a year ago.
"Our non-conference schedule will be challenging and a great opportunity for us to grow and improve," said Orr, who enters his second year at the BGSU helm. "It will definitely help prepare us for an always-tough Mid-American Conference schedule.
For the second-straight season, the Falcons will begin the year with three games in as many days, heading to Minneapolis for the NABC Classic (Nov. 14-16). BGSU will face Georgia State and Concordia (Minn.), sandwiched around a game vs. the host school, Minnesota.
Then, the Falcons will face a Big Ten foe for the second time in less than two weeks, heading to Columbus to face Ohio State on Nov. 24.
The non-league slate also includes home games against Detroit, Eastern Illinois and Fordham, along with trips to Central Arkansas, Duquesne and Illinois State.
BGSU will alternate road and home weekend games in the month of December, playing at ISU (Dec. 6), UCA (Dec. 20) and Duquesne (Dec. 31), while hosting UDM (Dec. 14) and EIU (Dec. 28). When January rolls around, the Falcons will host Fordham (Jan. 3) before opening the MAC schedule against Buffalo (Jan. 10).
Illinois State, Minnesota and Ohio State all participated in the National Invitation Tournament a year ago. Additionally, four MAC teams - all from the East Division - participated in either the NCAA Championships or the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in March of 2008.
The Falcons' schedule features two first-time Falcon foes (Concordia and Georgia State), with a chance for a third in late February.
There is still the possibility that the Falcons will add a game or two to the existing non-conference schedule.
For the third-straight season, the conference men's hoops schedule sees each school playing two games against the other five teams in its own division and one game against each of the six teams in the opposite division. BGSU's initial East Division swing sees the Falcons host UB, Akron (Jan. 17) and Miami (Jan. 20), while hitting the road to face Kent State (Jan. 14) and Ohio (Jan. 24).
The six-game stretch against the West Division includes home contests against Ball State (Jan. 28), Western Michigan (Feb. 4) and Eastern Michigan (Feb. 15), along with road games vs. Northern Illinois (Jan. 31), Central Michigan (Feb. 7) and arch-rival Toledo (Feb. 11).
As part of the second East Division stretch, the Falcons will travel to UB (Feb. 18) and end the month of February with a home game vs. KSU (Feb. 26). The Brown and Orange also will host an opponent to be determined on Feb. 21, as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event. Opponents, starting times and television games will be determined several weeks prior to the event.
BGSU will travel to UA (March 1) and Miami (March 5), before closing the regular season at home vs. Ohio (March 8).
"This is a challenging schedule from start to finish," said Orr. "We know we will need to hit the ground running, but our goal is to get better every day, every practice and every game."
Orr and his staff return a total of 11 letterwinners, including all 10 from last season's club, plus an additional player (Erik Marschall) who lettered in prior years.
The complete 2008-09 schedule follows. For the most up-to-date schedule throughout the season, click the 'Schedule' link on the men's basketball page, or consult the Monthly Athletic Calendar here at BGSUFalcons.com.
BGSU MEN'S BASKETBALL
2008-09 SCHEDULE
NOVEMBER
Fri., 14..........vs. Georgia State & Sat., 15..........at Minnesota & Sun., 16..........vs. Concordia (Minn.) & Mon., 24..........at Ohio State
DECEMBER
Sat., 6...........at Illinois State Sun., 14..........DETROIT Sat., 20..........at Central Arkansas Sun., 28..........EASTERN ILLINOIS Wed., 31..........at Duquesne
JANUARY
Sat., 3...........FORDHAM Sat., 10..........BUFFALO * Wed., 14..........at Kent State * Sat., 17..........AKRON * Tue., 20..........MIAMI * Sat., 24..........at Ohio * Wed., 28..........BALL STATE * Sat., 31..........at Northern Illinois *
FEBRUARY
Wed., 4...........WESTERN MICHIGAN * Sat., 7...........at Central Michigan * Wed., 11..........at Toledo * Sun., 15..........EASTERN MICHIGAN * Wed., 18..........at Buffalo * Sat., 21..........ESPNU BRACKETBUSTERS Tue., 26..........KENT STATE *
MARCH
Sun., 1...........at Akron * Thu., 5...........at Miami * Sun., 8...........OHIO * Wed., 11..........MAC Tournament First Round ^ Thu., 12..........MAC Tournament Quarterfinals ^ Fri., 13..........MAC Tournament Semifinals ^ Sat., 14..........MAC Tournament Championship ^HOME games at Anderson Arena * Mid-American Conference game & NABC Classic (Minneapolis, Minn.) ^ Quicken Loans Arena; Cleveland, Ohio
