University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Announce 2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule
9/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program announced its 2008-09 schedule today. The non-conference portion of the schedule includes 12 games, 10 of which will be played at Williams Arena, while the conference schedule will include 18 games. Gopher fans will be able to see all of the Minnesota’s conference games live on national television. Game times and television rights for the non-conference schedule will be released at a later date.
The Golden Gophers open the regular season at Williams Arena on Friday, Nov. 14, against Concordia-St. Paul in the first game of the NABC Classic, a four-team round-robin tournament hosted by the University of Minnesota. Game two will pit the Gophers against Bowling Green on Saturday, Nov. 15 with game three taking place on Sunday, Nov. 16 against Georgia State.
Two of Minnesota’s non-conference games will be away from the friendly confines of Williams Arena. The Gophers travel to Fort Collins, Colorado for a matchup with the Colorado State Rams on Nov. 22. Also, Minnesota will face the University of Louisville in the inaugural Stadium Shootout on Dec. 20 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The Gophers will have a five-game homestand from Nov. 26 to Dec. 10 before the trip to the desert. The Gophers battle Eastern Washington on Nov. 26, North Dakota State on Nov. 29, Virginia on Dec. 2, Cornell on Dec. 6 and South Dakota State on Dec. 10.
Minnesota’s game against Virginia on Dec. 2 is part of the 10th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Gophers hold a 3-6 record in the Challenge, losing to Florida State, 75-61, last season in Tallahassee. For the fourth consecutive year, the event will feature 11 games (an increase from nine in the six previous years) from 10 different college campuses.
The Maroon and Gold’s season actually gets underway on Monday, Nov. 3, in an exhibition slate versus St. Cloud State. Minnesota’s other exhibition game will be Thursday, Nov. 6 against Northern State. Both exhibition contests will be held at Williams Arena.
The Gophers open the conference schedule at home against the Michigan State Spartans on New Years Eve, at 5 p.m., on the Big Ten Network. In all, the Maroon and Gold will appear on the BTN at least 14 times during the Big Ten season.
Minnesota will make at least two appearances on the ESPN family of networks during the conference season. Minnesota’s lone contest with the Iowa Hawkeyes will be shown on ESPN on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 6 p.m., in Iowa City. Also, the Gophers lone matchup against Purdue on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at Williams Arena will be broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
In addition, Minnesota’s home game against Wisconsin on either March 3, 4 or 5 is an ESPN wildcard game that will be decided upon by Feb. 2. If ESPN does not pick up the “Border Battle”, the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Minnesota’s other wildcard scenario is its final regular-season conference game versus Michigan at Williams Arena. The game will be played either Saturday, March 7 or Sunday, March 8. If CBS selects the game, it will be played Sunday at 11 a.m. If not, the game will be Saturday on either ESPN at 11 a.m. or the Big Ten Network at 3 p.m.
The conference season concludes with the 12th annual Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, which is scheduled to take place Thursday through Sunday, March 12-15, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The Big Ten Network will carry Thursday’s opening game, one of three tournament contests appearing on the network along with a pair of Friday night quarterfinal matchups featuring the openers for the second and third seeds. ESPN2 will broadcast the remaining first round games on Thursday before ESPN carries the first two quarterfinal tilts on Friday. CBS will televise the semifinal and championship games on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Gopher Men's Basketball Season Tickets are on sale now. Tickets for the 2008-09 season are available by calling 612.624.8080 or 1.800.UGOPHER.
