Schedule Includes ACC, Big 12, and Pac-10 Opponents
and Nine Regular-Season Telecasts on the ESPN Networks
PROVO -- Potential matchups with six nonconference opponents that made the 2003 NCAA Tournament, including teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 Conference and Pac-10 Conference, and 15 overall contests against teams that qualified for postseason play last year highlight the 2003-04 BYU men's basketball schedule.
The headlining games include Oklahoma State of the Big 12 in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Dec. 6, Pac-10 opponents California in Berkeley on Nov. 26 and Southern California in Provo on Dec. 13, and the ACC's North Carolina State in Raleigh on Jan. 7. BYU will also participate in the 2003 Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara, Calif., Dec. 29-30.
"We look forward to what should be a very challenging schedule with more than half our games being against teams that qualified for postseason last year," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "We face some very talented teams during nonconference and every game is a battle during the Mountain West season. We have a chance to be very good this year. With this schedule, we certainly have the opportunity to see how good we can be."
BYU will spend significantly more time in the national spotlight this season with nine regular-season games being part of the 2003-04 MWC television package with ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Regional (ESPN+Plus) and ABC. After two national ESPN2 and three ESPN+Plus regular-season appearances last year, this season BYU will be featured four times on ESPN, once each on ESPN2 and ABC and three times on ESPN+Plus. In addition, all MWC Tournament games will again be televised on either ESPN or ESPN+Plus. The Utah State game on Dec. 23 will be televised on KJZZ in Utah and approximately 10 SportsWest Productions point-to-point telecasts, which will be taped-delay broadcast nationally via BYU Television, will be added to the schedule and announced once determined.
BYU's game at North Carolina State (Jan. 7) will be nationally televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. (EST). The game will be BYU's first against an ACC team since a Dec. 28, 1997 meeting with Virginia at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. In 18 games against ACC teams, the Cougars have never hosted an ACC school in Provo and just four contests have been true road games played in an ACC arena, with the last being at North Carolina on Dec. 20, 1976. The other three away games were all in the 1950s, including 1952 and 1955 defeats at North Carolina State. The Wolfpack is scheduled to play in Provo next season.
ESPN "Big Monday" returns to the Marriott Center in 2004 after a two-year absence. BYU will host San Diego State on Feb. 9 and instate rival Utah on Mar. 1 in 10 p.m. (MST) starts in Provo. The Cougars also play at New Mexico on Jan. 26 and at Colorado State on Feb. 16 in similar late-night, nationally featured MWC matchups.
The Cougars will appear on ABC for the first time as part of the MWC television package when they face UNLV at 12:30 p.m. (PST) on Mar. 6 at the Thomas & Mack Center in the regular-season finale. BYU will play at Utah (Jan. 31), vs. UNLV (Feb. 7) and at Wyoming (Feb. 14) in the featured Saturday "Mountain West Game of the Week" on ESPN+Plus at 1 p.m. (MST).
Nonconference opponents on BYU's schedule earned a combined 256-158 (.618) record last year. Including MWC teams, Cougar opponents achieved a 380-250 (.603) mark with six teams winning regular season or conference tournament titles. Eight teams played in the 2003 NCAA Tournament and three others were invited to the NIT.
Five nonconference opponents -- Oklahoma State, Idaho State and instate schools Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah -- were on BYU's schedule last season. Two teams -- Utah Valley State College and Western Oregon -- are first-time opponents. With UVSC from neighboring Orem, Utah, joining the Division I ranks, BYU has included all five other Division I teams from Utah on its 2003-04 schedule.
After the annual Varsity Preview (Nov. 1) and exhibition contests with EA Sports (Nov. 6) and Worldwide (Nov. 11), BYU opens its regular season in the Marriott Center against Southern Utah on Nov. 21 before playing at California the day before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26). Coming off a 22-9 season and second-round NCAA appearance, the Bears have earned three straight NCAA Tournament invites and qualified for postseason in six of the last seven years, winning the 1999 NIT Title. The Cougars return to Provo to finish the month with a Nov. 29 game against UVSC.
In December, the Cougars go on the road to play Boise State (Dec. 2) before returning to Utah for four straight games, starting with a 4 p.m. (MST) neutral-court contest with Oklahoma State in the Delta Center on Dec. 6. The Cowboys of the Big 12 were 22-10 last year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. BYU then hosts Division II Western Oregon on Dec. 10, followed by a date with USC on Dec. 13. The Trojans are back-to-back Pac-10 Tournament finalists and have been to the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years. They return all five starters and their top six scorers and nine players overall while adding three highly touted freshman recruits.
Big Sky Champion Weber State, 26-6 last year, comes to Provo on Dec. 20, and the Cougars go to Logan to face Big West Tournament Champion Utah State, 23-9 last season, on Dec. 23. Both instate schools qualified for the 2003 NCAA Tournament. After Christmas, BYU makes its second trip to the Bay Area to play Idaho State and either Wisconsin-Milwaukee (NCAA qualifier as Horizon League Champion at 24-8 last year) or host Santa Clara in the annual Cable Car Classic on Dec. 29-30.
The nonconference schedule concludes with the Cougars hosting St. Mary's of the West Coast Conference on Jan. 2 before taking a cross-country trip to face North Carolina State on Jan. 7. Coming off back-to-back appearances in the ACC title game and consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, the Wolfpack returns three starters and 10 lettermen from last year's 18-13 squad, including All-ACC First Team performer Julius Hodge. NC State was 13-3 at home last season.
In accordance with a new league policy that moves games originally scheduled for Thursday, March 4, to Monday, Jan. 12, the Cougars open MWC play at San Diego State on Jan. 12. A directive of the league's head coaches and approved by the Joint Council, the policy keeps teams from playing three games the week prior to the annual MWC Tournament.
BYU hosts 2003 MWC Tournament Champion Colorado State on Jan. 17 and Wyoming, a 2003 NIT participant, on Jan. 19 before playing at Air Force on Jan. 24 and at New Mexico on Jan. 26. The Cougars play at Utah on Jan. 31 in the first meeting between last season's regular-season co-champions.
After playing four of their six MWC games on the road in January, the Cougars will entertain four of six MWC guests in the Marriott Center in February. BYU hosts UNLV (Feb. 7) and San Diego State (Feb.9), both 2003 NIT teams, before taking one of the toughest road trips of the year to Wyoming (Feb. 14) and Colorado State (Feb. 16). The Cougars completed a rare sweep of the Front Range swing last year on the way to sharing the regular-season MWC crown.
Three of the final four league games will be in Provo as the Cougars host New Mexico (Feb. 21), Air Force (Feb. 23) and Utah (Mar. 1) before finishing on the road at UNLV (Mar. 6).
After four years in Las Vegas, the 2004 MWC Tournament will be played in Denver at the Pepsi Center, March 11-13. The MWC has sent six of eight teams to postseason play the past two seasons. Last year, BYU, Utah and Colorado State played in the NCAA Tournament while San Diego State, UNLV and Wyoming were invited to the NIT.
BYU season ticket packages can be purchased at the BYU Ticket office, online at BYUTickets.com or over the phone at 1-800-322-BYU1 or 378-BYU1. Single-game tickets will go on sale Oct. 22. Students can purchase an All-Sport Card for $85 to gain entry to all basketball and other NCAA-sanctioned BYU Athletics events.
Including the Varsity Preview and exhibition contests, BYU's 2003-04 season ticket package includes 16 games in the Marriott Center and the Oklahoma State game at the Delta Center. Last year, BYU had the nation's 17th largest home attendance at 14,468. The Cougars have won 49 of their last 50 games at home.
2003-04 BYU Men's Basketball Schedule
November
1 (Sat.) Cougar Tipoff '03 Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
6 (Thurs.) EA Sports All-Stars (exh.) Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
11 (Tues.) Worldwide (exh.) Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
21 (Fri.) Southern Utah Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
26 (Wed.) @ California Berkeley, Calif. 7 p.m.
29 (Sat.) UVSC Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
December
2 (Tues.) @ Boise State Boise, Idaho 7:30 p.m.
6 (Sat.) Oklahoma State @ Delta Center Salt Lake City 4 p.m.
10 (Wed.) Western Oregon Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
13 (Sat.) Southern California Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
20 (Sat.) Weber State Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
23 (Tues.) @ Utah State Logan, Utah 8:05 p.m. KJZZ
29-30 @ Cable Car Classic Santa Clara, Calif.
29 (Mon.) vs. Idaho State 8 p.m.
30 (Tues.) vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee or Santa Clara TBA
January
2 (Fri.) St. Mary's (Calif.) Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
7 (Wed.) @ North Carolina State Raleigh, N.C. 8 p.m. ESPN2
12 (Mon.) *@ San Diego State San Diego, Calif. 7 p.m.
17 (Sat.) *Colorado State Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
19 (Mon.) *Wyoming Provo, Utah 8:30 p.m.
24 (Sat.) *@ Air Force Colorado Springs, Colo. 4 p.m.
26 (Mon.) *@ New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. 10 p.m. ESPN
31 (Sat.) *@ Utah Salt Lake City 1 p.m. ERT
February
7 (Sat.) *UNLV Provo, Utah 1 p.m. ERT
9 (Mon.) *San Diego State Provo, Utah 10 p.m. ESPN
14 (Sat.) *@ Wyoming Laramie, Wyo. 1 p.m. ERT
16 (Mon.) *@ Colorado State Fort Collins, Colo. 10 p.m. ESPN
21 (Sat.) *New Mexico Provo, Utah 7:05 p.m.
23 (Mon.) *Air Force Provo, Utah 8:30 p.m.
March
1 (Mon.) *Utah Provo, Utah 10 p.m. ESPN
6 (Sat.) *@ UNLV Las Vegas, Nev. 12:30 p.m. ABC
11-13 MWC Tournament @ Pepsi Center Denver, Colo. TBA ESPN, ERT
18-20 NCAA Tournament TBA TBA CBS
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Times are local to site and subject to change
* MWC Game
ERT -- ESPN+Plus broadcast of ESPN Regional Television
Additional television games are yet to be determined