Owls Release 2007-08 Basketball Schedule
9/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 4, 2007
The 2007-08 Rice University men's basketball schedule has been finalized and it features four games vs. NCAA tournament teams from a year ago and contests vs. eight schools located in Texas. NCAA teams from a year ago on the Owls' docket include Texas, Texas A&M, Memphis, and Vanderbilt. Teams from the great state of Texas on the schedule board include TCU, Texas State, Texas, Lamar, Texas A&M, UTEP, SMU, and Houston.
"It is another challenging schedule put forth before us and it will be even more challenging being away from Autry Court," comments Rice head coach Willis Wilson. "But, it is only for one season and then we will open up the new fabulous facility."
With the Autry Court renovations in full-swing and due to be completed in time for the 2008-09 campaign, the Owls will seek refuge at Reliant Arena as well as the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, for its "home" games.
Seven home contests will played at Reliant Arena, while five games will be held at The Merrell Center, with Toyota Center hosting the Rice - Texas game on Dec. 8.
"The Merrell Center is a fantastic arena and is an excellent venue for our fans to watch Rice Owls basketball and Reliant Arena is only two miles from campus and will be great situation," says Wilson.
The season tips-off at TCU, for the first of two in-season home and home games vs. the Horned Frogs, on Tuesday, Nov. 13 in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs make a return visit on Dec. 29.
Rice opens the home portion of its schedule with a three-game home stand beginning with Duquesne on Nov. 17, followed by Richmond (Nov. 20) and UALR on Nov. 27. The Owls then compete against Eastern Illinois at the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa, on Nov. 30 and play either host Iowa or Louisiana-Monroe on Dec. 1. Rice then plays at Texas State (Dec. 5) before hosting Texas on Dec. 8 in Toyota Center. After final exams, the Owls head to Lamar (Dec. 22), host TCU (Dec. 29) and play at Texas A&M on Dec. 31.
The Owls begin the New Year at Vanderbilt on Jan. 3 and conclude the non-conference slate at Oklahoma (Jan. 5).
Marshall comes to Rice on Jan. 9 to begin Conference USA action and then the Owls head to UTEP on Jan. 12. Highly-pre-season ranked Memphis comes to Houston on Jan. 16, before the Owls play at Tulane (Jan. 19). Rice and Houston meet for the first time on Jan. 23 at Reliant Arena.
The month of February starts with a home game vs. Tulane (Feb. 2) followed by a pair of road contests at East Carolina (Feb. 6) and at SMU on Feb. 9. UAB comes to town on Feb. 13 with UCF in Houston on Feb. 16. The Owls then play at Tulsa (Feb. 20) and at Houston for a rare Saturday date on Feb. 23.
Rice has its third-straight road game when it plays at UCF on March 1 and then concludes the regular season with home contests vs. East Carolina (March 5) and SMU (March 8).
The Conference USA Championship again will be held in Memphis, Tenn, in the FedEX Forum (March 12-15). The NCAA Final Four takes place in San Antonio's Alamodome April 5 and 7.
2007-08 Rice University Basketball Schedule
November
13 at TCU Fort Worth, Texas 7 pm
17 Duquesne Katy, Texas (Merrell Center) 7:30 pm
20 Richmond Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
27 UALR Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
Hawkeye Challenge
30 vs. Eastern Illinois, Iowa City, Iowa
December
Hawkeye Challenge
1 Iowa or Louisiana-Monroe, Iowa City, Iowa
5 at Texas State San Marcos, Texas 7 pm
8 Texas Houston, Texas (Toyota Center) tba
22 at Lamar Beaumont, Texas 7 pm
29 TCU Katy, Texas (Merrell Center) 2 pm
31 at Texas A&M College Station, Texas
January
3 at Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn. 7 pm
5 at Oklahoma Norman, Okla. tba
9 Marshall Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
12 at UTEP El Paso, Texas
16 Memphis Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
19 at Tulane New Orleans, La.
23 Houston Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
26 at Southern Miss Hattiesburg, Miss.
February
2 Sat. Tulane Katy, Texas (Merrell Center) 2 pm
6 Wed. at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. 6 pm
9 Sat. at SMU Dallas, Texas 7 pm
13 Wed. UAB Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
16 Sat. UCF Houston, Texas (Reliant Arena) 7 pm
20 Wed. at Tulsa Tulsa, Okla.
23 Sat. at Houston Hofheinz Pavilion 7 pm
March
1 Sat. at UCF Orlando, Fla.
5 Wed. East Carolina Katy, Texas (Merrell Center) 7:30 pm
8 Sat. SMU Katy, Texas (Merrell Center) 2 pm
12-15 Wed.-Sat. Conference USA Championship Memphis, Tenn.
20-23 Thur.-Sat. NCAA First & Second Rounds
27-30 Thur.-Sat. NCAA Regionals
April
5/7 Sat./Mon. NCAA Final Four San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
All locations and times (Central) are subject to change