Bucknell University Athletics
2003-04 Bucknell Men's Basketball Schedule Packs Plenty of Excitement
10/13/2003 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2003
Click Here for Complete 2003-04 Schedule
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Three home games against top Ivy League competition, three road games in Big Ten country and an always-challenging Patriot League slate highlight the 2003-04 Bucknell men's basketball schedule.
Bucknell opens the campaign on Friday, Nov. 21 at Michigan State. The Spartans are coming off a trip to the "Elite Eight" at the 2003 NCAA Tournament and are expected to be ranked in the top five when the preseason polls are announced later this month.
Michigan State is the first of three Big Ten foes the Bison will face this season. Bucknell also visits Northwestern on Dec. 3 and Penn State on Jan. 3. While the Bison have never faced either the Spartans or the Wildcats, they will face central-Pennsylvania rival Penn State for the 98th time this winter.
Bucknell will be playing its first complete home schedule in the sparkling new Sojka Pavilion this season, with the home opener slated for Nov. 26 against Yale. The Bison debuted in Sojka last Jan. 15 and played their final six home games in their new digs.
In addition to the Bulldogs, Ivy Leaguers Penn (Dec. 20) and Cornell (Jan. 20) will visit Lewisburg this winter. The Quakers ran the table with a perfect 14-0 Ivy record last season before falling to Oklahoma State 77-63 in their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in five years. The Bison will look to avenge a four-point loss to Cornell last season.
On Nov. 29, Bucknell and Niagara will meet at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., in the nightcap of a neutral-site doubleheader. Army and Cornell will square off at 5 p.m., followed by the Bison and Purple Eagles at 7:30 p.m.
Following three straight December home games against Dickinson, Penn and Ursinus, the Bison break for the holidays before participating in their lone in-season tournament of the year, hosted by College of Charleston. Bucknell will face Norfolk State in the opening round on Dec. 29 and either the host Cougars or Long Island the following day.
After visiting State College on Jan. 3, Bucknell will travel to Pittsburgh to face Robert Morris on Jan. 7 in one final tuneup prior to the start of Patriot League play.
For Bucknell, the Patriot League slate starts tough, ends tough, and is not a whole lot more forgiving in the middle. The Bison open league play with two straight (and 4 of 5) on the road, first at American on Jan. 10, then at Lehigh on Jan. 14. The Eagles and Mountain Hawks finished second and fourth, respectively, in the PL standings last year, and both squads defeated Bucknell on their home floors.
Bucknell's first home league game is a Saturday afternoon date with Navy on Jan. 17. After the non-league tilt with Cornell on Jan. 20, the Bison hit the road again for a Friday-Sunday trip to Army and Lafayette.
The home games finally begin to balance out as the Bison start a run of four straight and 6 of 7 contests in Sojka Pavilion, as Colgate, defending champ Holy Cross, American, Lehigh, Lafayette and Army all make Sojka appearances sandwiched around a Valentine's Day trip to Navy.
If Patriot League Tournament positioning comes down to the final weekend, as it seems to do annually, Bucknell will have to finish up with a Friday-Sunday trip to Holy Cross and Colgate. Not only is that the toughest road trip of the year in terms of bus miles logged, but the Crusaders and Raiders are expected to be two of the league's top teams come March of 2004.
The Feb. 27 contest at Holy Cross marks Bucknell's lone regular-season appearance on the Friday night Patriot League Game of the Week, which airs on DirecTV Channel 611.
For the third straight season the Patriot League Tournament will be held at the Show Place Arena in upper Marlboro, Md. The men's quarterfinal games will be played on March 6 with the semis booked for March 7.
As always, the championship game will be played on the home court of the highest seed, but this season's title tilt has a new date and time from seasons past. The Patriot League championship, and along with it the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, will be decided on Sunday, March 14 at noon on ESPN2.
"This is the type of challenging schedule that you want your players to experience," said 10th-year Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery, whose team begins practice this weekend. "You want the kids to play against quality opponents, you want your fans to be able to see good basketball, and you want to give them a chance to be successful."
The Bison welcome back 11 lettermen, including seven seniors, from last year's squad that finished 14-15 overall and 7-7 in the Patriot League before advancing to the PL Tournament semifinals for the 10th time in 13 seasons.
