Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Announces Tentative 2007-08 Schedule
7/31/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 19, 2007
Click HERE for a 2007-08 Season Ticket Application
Fans are asked to keep in mind that the Patriot League's ESPNU television schedule has yet to be announced. The formulation of that schedule could necessitate moving a handful of currently scheduled game dates.
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Thirteen home games, along with road trips to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Berkeley and Winston-Salem, highlight a challenging 2007-08 schedule for the Bucknell men's basketball team. The Bison, who are coming off three straight 20-win seasons, open the new season on Saturday, Nov. 10, at home against Albany at 7 p.m.
Over the last three seasons Bucknell has knocked off a number of highly regarded programs on the road, including Syracuse, Pittsburgh, DePaul, Xavier and St. Joseph's, and the Bison will have a chance to do so again this winter. They face a pair of major-conference opponents on the road - Villanova on Nov. 18 and Wake Forest on Dec. 16 - in addition to a post-Christmas trip back to the West Coast for California's Golden Bear Classic, featuring Cal, Bucknell, Long Beach State and North Dakota State. Other non-league road trips take the Bison to Towson, Wagner, Drexel and St. Bonaventure.
In addition to squaring off with two-time defending America East champion Albany at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell will also have non-conference home games against Marist, Saint Francis (Pa.), La Salle, Cornell and Ohio University. Marist went 25-9 last season, won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title and upset Oklahoma State in the first round of the NIT. Ohio (19-13) and Cornell (16-12) are also coming off winning seasons.
For the third straight year Bucknell will participate in ESPN's BracketBusters event. The "mid-major" showcase will take place on Saturday, Feb. 23, at a time and location to be determined. Bucknell is 1-1 previous BracketBusters appearances, falling in double-overtime at Northern Iowa in 2006 before topping Towson at Sojka Pavilion last year.
Bucknell's schedule features seven teams that won 20 more games last season and nine that finished with an RPI in the top 125. All told, Bucknell's non-conference foes had a combined record of 254-212 (.545) a year ago.
Bucknell is 38-4 in Patriot League regular-season play over the last three seasons and has a 35-game home winning streak against league competition. Those marks will be put to the test on Saturday, Jan. 12, when the Bison are scheduled to open Patriot League play at home against Navy.
After another home contest against American, the Bison are currently scheduled to travel to Worcester, Mass., on Saturday, Jan. 19, for its first of two showdowns with Holy Cross. The Bison and Crusaders have met in each of the last three Patriot League championship games, with Holy Cross prevailing last year after Bucknell won in 2005 and 2006. Both teams finished 13-1 in the league last season to share the regular-season title.
The Bucknell-Holy Cross re-match is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16 at Sojka Pavilion. Senior Night will be Feb. 20 against Lafayette, followed by the BracketBusters game on Feb. 23 and two road conference games at Lehigh (Feb. 27) and Army (March 1) to close the regular season.
Again this season, the Patriot League Tournament will be played entirely at home sites. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Wednesday, March 5, the semifinals for Sunday, March 9 and the championship game for Friday, March 14.
2007-08 TENTATIVE Bucknell Men's Basketball Schedule
Sat. Nov. 10 ALBANY 7 p.m. Wed. Nov. 14 @ Towson TBA Sun. Nov. 18 @ Villanova 5 p.m. Sat. Nov. 24 @ Wagner 2 p.m. Wed. Nov. 28 MARIST 7 p.m. Sat. Dec. 1 ST. FRANCIS (Pa.) 7 p.m. Mon. Dec. 3 LA SALLE 7 p.m. Sun. Dec. 16 @ Wake Forest TBA Wed. Dec. 19 CORNELL 7 p.m. Sat. Dec. 22 @ Drexel 2 p.m. Fri. Dec. 28 @ Golden Bear Classic^ TBA Sat. Dec. 29 @ Golden Bear Classic^ TBA Wed. Jan. 2 OHIO UNIVERSITY 7 p.m. Sat. Jan. 5 @ St. Bonaventure 4 p.m. Sat. Jan. 12 NAVY* 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 16 AMERICAN* 7 p.m. Sat. Jan. 19 @ Holy Cross* TBA Wed. Jan. 23 @ Lafayette* 7 p.m. Sat. Jan. 26 COLGATE* 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 30 LEHIGH* 7 p.m. Sat. Feb. 2 ARMY* 7 p.m. Wed. Feb. 6 @ Colgate* 7 p.m. Sat. Feb. 9 @ Navy* 7 p.m. Wed. Feb. 13 @ American* 7 p.m. Sat. Feb. 16 HOLY CROSS* 7 p.m. Wed. Feb. 20 LAFAYETTE* 7 p.m. Sat. Feb. 23 ESPN BracketBusters (site TBA) Wed. Feb. 27 @ Lehigh* 7 p.m. Sat. Mar. 1 @ Army* TBA Wed. Mar. 5 Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals (4 highest seeds) Sun. Mar. 9 Patriot League Tournament Semifinals (highest seed) Fri. March 14 Patriot League Championship^ at Berkeley, Calif., with Cal, Long Beach State, North Dakota State * Patriot League game Schedule subject to change All times Eastern
