Tulsa coach Dug Wojcik announced the non-conference schedule today. |
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Tulsa Announces Non-Conference Basketball Schedule
July 25, 2008
Tulsa, Oklahoma - A season after winning the inaugural College Basketball Invitational Championship and posting 25 wins, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane will head into the 2008-09 campaign with two of Conference USA's top players in the likes of seven-footer Jerome Jordan and leading scorer Ben Uzoh. Tulsa fans will have an opportunity to see these two players and the rest of the Golden Hurricane 19 times at home in the upcoming season.
Tulsa announced its 15-game non-conference schedule today, as the 16-game league slate will not be announced until September.
In the regular season, the Hurricane will face the other three NCAA Division I schools in the state of Oklahoma as Oral Roberts and Oklahoma will visit Tulsa, while the Hurricane will travel to Stillwater to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The last time Tulsa played the other three state of Oklahoma Division I schools came in the 1996-97 season.
Tulsa will face eight schools that made post-season play last year, and the possibility of playing a ninth at the South Padre Classic. Five NCAA participants, two NIT and one CBI participant are on the Hurricane schedule in 2008-09, including four of those NCAA Tournament teams playing in Tulsa.
"We're really excited about our non-conference schedule. I think our schedule is growing as we planned for it three years ago when we were building our team," said Tulsa Head Coach Doug Wojcik.
The cross-town rivalry with Oral Roberts will tip-off the season on November 15 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa leads the overall series by a 28-16 margin. The last time the Golden Eagles played at the cross-town Reynolds Center in the 2006-07 campaign, Tulsa claimed a 68-52 victory. Last season, ORU posted a 24-9 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Summit League title.
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Next up, is a trip down the Cimarron Turnpike to play Oklahoma State on Thursday, Nov. 20. The two teams, separated by only 71 miles, have met 103 times on the basketball court, but not since the 1996-97 season when Tulsa captured a 72-54 victory at the Tulsa Convention Center.
The Cowboys made an appearance in the NIT last year and ended the season with a 17-16 record.
The Hurricane will return to the Reynolds Center for two home games in a span of three days as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes to town on Nov 23, followed by North Carolina Central on Tuesday night, Nov. 25. Although played in Tulsa, these two contests are scheduled as a part of the South Padre Classic.
Tulsa will be making its second-ever appearance in the South Padre Classic the weekend of Nov. 28-29. In the first game, Tulsa will face its second of three Big 12 opponents on the season as the Hurricane squares off against Texas A&M. The Aggies finished with a 25-11 record and advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament.
Tulsa will then play either Kent State or Illinois a night later on Nov. 29. Kent posted a 28-7 overall record and won the Mid-American Conference East Division and the MAC Tournament title a year ago, while Illinois won 16 games last year. The last time Tulsa played the Big 10 powerhouse came in the 1995 NCAA Tournament when the Hurricane captured a 68-62 victory in first round action
Before returning to the Reynolds Center, the Hurricane will travel to Athens, Ohio, to face the Ohio University Bobcats, another Mid-American Conference school, on Dec. 3. Ohio posted a 20-13 record last year and played in the College Basketball Invitational losing to Bradley, the team Tulsa defeated in the CBI Championship Finals.
Oklahoma makes the trek to Tulsa to face the Hurricane on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 7, at the downtown BOK Center. It will be Oklahoma's second appearance in Tulsa in the last four years as the Sooners came to town ranked fifth nationally in the 2005-06 campaign. OU posted an overall 23-12 record in 2007-08 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
A former Missouri Valley Conference rival, Missouri State, will be making an appearance at the Reynolds Center on Dec. 10. The Bears, coming off a 17-16 campaign, and the Hurricane have played 32 times previously, as Tulsa has won the last four meetings. The last time the two teams played came in 2002-03 as Tulsa claimed a 62-46 win in Springfield.
Presbyterian comes to Tulsa for the second consecutive year on Dec. 14. The Hurricane grabbed a 77-58 victory a year ago. The Hurricane will then take to the road and head to California to play Loyola Marymount on Dec. 20.
The Hurricane returns home to close out the month of December against two teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year. Tulsa faces Texas-Arlington, the defending Southland Conference Tournament Champion, on Dec. 23, and will square off against former Western Athletic Conference rival and current Mountain West Conference member Brigham Young on Dec. 30.
UTA posted an overall 21-12 record last year and will face the Hurricane for only the second time in school history. The first game was played in 1966-67 as Tulsa posted a 107-74 home win. BYU won the regular season Mountain West title with an overall 27-8 record last year. It's the 11th meeting between the Hurricane and Cougars.
The New Year will begin with a home contest against Northeastern State (Okla.) University on January 3. The two teams have played 18 times previously.
The Conference USA season is slated to begin on Jan. 7, but the Hurricane will not close out the non-conference schedule until a road game at North Carolina-Charlotte on Jan. 10. Tulsa handed the 49ers a 75-63 setback last year at the Reynolds Center. Charlotte, a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, posted a 20-14 mark and made an NIT appearance.
"Opening the season with Oral Roberts will get fans excited right away, then we travel to Oklahoma State, a team we haven't played in awhile, and having the opportunity to play Texas A&M and potentially Illinois on a neutral floor will be good for us," said Wojcik. "We'll continue with a road game against Ohio U, which was a top-100 RPI team last year, and then Oklahoma at the BOK Center should generate a lot of interest. RPI-wise, the remaining games with BYU and Missouri State at home and Charlotte on the road, is where we need to be as we pursue post-season opportunities," added Wojcik.
"This schedule gives us some great home games," said Wojcik. "It's the type of schedule that will help prepare us for a tough conference season and give us the quality opponents needed in our pursuit of an NCAA Tournament berth."
Tulsa will play its two exhibition games back-to-back this year in November. Tulsa will host Oklahoma Baptist on Nov. 6, and will play Dallas Baptist on Nov. 10.
Season tickets are on sale now for new season ticket purchasers by calling the TU athletic ticket office at 918-631-4688. Season ticket prices range from $170 to $408, and Family Fun Zone Tickets for two adults and two youth can also be purchased now. Season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to the neutral site game against Oklahoma at the BOK Center. Season ticket holders interested in purchasing tickets for the TU-OU game can do so on their annual renewal notice. TU-OU ticket prices will be announced at a later date.
2008-09 TULSA MEN'S NON-CONFERENCE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Day Opponent Time 2008 Postseason Nov. 6 Thurs. OKLAHOMA BAPTIST (Exhibition) 7:05 pm Nov. 10 Mon. DALLAS BAPTIST (Exhibition) 7:05 pm
Nov. 15 Sat. ORAL ROBERTS 7:05 pm NCAA Nov. 20 Thurs. @ Oklahoma State TBA NIT Nov. 23 Sun. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI TBA Nov. 25 Tues. NORTH CAROLINA CENTtRAL 7:05 pm Nov. 28 Fri. vs. Texas A&M @ Souh Padre 5/7:30 pm NCAA Nov. 29 Sat. vs. Kent /Illinois@ South Padre 4:30/7 pm NCAA/none
Dec. 3 Wed. @ Ohio TBA CBI Dec. 7 Sun. OKLAHOMA @ BOK Center 3:05 pm NCAA Dec. 10 Wed. MISSOURI STATE 7:05 pm Dec. 14 Sun. PRESBYTERIAN TBA Dec. 20 Sat. @ Loyola Marymount TBA Dec. 23 Tues. TEXAS-ARLINGTON 7:05 pm NCAA Dec. 30 Tues. BYU 7:05 pm NCAA
Jan. 3 Sat. NORTHEASTERN STATE (Okla.) TBA Jan. 7 Wed. C-USA SEASON BEGINS TBA Jan. 10 Sat. @ Charlotte TBA NIT
