University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Release '03-'04 Men's Basketball Schedule
9/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Golden Eagles Release '03-'04 Men's Basketball Schedule
The schedule also includes the first game of a two-game series with LSU, a first-ever game with William Carey and Southern Miss' home game with Marquette will be played in Green Bay, Wis. The schedule also will feature 16 Conference USA games, using the new one-division league format for the first time, other non-conference games against strong regional rivals such as Auburn, Murray State, UNO, Georgia Southern and Alcorn State, and an appearance in the Winthrop Tournament in Rock Hill, S.C. "This is a somewhat unusual schedule for us," said Green. "But it also will be a schedule that will be beneficial for us as a team as well as entertaining and exciting for our fans. The game with William Carey will be good for our community. We probably should have done it sooner. "We're also playing the Marquette game in Green Bay as a mean's of increasing our possibility for exposure as well as increasing our revenue. We'll have a greater potential for television there, and the additional revenue will permit us to do some things that will be beneficial for our program, longterm. Playing home games is a vital necessity to any program. You have a better opportunity to win at home. In that regard, the route we're taking this year is a sacrifice, but one we as coaches and a team are willing to make, in an effort to help us reach our longterm goals that much quicker." The Eagles open the season with Nov. 5 and Nov. 11 exhibition games against Global Sports and West Alabama, respectively. Longtime rival Alcorn State provides regular-season-opening opposition, Nov. 21, Southern Miss plays in the Winthrop Tournament, Dec. 5-6, and will open C-USA play Jan. 7, at Louisville. The league schedule this season changes from two divisions to one, and will have each team playing every other team once, with three other "rival or regional" games assigned by the league. For USM, those second games will be against Tulane, Houston, and Memphis. Southern Miss' home C-USA schedule will include games against perennial-league powerhouse Cincinnati, a team the Eagles beat in the opening round of the league tournament last season, Memphis, UAB, Houston, Charlotte, Tulane, and East Carolina. The Jan. 10 Memphis game will be televised on ESPN and the Jan. 24 game, against Cincinnati, will be televised on ESPN Plus. The conference tournament this season will be played Mar. 10-13, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The complete schedule includes: Nov. 5, Global Sports (exhibition); 11, West Alabama (exhibition); 21, Alcorn State; 25, Texas Southern; 29, at Murray State; Dec. 5-6, Brothers Air & Heat Shootout at Rock Hill, S.C. (host Winthrop, Hampton and Samford); 13, at Arkansas State; 17, Georgia Southern; 20, at LSU; 22, William Carey; 30, at Auburn; Jan. 4, UNO; 7, at Louisville; 10, Memphis; 13, at Saint Louis; 16, Marquette (at Green Bay, Wis.); 24, Cincinnati; 28, at TCU; 31, at Tulane; Feb. 3, at Houston; 11, UAB; 13, at USF; 18, Houston; 21, Charlotte; 24, at Memphis; 28, at DePaul; Mar. 3, Tulane; 6, East Carolina; 10-13, at C-USA Tournament (Cincinnati, Ohio).
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Southern Miss Head Basketball Coach James Green and Athletic Director Richard Giannini today released a 2003-04 schedule that will feature one Final Four team (Marquette), five other NCAA Tournament teams (LSU, Auburn, Louisville, Memphis, and Cincinnati), and three others (Saint Louis, UAB, and DePaul) who made NIT appearances.