Rice University head
basketball coach Willis Wilson has announced Rice’s 2005-06
basketball schedule. The slate features seven schools that
played in post-season a year ago. This is also the first season
for Rice as a member of Conference USA and its first-ever C-USA
game will be against Houston on Jan. 11 at Autry Court.
Conference USA basketball coaches voted to adopt a 14-game
conference schedule that includes round-robin play in addition
to three mirror opponents in which teams will play a
home-and-home series. Rice’s mirror opponents are Houston, SMU,
and Tulane. The Owls will host C-USA foes UAB on Jan. 18,
Memphis on Feb. 4, East Carolina (Feb. 15), UCF (Feb. 25), and
host SMU on March 4 for the last game of the regular season.
In non-Conference USA action, the Owls tip-off the season by
competing in Marquette’s 44th Pepsi Blue and Gold Classic on
Nov. 18-19 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Rice faces
Marquette in game one and will either play Winthrop or IUPUI the
next night. The Owls first home game of the season is vs. New
Mexico Highlands on Nov. 22 in historic Autry Court.
Other season highlights include a trip to Oregon (Nov. 26), to
N. Little Rock, Ark. to face Arkansas on Dec. 17, and home dates
vs. Utah (Dec. 3) and vs. Texas on Dec. 5 at the Toyota Center
in downtown Houston.
The seven Rice opponents who played in post-season last year are
Utah (NCAA), Texas (NCAA), UAB (NCAA), UTEP (NCAA), Marquette
(NIT), Houston (NIT), and Memphis (NIT). The Owls may also face
Winthrop, another NCAA team in 2005.
The Conference USA Championship will be played March 8-11 in
Memphis, Tenn., the NCAA Selection Show is March 12, and the
NCAA Final Four takes place at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis,
Ind. on April 1 and 3.
Rice 2005-06 Basketball Schedule: N18 %at Marquette%
N19 %vs. Winthrop or IUPUI
N22 New Mexico Highlands
N26 at Oregon
N29 Prairie View A&M
D3 Utah
D5 Texas
D15 Palm Beach Atlantic D17 at Arkansas (N. Little
Rock, Ark.)
D21 Texas Southern
D30 at Murray State
J2 Yale
J5 Princeton
J11 Houston
J14 at Tulane
J18 UAB
J21 at SMU
J25 at Southern Miss
J28 Tulane
F4 Memphis
F8 at Marshall
F11 at Tulsa
F15 East Carolina
F18 at UTEP
F25 UCF M1 at Houston
M4 SMU M8-11 Conference USA Tournament (Memphis, Tenn.)
