Southern Miss Head
Men's Basketball Coach Larry Eustachy and Director of Athletics
Richard Giannini today released the 2005-06 men's basketball
schedule that will feature 15 home dates and one non-conference
tournament.
Five
postseason teams from a season ago and two Southeastern
Conference foes also appear on the schedule. Among the NCAA
participants that Southern Miss will face three of them -- UAB,
UCF and UTEP -- all currently play in the new-look Conference
USA. Two others, C-USA holdovers Houston and Memphis, competed
in the 2005 National Invitational Tournament. Non-conference
opponents Arkansas and Auburn, members of the SEC, also appear
on the schedule. The contest with Auburn is the first in a
two-year contract, with the Tigers visiting Hattiesburg and Reed
Green Coliseum on Jan. 2, 2007.
"This
season’s schedule will be a competitive one for our team,"
Eustachy said. "Much like last season, we have several newcomers
who, along with our returning players, need to have a little bit
of success. I believe that this schedule is right for where our
program stands today. Our non-conference tournament in Alaska
has a solid field of participating teams, and we're also excited
about our home-and-home series with a quality opponent like
Auburn, who will be coming to Hattiesburg next season.
"It
will also be an interesting season with the changes in
Conference USA," Eustachy added. "The addition of the new teams,
along with the programs who remained in the league, should make
for an exciting season. The key to our program's success in the
future will be putting people in the stands. If we do that, we
can build the type of home-court advantage that is crucial to
having a successful Division I basketball program."
Exhibition action kicks off when the Golden Eagles host the
University of Calgary on Sunday, Nov. 6, at Green Coliseum,
followed by another contest on Monday, Nov. 14, against Loyola
University of New Orleans.
Southern Miss opens the regular season on the road at the Top of
the World Classic (Nov. 17-20) in Fairbanks, Alaska. The team
meets Lamar in the opening-round of the tournament, with host
Alaska-Fairbanks, Denver, Illinois-Chicago, Kennesaw State,
Montana State and San Diego State all taking part in the event.
The
Golden Eagles then return home for a single-game against
Samford on Nov. 28, before departing
for a three-game road swing that includes visits to Arkansas
(Nov. 30), New Orleans (Dec. 3) and Sam Houston State (Dec. 7).
Following the road trip, the Golden Eagles begin a seven-game
homestand that features South
Alabama (Dec. 10), crosstown-foe
William Carey (Dec. 17), Tennessee State (Dec. 19), Bradley
(Dec. 21) before the Christmas break. West Florida then visits
Hattiesburg on Dec. 27, while Spring Hill (Dec. 30) and
McNeese State (Jan. 2) help bring in
the new year. The non-conference
slate ends with a Jan. 4 visit to Auburn.
The
schedule also will feature 14 Conference USA games, where
Southern Miss will face every team in the league at least once
and then taking on three mirror opponents -- Memphis, Tulane and
UAB -- twice. The league slate begins with Tulane at home (Jan.
11) and a pair of road games at Tulsa (Jan. 14) and Houston
(Jan. 18). Other conference road games include UAB (Jan. 28),
SMU (Feb. 4), Memphis (Feb. 14), Marshall (Feb. 25) and Tulane
(March 1).
In
addition to the league home-opener against Tulane, C-USA home
games include Memphis (Jan. 21), Rice (Jan. 25), UCF (Feb. 8),
UTEP (Feb. 11), UAB (Feb. 18) and the regular-season finale
against East Carolina on March 4.
The
conference tournament will again be played in Memphis, Tenn.,
this season. That event is slated for March 8-11.
The
complete schedule follows:
Nov. - 6, University
of Calgary (exhibition); 14,
Loyola University (exhibition);
17-20, Top of the
World Classic at Fairbanks, Alaska (host Alaska-Fairbanks,
Denver, Illinois-Chicago, Kennesaw State, Lamar, Montana State
and San Diego State); 28,
Samford;
30, at Arkansas;
Dec. - 3 at New
Orleans; 7, at Sam
Houston State; 10,
South Alabama; 17,
William Carey; 19,
Tennessee State; 21,
Bradley; 27, West
Florida; 30,
Spring Hill;
Jan. - 2,
McNeese State;
4, at Auburn;
11, Tulane;
14, at Tulsa;
18, at Houston;
21, Memphis;
25, Rice;
28, at UAB;
Feb. - 4, at SMU;
8, UCF;
11, UTEP;
14, at Memphis;
18, UAB;
25, at Marshall
March - 1, at Tulane;
4, East Carolina
