IU Releases Men's Basketball Schedule

Bloomington – Don’t let the handful no names fool you - Indiana’s 2009-10 men’s basketball schedule is as challenging as ever.

Indiana University released its 2009-10 schedule Wednesday, a line-up includes a season opener with Howard on Nov. 13 followed up by a match-up three days later against USC-Upstate. Other relative unknowns on the schedule include Northwestern State (Nov. 28), North Carolina Central (Dec. 19) and Bryant (Dec. 22), all of which will be played at Assembly Hall.

But there are plenty of big names on the schedule, both in-conference and out. The first two weeks of December include match-ups against Maryland, Pitt and Kentucky back-to-back-to-back, and the Nov. 19-22 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off includes an opener against Ole Miss and a couple of other potential difficult match-ups during the four-day event.

The Big Ten slate, meanwhile, opens Dec. 31 with a noon match-up against Michigan at Assembly Hall.

Unlike in years past, the Big Ten schedule doesn’t feature any long homestands or string of road games. In fact, Indiana alternates playing home and away for the first 16 games of the 18-game slate. The only consecutive conference games either home or away are a Feb. 28 match-up at Iowa, followed by a road trip to West Lafayette to play Purdue on either March 2, 3 or 4.

Indiana is also slated to be on national television at least 10 times, starting with the Puerto Rico Tip-Off game against Ole Miss Nov. 19 on ESPN2. The Hoosiers are currently slated to appear on CBS once (Kentucky, Dec. 12), ESPN at least twice (Pitt Dec. 8, Michigan State Feb. 16) and ESPN2 three times (Ole Miss, Maryland Dec. 1, Michigan Dec. 31). Indiana also has four Big Ten games that are slated to be on either ESPN or ESPN2, depending on which network ESPN ultimately opts to put the game.

Click Here for the complete 2009-10 Indiana Men’s Basketball Schedule