2003-04 Men's Basketball Schedule Ready
LOUISIANA La. - An appearance in the Pre-Season NIT, the season opener being televised live nationally on ESPN, games at 2003 NCAA Tournament participants Dayton and Xavier (Ohio) along with being selected as a participant for the 2004 ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday event highlight the 2003-04 University of Louisiana at Lafayette men's basketball schedule released Thursday.
The Ragin' Cajuns will also face NCAA participant Western Kentucky as part of a 15-game Sun Belt Conference slate which begins on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Denver.
UL will make one ESPN appearance as the season opener at Georgia Tech in the Owens Corning Pre-Season National Invitational Tournament will be televised live by the network on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Cajuns have an opportunity to add another ESPN appearance depending on the Bracket Buster Saturday pairings.
An appearance on Fox Sports Net is also a possibility should the Cajuns face Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl Classic.
Twelve of the Cajuns' 21 opponents this season posted winning records last year with five of the opponents recording 20-win seasons.
Louisiana will play a total of 11 home games during the regular season in addition to two pre-season exhibitions. The Cajuns have won 22 of the last 24 games contested in the Cajundome and are 65-14 in the arena under head coach Jessie Evans.
Following a pair of exhibition games on Nov. 6 and Nov. 13, UL opens the 2003-04 regular season at Georgia Tech on Nov. 18 in the Pre-Season NIT. It marks the Cajuns second appearance in the event in program history with the last time coming on Nov. 17, 1994 at Memphis.
The winner of the Louisiana-Ga. Tech game would face Marist or Hofstra in the second round. Pre-Season NIT semifinals and finals take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 26 and Nov. 28 respectively.
The home schedule opens on Monday, Nov. 24 as the Cajuns host Loyola-New Orleans in a 7:05 p.m. matchup.
After the fall semester final exam break, the season resumes on Tuesday, Dec. 9 as the Cajuns visit Atlantic-10 member Dayton. That's followed by a two-game homestand against McNeese State on Dec. 15 and the University of Mobile on Dec. 17.
UL Lafayette wraps up the month of December with three straight road games beginning Saturday, Dec. 20 at Xavier (OH).
The road trip concludes with a trip to the Fiesta Bowl Classic presented by Bank One in Tucson, Ariz. Dec. 28-30. The Cajuns open tournament play Sunday, Dec. 28 against Valparaiso at 2:45 p.m. (CDT). Louisiana will play either host-Arizona or Liberty in the second round on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
The Cajuns final non-conference home game of the season takes place on Saturday, Jan. 3 against Houston. The Cougars are making the trek to UL for the first time since Jan.13, 1988, when Earl Watkins' 30-foot three-point bomb at the end of overtime gave the Cajuns a 102-101 victory.
The Sun Belt Conference slate begins on Saturday, Jan. 10 as the Cajuns visit Denver for a 5 p.m. (CDT) game at Hamilton Gymnasium.
SBC West Division rivals South Alabama (Jan. 15), New Orleans (Jan. 17) and New Mexico State (Jan. 22) are the opponents for the Cajuns first Sun Belt homestand.
Following the three-game stand at the Cajundome, the Cajuns close out January with three straight road games at Florida International (Jan. 24), Western Kentucky (Jan. 29) and Middle Tennessee (Jan. 31).
The final month of the regular season begins with a pair of home Sun Belt contests against North Texas on Thursday, Feb. 5 followed by a matchup with Denver on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The toughest part of the schedule follows the DU matchup as the Cajuns open a five-game road trip. The stretch begins with games at South Alabama (Feb. 12) and New Orleans (Feb. 14) followed by a trip to Las Cruces, N.M., for a Wednesday, Feb. 18 matchup at New Mexico State.
The NMSU game precedes the Feb. 21 ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday matchup at an opponent to be named on Sunday, Feb. 1.
UL Lafayette's final road game of the season takes place on Monday, Feb. 23 at North Texas and wraps up the key five-game stretch.
The regular season closes out the same week as the Cajuns host Arkansas State on Thursday, Feb. 26 and Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Cajundome.
The 2004 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held in Bowling Green, Ky., at E.A. Diddle Arena Saturday-Tuesday, March 6-9.Eight of the league's 11 teams qualify for the 28th annual event with the two division winners and runner-ups followed by the next four teams with the best won-loss SBC mark regardless of division all participating.
The Cajuns enter the 2003-04 season coming off back-to-back 20-win seasons and a second straight Sun Belt West Division title. UL was 20-10 overall and 12-3 in the Sun Belt in 2002-03 and made an appearance in the NIT.
LOUISIANA SI
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after the game at georgia tech, home to naia loyola-new orleans, that's it, then 2 games in december, mcneese and UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE, whoopie,"oh my" what have we become, i simply don't understand, maybe someone can help me.
