Ball State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Announces 2009-10 Schedule
August 18, 2009 | Men's Basketball
MUNCIE, Ind. - Ball State men's basketball head coach Billy Taylor announced a 29-game schedule for the 2009-10 season Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals will face five NCAA Tournament teams from last season (Temple, Butler, Purdue, Dayton and Akron) and will have 16 home dates, including eight of their 13 non-league contests at Worthen Arena.
"As our program continues to grow, we want to continue to play at a high level in our non-conference schedule," Taylor said. "Our guys will get significant tests against four NCAA Tournament teams as well as tough road contests at Purdue, Temple, Dayton and Indiana State. We also want to attract quality opponents to Worthen Arena for our fans who provide us a strong home court advantage with their support."
The Cardinals open the 2009-10 season at home as they host instate rival Valparaiso Nov. 13, marking the fifth straight season the Cardinals have opened the year at home. The contest against the Crusaders will be the 58th meeting between the two teams and the first since the 2006-07 season. Ball State remains home Nov. 21 when it hosts SIU-Edwardsville for the second straight season.
BSU makes its first road trip of the season Nov. 24 when it travels to Temple as part of the Mid-American Conference agreement with the Owls. The Cardinals wrap up November with a home contest versus UC-Davis Nov. 28.
Ball State welcomes instate rival Butler Dec. 2 for the 101st meeting between the two teams. The Cardinals begin their longest road trip of the season Dec. 5 as they return to West Lafayette for a meeting with Purdue. Ball State resumes its series with Indiana State Dec. 9 in Terre Haute, marking a program-record 124th meeting between the Cardinals and Sycamores. BSU will also return to Tennessee Tech Dec. 12 as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event from last season.
"The continuation of the Butler series is great for both programs with the tradition behind the series and this year being our 101st meeting," Taylor said. "Also, resuming the Indiana State series is good for college basketball in the state and beneficial for both programs."
The Cardinals return to Worthen Arena for a three-game home stretch with contests against North Carolina Central (Dec. 21), Maryland Eastern Shore (Dec. 28) and Manchester (Dec. 31). Ball State opens the New Year with a road game at regional foe Dayton Jan. 5.
The 16-game Mid-American Conference schedule begins Jan. 9 at Worthen Arena against Northern Illinois. The Cardinals will travel to Central Michigan Jan. 13, in their first MAC road game. The Cardinals play a home-and-home series against each team from the MAC West Division while playing each team from the MAC East Division. Ball State will play home games against MAC East foes Miami, Bowling Green and Akron while travelling to Buffalo, Ohio and Kent State.
"MAC play is always an exciting part of our schedule and we look forward to the competition," Taylor said. "Our non-conference schedule will prepare us for the grind of conference play. Our guys know that every single night will be a challenge and our success will be determined on how we respond to those challenges."
The Cardinals have also been selected to participate in the eighth annual ESPNU BracketBuster event. Ball State is slated to be a home team Feb. 20, marking the fifth time in the past eight years the Cardinals have played at home in the BracketBuster event.
"We are excited to continue our affiliation with the ESPNU BracketBuster event," Taylor said. "This is a great showcase for the Mid-American Conference to see where we match up against other quality conferences."
The 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament will begin March 7 with first round contests as campus sites. The teams advancing past the first round will head to Cleveland, Ohio, March 10-13 for the conclusion of the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.
####
