Ball State University Athletics
Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services
Men’s Basketball Announces Full Schedule for 2017-18
September 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Cardinals open at Dayton, visit Final Four teams from past two seasons
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The 2017-18 Ball State men's basketball team will put itself to the test right out of the gate. The Cardinals' full schedule was revealed Thursday with the announcement of the team's non-conference dates and the release of the Mid-American Conference slate.
The non-conference portion is highlighted by six opponents that reached the NCAA tournament during the past two seasons and two Final Four squads from that stretch.
"It's an aggressive schedule to say the least, but it's exciting for our guys," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "For us, it's really about being consumed with the process … Through good or bad, if your process is right, you'll handle any schedule right."
Ball State will play five of its first six regular season games on the road with contests at Dayton (2017 NCAA), Oklahoma (2016 Final Four), Oregon (2017 Final Four), Bucknell (2017 NCAA) and Indiana State. Dayton is the opener on Nov. 10. The only game inside Worthen Arena during that span is the home opener Nov. 17 against Stony Brook (2016 NCAA).
Four of those games -- Oklahoma, Oregon, Bucknell and Stony Brook -- are tied to the Phil Knight Invitational, an event organized by ESPN to honor the Nike founder.
"We're more prepared to play this type of schedule than we would have been in the past; that's part of it," Whitford said. "But the bigger part of it is ESPN offering us these opportunities."
The Cardinals will play six of their final seven non-conference games at Worthen Arena. The only road game of those seven is a Dec. 5 trip to Notre Dame (2017 NCAA) for the first meeting between the teams in more than 40 years.
The home games include matchups against in-state rivals Valparaiso and IUPUI plus contests against North Florida, Jackson State and Florida A&M.
Ball State will begin its 18-game MAC schedule with back-to-back home dates Jan. 2 against Eastern Michigan and Jan. 6 against Buffalo.
The Cardinals drew Akron and Kent State from the East Division as their crossover opponents and will play home-and-home against those schools and each of the other five West Division teams. BSU will play the other four East Division opponents once apiece with home games against Buffalo and Bowling Green and road trips to Ohio and Miami.
A pair of MAC home games has already been selected for national television with the Jan. 27 contest versus Akron on CBS Sports Network and the Feb. 23 matchup against Western Michigan on ESPN2. The MAC also has five wildcard national TV selections in February. Those dates will be announced in mid-October.
Ball State will play the final week of the regular season on the road against divisional foes, Feb. 27 at Central Michigan and March 2 at Northern Illinois.
The MAC Tournament begins March 5 with first-round games on campus sites. The top four seeds will receive a bye to Cleveland, where the final three rounds will be played March 8-10 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The non-conference portion is highlighted by six opponents that reached the NCAA tournament during the past two seasons and two Final Four squads from that stretch.
"It's an aggressive schedule to say the least, but it's exciting for our guys," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "For us, it's really about being consumed with the process … Through good or bad, if your process is right, you'll handle any schedule right."
Ball State will play five of its first six regular season games on the road with contests at Dayton (2017 NCAA), Oklahoma (2016 Final Four), Oregon (2017 Final Four), Bucknell (2017 NCAA) and Indiana State. Dayton is the opener on Nov. 10. The only game inside Worthen Arena during that span is the home opener Nov. 17 against Stony Brook (2016 NCAA).
Four of those games -- Oklahoma, Oregon, Bucknell and Stony Brook -- are tied to the Phil Knight Invitational, an event organized by ESPN to honor the Nike founder.
"We're more prepared to play this type of schedule than we would have been in the past; that's part of it," Whitford said. "But the bigger part of it is ESPN offering us these opportunities."
The Cardinals will play six of their final seven non-conference games at Worthen Arena. The only road game of those seven is a Dec. 5 trip to Notre Dame (2017 NCAA) for the first meeting between the teams in more than 40 years.
The home games include matchups against in-state rivals Valparaiso and IUPUI plus contests against North Florida, Jackson State and Florida A&M.
Ball State will begin its 18-game MAC schedule with back-to-back home dates Jan. 2 against Eastern Michigan and Jan. 6 against Buffalo.
The Cardinals drew Akron and Kent State from the East Division as their crossover opponents and will play home-and-home against those schools and each of the other five West Division teams. BSU will play the other four East Division opponents once apiece with home games against Buffalo and Bowling Green and road trips to Ohio and Miami.
A pair of MAC home games has already been selected for national television with the Jan. 27 contest versus Akron on CBS Sports Network and the Feb. 23 matchup against Western Michigan on ESPN2. The MAC also has five wildcard national TV selections in February. Those dates will be announced in mid-October.
Ball State will play the final week of the regular season on the road against divisional foes, Feb. 27 at Central Michigan and March 2 at Northern Illinois.
The MAC Tournament begins March 5 with first-round games on campus sites. The top four seeds will receive a bye to Cleveland, where the final three rounds will be played March 8-10 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Wednesday, June 17
Monday, June 15
Thursday, May 07
Tuesday, April 28