CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Road games at three of the mid-south's top programs, Tennessee, Kentucky and Memphis, along with a tournament in Daytona, Fla., will highlight the 2009-10 Austin Peay State University men's basketball schedule.
"This is a real tough schedule that will be exciting-opening at Tennessee is a real exciting way to start the season," APSU coach Dave Loos said. "A visit to Rupp Arena is something our student-athletes will remember for a long time. We like to play in Memphis because it has been a good place for us to recruit and we have a significant alumni base there as well. And we also are going to a warm-weather area for a very competitive tournament...so this is a real tough schedule. This schedule will really have us battle-tested when we get into OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) play."
In fact, the Governors will open the regular season with a contest at Tennessee, Friday, Nov. 13. The Volunteers finished 2008-09 with a 21-13 record and lost to Oklahoma State in first-round NCAA tourney play.
The Governors then will proceed to open first-round play in the Glenn Wilkes Classic two days later at Akron, Ohio. The Zips won the Mid-American Conference tourney in March before losing a tight game to Gonzaga in first-round NCAA tourney action.
Then the eight-team tourney field will move to Daytona. In addition to the Govs and Akron, Auburn, Central Florida, Niagara, IUPUI, Drake and Howard will round out the tourney field.
The Govs will open their home schedule, Saturday Nov. 28, when they play host to Drake (17-16 in 2008-09)-a payback for the 2009 ESPNU BracketBuster contest. That will start a stretch of four straight home games, including the Ohio Valley Conference-opening weekend of Dec. 3 and Dec. 5 against Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois, respectively.
The Governors then will travel back to the Buckeye State to face its second Mid-American Conference foe, Ohio (15-17 in 2008-09). The two teams met in Clarksville a year ago.
Before Christmas, the Governors will play at Kentucky, Dec. 19. The Wildcats finished 2008-09 at 22-14, playing in the post-season NIT. They are now under the direction of John Calipari, who led Memphis to 30-plus wins over the last two seasons
The Govs then will play at home against its second Missouri Valley team, Evansville (17-14 in 2008-09), in a Dec. 22 contest. APSU will close out the 2009 portion of its schedule when it plays at Memphis, Tuesday, Dec. 29. The Tigers posted a 33-4 record in 2008-09 and will be under the direction of new head coach Josh Pastner.
The Governors will return to OVC play, Saturday, Jan. 2, at Morehead State, the defending league tourney champions, before playing Eastern Kentucky that following Monday.
From there, it will be strictly OVC play, except for the ESPNU BracketBuster contest at home, Feb. 20.
First-round OVC tourney play will be played at home sites, March 2, with the finals and semifinals, March 5-6.
The schedule, still minus a couple of exhibition contests, will be one of the toughest in Dave Loos' head-coaching tenure and it partially is driven by budget concerns.
"This is a schedule that produces a lot of revenue," said Loos, who also serves as the University's athletics director. "We know
the next few years is going to be tough (budget-wise) and we believe we had to find additional revenue streams. This is one way you can do it."
