Schedule to test young 'Runners
| Thursday, Aug 20 2009 08:25 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Aug 20 2009 10:52 PM
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The Californian CSUB's Cory Brown (52) got a block on this shot by Utah Valley's Josh Olsen in a game last season at Rabobank Arena.
Earlier this year, Cal State Bakersfield announced it would play UCLA and Gonzaga in men's basketball this season.
The Roadrunners have added two other notable opponents, Cincinnati and Southern Mississippi, among 23 different opponents on the 2009-10 schedule, which was announced Thursday.
The Roadrunners (8-21 last season) open the season with two home games, Nov. 13 vs. Santa Clara and Nov. 17 vs. Utah Valley, with both games starting at 7 p.m.
CSUB, an NCAA Division I independent, has 11 home games. All will be played in Rabobank Arena.
The most notable games are on the road -- the Nov. 20 game at UCLA and the season finale on March 2 at Gonzaga University.
The Roadrunner opponents are from 10 different conferences plus two Division I independents.
"This is without a question the most exciting schedule in terms of both quality and depth in the history of Roadrunner basketball," CSUB coach Keith Brown said in a statement.
"The high-caliber opposition will provide both challenges and opportunities," Brown added. "We have a talented young team and we're looking forward to testing ourselves against some of the nation's best NCAA Division I competition."
Ten games are against Big West Conference schools, the preferred conference CSUB has targeted for membership.
Four BWC schools -- Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly -- will have home-and-home games against CSUB.
CSUB is also playing at Oregon State on Dec. 6. Along with UCLA, that gives the Roadrunners two Pac-10 opponents this season.
The game at Cincinnati will be played Dec. 26 and the game at Southern Miss will be on Jan. 12.
Times for the games at UCLA, Oregon State, Cincinnati and Gonzaga have not been determined, pending the release of national and regional television schedules.
UC Irvine, which is led by former Roadrunner coach Pat Douglass, will play at Rabobank Arena on Feb. 3 and the teams will then play at Irvine Feb. 6.
Other notable games are Feb. 15 at Idaho State, Feb. 17 at Boise State and Feb. 23 at Fresno State.
CSUB faces teams from five of the six Division I conferences in the West this season: the BWC, Pac-10, Big Sky, Western Athletic and West Coast.
This season marks the final year of CSUB's transition to Division I from NCAA Division II status. The Roadrunners will become a full Div. I member before the start of the 2010-11 academic year.
Season tickets are on sale. Call 654-BLUE for more information.
