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Utah State University's head men's basketball coach Stew Morrill announced Tuesday the upcoming 2006-07 schedule as the Aggies will play a total of 33 games during the regular season. The schedule includes five games against in-state opponents, and at least six encounters against postseason teams from the 2005-06 season.
Of those six games against tournament teams from a year ago, two will be at home as the Aggies host Louisiana Tech (NIT) on Jan. 13, and defending Western Athletic Conference champion Nevada (NCAA) on Mar. 1. In all Utah State will play 16 games, including two exhibition contests, at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, a venue where it has produced a 122-10 (.924) record over the past nine years.
"Our schedule takes us from Alaska to Hawai'i with lots of stops in between against quality opponents from different parts of the country," said Morrill. "Our non-conference schedule includes the always tough in-state rivalry games, as well as plenty of other challenges with more travel and road games than most years."
After playing exhibition games against EA Sports and Occidental College in the first week of November, Utah State will begin the year by playing five of its first six games on the road as the Aggies open the season at Northwestern State, a NCAA Tournament team from a year ago, on Fri., Nov. 10. USU will then play Centenary in the first round of the 2006 Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska on Fri., Nov. 17. Joining the Aggies and Gents in the tournament will be host Alaska-Fairbanks, Drake, Rhode Island, Southeast Missouri State, Troy and Weber State.
Other non-conference road games include in-state contests against Utah Valley State on Dec. 9 and Brigham Young on Dec. 16, along with games at South Dakota State and Santa Clara. USU will also participate in a BracketBuster game on the road in the middle of February.
Utah State will play its first home game of the 2006-07 season on Sat., Nov. 25 against Weber State, and it will also host in-state rival Utah on Wed., Dec. 6. Overall, USU has an impressive 14-5 record against its in-state opponents over the last six years. Other non-conference home games include match ups against Idaho State, IPFW, Utah Valley State, and Cal State Bakersfield as part of Gossner Foods Night.
"Our traditional Gossner Foods Holiday Classic will be just a single game this year, but will return to a multi-team event next season," added Morrill. "NCAA scheduling changes made it impossible to complete the field this season, but we will still have a Gossner Foods Night against Cal State Bakersfield, and we appreciate Delores Wheeler and Gossner Foods understanding of the circumstances."
Utah State will open Western Athletic Conference play at Boise State on Thur., Jan. 4 and it will conclude league play on Sat., Mar. 3 at home against Fresno State, while the 2007 WAC Tournament will be held in Las Cruces, N.M., from Mar. 6-10.
"When WAC play begins we will no doubt be picked to finish way back in the pack," said Morrill. "With lots of new players and the experience lost from last year, it should be interesting to see if we can rise up and be a factor. The WAC will be a strong conference this year!"
Utah State returns two starters and five lettermen from last year's team that went 23-9 on the season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last seven years. Over the last seven years, Utah State has a 175-50 (.778) overall record, including a 95-25 (.792) mark in league play.
2006-07 Utah State Men's Basketball Schedule
Date Opponent Location Time Series Record Wed., Nov. 1 EA SPORTS (Ex.) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Mon., Nov. 6 OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE (Ex.) Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Fri., Nov. 10 Northwestern State Natchitoches, La. 6:45 p.m. USU leads 1-0 Thur.-Sun., Nov. 16-19 Top of the World Classic Fairbanks, Alaska (Alaska-Fairbanks, Centenary, Drake, Rhode Island, Southeast Missouri State, Troy, Utah State, Weber State) Fri., Nov. 17 Centenary Fairbanks, Alaska 8:00 p.m. USU leads 2-1 Sat., Nov. 18 SE Missouri State/Drake Fairbanks, Alaska TBA Sun., Nov. 19 UAF, Rhode Island, Troy, Weber St. Fairbanks, Alaska TBA Sat., Nov. 25 WEBER STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 32-24 Wed., Nov. 29 South Dakota State Brookings, S.D. 6:05 p.m. USU leads 3-0 Sat., Dec. 2 IDAHO STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 30-13 Wed., Dec. 6 UTAH Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU trails 90-128 Sat., Dec. 9 Utah Valley State Orem, Utah 7:05 p.m. First Meeting Sat., Dec. 16 Brigham Young Provo, Utah TBA USU trails 90-133 Thur., Dec. 21 IPFW Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU trails 0-1 Sat., Dec. 23 Santa Clara Santa Clara, Calif. 2:05 p.m. USU leads 3-2 Fri., Dec. 29 CS BAKERSFIELD Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 1-0 Thur., Jan. 4 Boise State Boise, Idaho 7:05 p.m. USU leads 18-5 Sat., Jan. 6 Fresno State Fresno, Calif. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 21-17 Wed., Jan. 10 UTAH VALLEY STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Sat., Jan. 13 LOUISIANA TECH Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 3-0 Mon., Jan. 15 IDAHO Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 24-12 Thur., Jan. 18 BOISE STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Sat., Jan. 20 San Jose State San Jose, Calif.. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 36-20 Sat., Jan. 27 Nevada Reno, Nev. 8:05 p.m. USU leads 23-9 Mon., Jan. 29 Hawai'i Honolulu, Hawai'i 10:05 p.m. USU leads 3-2 Sat., Feb. 3 SAN JOSE STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Mon., Feb. 5 NEW MEXICO STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. USU leads 27-22 Sat., Feb. 10 Idaho Moscow, Idaho 8:05 p.m. Wed., Feb. 14 HAWAI'I Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Sat., Feb. 17 ESPN BracketBuster TBA TBA Thur., Feb. 22 New Mexico State Las Cruces, N.M. 7:05 p.m. Sat., Feb. 24 Louisiana Tech Ruston, La. 6:05 p.m.
Thur., Mar. 1 *NEVADA Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Sat., Mar. 3 *FRESNO STATE Dee Glen Smith Spectrum 7:05 p.m. Tues.-Sat., Mar. 6-10 WAC Tournament Las Cruces, N.M. TBA Thur.-Sun., Mar. 15-18 NCAA First & Second Rounds TBA TBA
*Denotes Western Athletic Conference game. Home Games in BOLD AND ALL CAPS. All times are Mountain time, tentative and subject to change.
