Aug. 25, 2009
ATLANTA – A November trip to Puerto Rico for a four-day tournament and a total of 15 games against teams that played in last year’s NCAA or NIT post-season tournaments highlight Georgia Tech’s 2009-10 men’s basketball schedule, announced Tuesday by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Defending NCAA champion North Carolina, defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke and Pac-10 heavyweight Southern California highlight the slate of teams that will visit Alexander Memorial Coliseum in 2009-10, and the Yellow Jackets will appear on national cable television a minimum of six times.
Tech’s ACC schedule includes 13 games against teams that played in last year’s NCAA Tournament and two others against NIT teams. The Yellow Jackets, who return four starters and has the nation’s No. 4 recruiting class, will play the Tar Heels and Blue Devils both home and away this season for the first time in three years.
The ACC slate begins with a Sunday national telecast on Fox Sports Net at home against Florida State on Dec. 20. The Yellow Jackets’ home conference schedule this year also includes Duke, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State, North Carolina, Boston College and Virginia Tech. Tech travels to Virginia, North Carolina, Florida State, Duke, Miami, Wake Forest, Maryland and Clemson.
The 57th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will be held Mar. 11-14 in Greensboro, N.C.
“It’s another challenging ACC schedule,” said head coach Paul Hewitt. “I believe the ACC will be the best conference in the country this season. We always want to play a challenging schedule because our players want that. They come to Georgia Tech to play the best teams in the country and play in the ACC.”
The non-conference schedule includes a Dec. 5 regionally-televised game against the Trojans, who made the NCAA Tournament field last year and return a trip the Yellow Jackets made last December to Los Angeles. Siena, a 2009 NCAA Tournament team and a projected top-25 team this year, comes to Alexander Memorial Coliseum Dec. 2. Kentucky State, whose head coach, Clarence Moore, played for the Yellow Jackets from 2000-04, visits Tech on Jan. 30.
Tech will meet NCAA Tournament entry Dayton in the first round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 19, and have a second-round date against Final Four team Villanova or George Mason. The field also includes Boston University, Indiana, Kansas State and Mississippi.
Non-conference road games include UNC Charlotte, Georgia and 2009 NCAA Tournament team Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Tech will play on ESPN or ESPN2 four times, with one game on Fox Sports Net and two others on ESPNU. The Yellow Jackets have three other games on regional cable outlet Fox Sports South and other cable outlets in the ACC area, and will appear on the ACC Raycom regional network seven times.
Other schedule notes: Georgia Tech and Siena have met only once before, in the 1994 post-season NIT (a loss) … The Tech-Siena contract is for three games, including a visit to Loudonville, N.Y., in 2010-11 … Tech head coach Paul Hewitt’s first head coaching job was at Siena from 1997-2000 … Pre-season top-25 projections by ESPN.com include Villanova (4), North Carolina (5), Duke (10), Maryland (17), Siena (20), Boston College (22) … ESPN.com writer Andy Katz listed Georgia Tech, Dayton, Clemson and Wake Forest among others who could have filled the slots between No. 15 and 25 … Georgia Tech’s last trip to Chattanooga was Dec. 22, 1992 (a win) … The Yellow Jackets’ last, and only, trip to Charlotte was Jan. 14, 1985 (also a win) … Both Charlotte and Chattanooga will play Tech in Atlanta in 2010-11 … Tech’s only previous meeting with Dayton occurred Dec. 17, 1977, at Dayton (a loss) … Tech’s Jan. 13 visit to Virginia is its only non-televised ACC game.
2009-10 Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball Schedule
Date Day Opponent TV TimeNov. 8 Sun. Indiana Univ. of Pa. (exhibition) - 5 p.m.Nov. 14 Sat. FLORIDA A&M - 7 p.m.
Nov. 19-22 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off ESPNU/ESPN2 Nov. 19 Thu. Dayton – 11:30 a.m. Nov. 20 Fri. George Mason or Villanova ESPNU 1 or 3 p.m. Nov. 22 Sun. Boston U./Kansas State/Indiana/Mississippi tba tba
Nov. 27 Fri. MERCER – 4 p.m. Dec. 2 Wed. SIENA – 7 p.m. Dec. 5 Sat. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FSS 6 p.m. Dec. 14 Mon. at Tennessee-Chattanooga – 7 p.m. Dec. 16 Wed. ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF – 8:30 p.m. Dec. 20 Sun. FLORIDA STATE FSN 5:30 p.m. Dec. 22 Tue. KENNESAW STATE – 7 p.m. Dec. 29 Tue. WINSTON-SALEM STATE – 1 p.m. Jan. 2 Sat. at UNC Charlotte – tba Jan. 5 Tue. at Georgia – tba Jan. 9 Sat. DUKE ESPN 2 p.m. Jan. 13 Wed. at Virginia – tba Jan. 16 Sat. at North Carolina ESPN 2 p.m. Jan. 19 Tue. CLEMSON ESPN2 7 p.m. Jan. 24 Sun. at Florida State Raycom 12 noon Jan. 28 Thu. WAKE FOREST RSN 7 p.m. Jan. 30 Sat. KENTUCKY STATE – 1 p.m. Feb. 4 Thu. at Duke ESPN or ESPN2 7 p.m. Feb. 6 Sat. NC STATE Raycom* 4 p.m. Feb. 10 Wed. at Miami ESPNU 7 p.m. Feb. 13 Sat. at Wake Forest Raycom* 8 p.m. Feb. 16 Tue. NORTH CAROLINA Raycom 9 p.m. Feb. 20 Sat. at Maryland Raycom* 2 p.m. Feb. 27 Sat. BOSTON COLLEGE RSN 12 noon Mar. 2 Tue. at Clemson Raycom* 8 p.m. Mar. 6 Sat. VIRGINIA TECH Raycom 4 p.m. Mar. 11-14 ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.) Raycom/ESPN
Schedule subject to change), all times EASTERN Home games (in ALL CAPS) at Alexander Memorial Coliseum TV designations: Raycom -ACC regional syndication network (check local listings for station, *denotes split broadcast with another ACC game); FSN – Fox Sports Net (national); FSS – Fox Sports South; RSN – ACC regional cable network including FS South, Comcast SportsNet, Sun Sports, FSN Florida and New England Sports Network
