The Unive
rsity of Louisville has formally announced its 2009-2010 NCAA basketball schedule (PDF), and unlike the football team – which has fallen from grace in the eyes of the television networks – the basketball Cardinals will make at least 14 appearances on national television. The schedule also includes 21 games to be played at Freedom Hall in the last year the Cardinals will call the venerable arena home. UofL will move to a new downtown arena in Louisville for the 2010-2011 season.
From the University press release:
Nineteen of the Cardinals' 31 games will be played against teams that participated in post-season competition last season, including a dozen in the NCAA Tournament.
U of L will open its season on Nov. 17 against Arkansas in the Hall of Fame Showcase at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. The doubleheader, televised by ESPN2, will also include Memphis facing Kansas in the second game of the evening.
The Cardinals will continue with the Hall of Fame Showcase in its next three home games in Freedom Hall against East Tennessee on Nov. 21, Morgan State on Nov. 22 and Appalachian State on Nov. 23. U of L will venture on the road again in its next outing, traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada to face UNLV on Nov. 28.
U of L will play its next eight games at home in Freedom Hall during the month of December, including a Dec. 19 matchup with Western Kentucky televised on ESPN2. That game will be the Eighth Annual Billy Minardi Classic, an event named in memory of Pitino's brother-in-law who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The event has alternated between a four-team tournament and select single game over the years.
U of L closes out its home stretch and the month of December as the Cardinals face USF on Dec. 30 in its first BIG EAST Conference game of the season. The Cards follow that contest with their final non-conference game of the season at Kentucky on Jan. 2 on CBS. U of L will have 14 national television appearances, including eight of its last 11 games.
The Cards' 18-game league schedule includes two games each against Connecticut, St. John's and Syracuse. Louisville closes the regular season against Syracuse on March 6 in the final game U of L will play in Freedom Hall. The BIG EAST Conference Tournament will be staged at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 9-13, with all 16 teams participating for the second straight year.
Tipoff times and television arrangements for all games are incomplete and will be released at a later date.
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