Oct. 15, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - With practice beginning this weekend, the 2009-10 Patriot League Men's Basketball season is just around the corner. Take a look at all of the non-League and League action to come this season by viewing the 2009-10 composite schedule.

The link for the schedule is also available at the right-hand sidebar of the Patriot League Men's Basketball page. It includes all non-League and League games scheduled to date for the 2009-10 season, as well as available start times and television information.

The non-League action begins on Nov. 13. Patriot League teams are set to square off with five squads that made the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2008-09, including Colgate's games against Final Four participant Connecticut and Sweet 16 entrant Syracuse. Bucknell will play a pair of NCAA tourney teams in back-to-back games when it faces Cornell on Dec. 2 and Binghamton on Dec. 4. Lehigh makes a trip to Dayton on Dec. 5 in the remaining contest against an NCAA entrant from last year.

Patriot League teams will also play eight games against squads that made the postseason National Invitation Tournament (NIT) last year. Defending Patriot League champion American has three of those contests, as the Eagles will visit last year's NIT champion, Penn State, on Dec. 21 and go to Georgetown on Dec. 5 and Florida on Dec. 28. Holy Cross will play consecutive games against 2009 NIT qualifiers, as the Crusaders visit Rhode Island on Nov. 22 and UNLV on Nov. 25. Bucknell also plays a pair of NIT teams, with the Bison at Providence on Nov. 14 and Notre Dame on Dec. 22. Lafayette will play a contest at Georgetown on Nov. 28.

Bucknell and Colgate will each play a tournament early in the 2009-10 season. The Bison are in the World Vision Basketball Invitational from Nov. 13-15 in Providence, where they will play Mercer and Bryant in addition to the host Friars. Colgate takes part in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament, with the contest at Connecticut on Nov. 16 followed by a game against either Hofstra or Yale the next day. The Raiders will play two more games in the event the next week, with the opponent, dates and location determined by their finish in the first bracket.

The 2009-10 schedule also contains plenty of games against foes from surrounding conferences in the region. Patriot League teams will play a heavy dose of games against the Northeast Conference and Ivy League, with 24 matchups against the NEC and 20 versus the Ivies. The schedule also includes 11 games against both the Atlantic 10 Conference and America East as well as nine against the Big East and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Games that are already schedule for television coverage include Colgate at Connecticut on Nov. 16 (ESPNU, 9 p.m.), Lafayette at Georgetown on Nov. 28 (MASN, 12 p.m.), Colgate at Syracuse on Nov. 30 (ESPN360, 7 p.m.), Navy hosting Penn on Dec. 4 (CBS College Sports Network, 7 p.m.) and taking on George Washington on Dec. 6 (MASN, 5 p.m.) and American visiting Penn State on Dec. 21 (Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.). The non-League televised contests are in addition to the Patriot League games on CBS College Sports Network. The CBS College Sports Network package include eight regular-season dates and one game in both the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament, as every round of the League postseason will feature television coverage. Army and Navy will also have each of their meetings televised by CBS College Sports Network, with matchups on Jan. 23 from Annapolis (12 p.m.) and Feb. 20 from West Point (2 p.m.). Additional television dates for Patriot League teams are expected to be announced before the season.

The Patriot League Men's Basketball Media Day will be held on Oct. 29 at the ESPNZone in Baltimore, Md., beginning at 11 a.m. The League's preseason poll, All-League team and Player of the Year will be announced on that date. Seven of the eight Patriot League teams will begin their season with a contest on Nov. 13.