On Monday morning, Ohio State released its complete men's basketball schedule for 2008-09. The school had previously released the Big Ten portion of the slate.
The Buckeyes won the NIT championship in April and recorded a 24-13 record overall in 2007-08. They finished fifth in Big Ten Conference play with a 10-8 regular-season record.
OSU will open the new season against Delaware State at 6:30 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 20, at St. John Arena.
The Buckeyes will trek to Miami (Fla.) for a Dec. 2 showdown on ESPN as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Just four days later, OSU will tangle with Notre Dame at brand-new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis as part of a doubleheader with Indiana-Gonzaga there. ESPNU will have coverage of that game with a 4 p.m. start.
Ohio State will host Butler in a return game on Dec. 13, which will complete a very telltale two-week stretch. OSU's one other marquee nonconference game will be at home against West Virginia on Sat., Dec. 27. That game will be televised by CBS with a 4 p.m. start.
The Buckeyes and Mountaineers have not met since November of 1995, a 79-69 WVU victory in Morgantown. The Buckeyes own the series advantage 9-5. OSU was expected to open the season with a four-team round-robin tournament at Value City Arena, giving the Buckeyes three games in three days to open play just like last season. However, a source close to the program said that plan fell through, forcing the coaching staff to scramble for games. That could explain a Jan. 9 home game with lightly regarded Houston Baptist.
The Buckeyes will open practice on Oct. 17. Matta’s team will have no seniors and welcome six newcomers – JUCO transfers Jeremie Simmons and Nikola Kecman as well as well-rated freshmen B.J. Mullens, William Buford, Anthony “Noopy” Crater and Walter Offutt. The holdovers are juniors David Lighty, P.J. Hill and Kyle Madsen and sophomores Evan Turner, Jon Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale.
“Our team will be challenged with the schedule we have for the 2008-09 season,” said coach Thad Matta. “We have a young team with depth at all five positions. We have a competitive non-conference schedule that will allow us to prepare for Big Ten Conference competition. I know our team is looking forward to league play. It’s an 18-game grind in some of the most difficult arenas in the country. It will be exciting to watch our newcomers experience Big Ten basketball and to see how our veterans have improved.”
Big Ten Schedule Set
It includes a league opener on New Year’s Eve, a nationally televised battle on Inauguration Day and a very testing date in Madison, Wis., on Valentine’s Day.
League play will begin Dec. 30 and 31 of this year to accommodate an 18-game conference schedule before the Big Ten Tournament, which will return to Indianapolis’ Conseco Fieldhouse March 12-15.
OSU opens Big Ten play Dec. 31 as Iowa visits for a special 4 p.m. start. That game will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.
In fact, all 18 regular-season conference games will be televised nationally by either ESPN, ESPN2, CBS or the Big Ten Network.
After the opener vs. the Hawkeyes, Ohio State hits the road for four of the next five league games, starting at Minnesota (Jan. 3) and Michigan State (Jan. 6) before a home game vs. Indiana on Jan. 13. A two-game road trip follows the contest with the Hoosiers at Michigan (Jan. 17) and Illinois (Jan. 20).
The beginning of February will bring another challenging stretch as the Buckeyes, after traveling to Indiana on Jan. 31, face Purdue (Feb. 3), Minnesota (Feb. 7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 14), the latter contest to be staged on ESPN at 9 p.m. after full “GameDay” coverage from the Kohl Center.
Ohio State closes the Big Ten season at home against Northwestern March 8 before traveling to Indy for the conference tournament.
OSU will have 18 Big Ten games with a home-and-away format against eight league foes. The Buckeyes will play Wisconsin in Madison only and will host Penn State in their only matchup with the Nittany Lions (Feb. 24).
The following is the complete 2008-098 schedule for Ohio State:
2008-09 Ohio State Men’s Basketball Schedule
Date Opponent Time Television
November
20 Delaware State (at St. John Arena) 6:30 p.m. BTN
24 Bowling Green 8 p.m. BTN
29 Samford Noon BTN
December
2 at Miami, Fla. 7 p.m. ESPN
6 Notre Dame (at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis) 4 p.m. ESPNU
13 Butler Noon BTN
17 Jacksonville 9 p.m. ESPNU
20 Iona Noon BTN
22 UNC-Asheville 7 p.m. BTN
27 West Virginia 4 p.m. CBS
31 Iowa 4 p.m. BTN
January
3 at Minnesota% Noon BTN
6 at Michigan State& 7 p.m. ESPN2
9 Houston Baptist 7 p.m. BTN
13 Indiana& 7 p.m. ESPN
17 at Michigan 8 p.m. BTN
20 at Illinois 7 p.m. ESPN
25 Michigan State& 3:45p.m. CBS
28 Michigan 6:30 p.m. BTN
31 at Indiana& 4 p.m. ESPN2
February
3 Purdue& 7 p.m. ESPN
7 Minnesota% 8 p.m. BTN
14 at Wisconsin& 9 p.m. ESPN
18 at Northwestern 9 p.m. BTN
21 Illinois noon/2 p.m. BTN/ESPN
or 22 1 p.m. CBS
24 Penn State 7 p.m. ESPN
28 at Purdue& 4 p.m./8 p.m. ESPN/BTN
or 3/1 4 p.m. CBS
March
3, 4 or 5 at Iowa TBA TBA
8 Northwestern 4 p.m. BTN
12-15 Big Ten Tournament at Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse TBA
Home games in BOLD CAPS // All Times Eastern and subject to change
& NCAA Tournament team last season
% NIT team last season
