Courtesy of GoXavier.com
CINCINNATI — Xavier University and the BIG EAST Conference announced XU’s complete 2016-17 men’s basketball 31-game regular season schedule today. The Musketeer schedule includes potentially 19 games against teams that advanced to postseason play last season, including 16 games vs. 2016 NCAA Tournament teams.
The 2016-17 slate lists home and away matchups against the rugged BIG EAST Conference, including 2016 NCAA Champion Villanova and three other 2016 NCAA Tournament teams (Butler, Seton Hall and Providence) in addition to 2016 NIT Quarterfinalist Creighton. The non-conference showcases at least six games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams (Baylor, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Colorado, Northern Iowa and Utah) with the possibility of one more game against a 2016 NCAA Tournament team (Northern Iowa or Oklahoma) and one versus an NIT team (Davidson) at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
ALL 31 GAMES ON TV
All 31 games on Xavier’s regular season slate will be televised, including 27 on national television. Xavier plays three games on FOX National, which will be seen in Cincinnati on FOX 19 Now, including Utah on Dec. 10, at Creighton on Feb. 4 and vs. Villanova on Feb. 11. Xavier’s game vs. Georgetown on Jan. 22 will be broadcast on CBS National, which will be seen in Cincinnati on Local 12. In addition, XU has 15 games on FS1, five on the ESPN networks, two on CBS Sports Network, one on FOX College Sports Network, three FSN regional broadcasts and one on the Pac 12 Network.
The BIG EAST Marathon on FS1 will take place this season on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 16. XU hosts Creighton in a 2 p.m. tilt that day. All 10 BIG EAST teams will fill the day and night schedule on FS1.
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Xavier opens the 2016-17 season with an exhibition game on Nov. 5 vs. Ferris State at 4 p.m. Opening Night at Cintas Center is Nov. 11 against Lehigh at 7 p.m.
The Musketeers host two-time defending Mid-American Conference Champion Buffalo, coming off its second straight NCAA Tournament, on Nov. 14. The remainder of the eight-game non-conference home slate is highlighted by Northern Iowa on Nov. 26, Utah on Dec. 10 and the Skip Prosser Classic vs. Wake Forest on Dec. 17. Utah finished 27-9 this past season, earning its second straight NCAA Tournament berth and reaching the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. Xavier looks forward to its first-ever meeting with two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference Champion Northern Iowa.
Xavier’s non-conference road schedule is challenging as well, including trips to the home courts of three 2016 NCAA Tournament teams: at Baylor on Dec. 3 on ESPN2, at Colorado on Dec. 7 on the Pac 12 Network and at Cincinnati for the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout on Jan. 26 on ESPN2. XU is once again part of one of the top neutral site exempt events at the 2016 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Nov. 17-20, which will be broadcast on the ESPN networks live from Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. XU opens vs. Missouri. The field also includes Arizona State, Clemson, Davidson, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma and Tulane.
THE 2016-17 MUSKETEERS
Xavier head coach Chris Mack has three All-BIG EAST players back from the 2015-16 team that finished 28-6 overall, 14-4 and in second place in the BIG EAST. Last year’s Musketeers finished No. 9 in the final Associated Press Poll and reached the NCAA Tournament Second Round. XU is only of only nine schools have been to at least 10 NCAA Tournaments in the last 11 years: Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga, Michigan State and Wisconsin at 11 and Xavier, Texas, North Carolina and Villanova at 10.
Mack, the 2015-16 USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year, has a squad that has been ranked in every major preseason poll to date. Mack will rely heavily on junior Trevon Bluiett, a 6-6 guard who was a 2015-16 USA Today Third Team All-American and First Team All-BIG EAST Conference selection. Sophomore Edmond Sumner, a 6-5 guard who was a unanimous BIG EAST Conference All-Rookie Team selection, was also a Kyle Macy Freshman All-American. Junior J.P. Macura, a 6-5 guard, is the reigning BIG EAST Sixth Man of the Year.
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