The entire Pittsburgh schedule was announced today, but game times and additional national and ESPN Regional television games will be released at a later date.
During its 18-game Big East schedule, Pitt takes on each of the 15 Conference opponents at least once during the year. Additionally, the Panthers play three Big East teams twice each. Those schools are St. John's, Seton Hall and West Virginia. And as usual, Pitt plays nine home games and nine away contests during Big East regular-season competition.
Home opponents at the Petersen Events Center include DePaul (Dec. 28), Georgetown (Jan. 20), Louisville (Jan. 16), Providence (March 4), Rutgers (March 6), St. John's (Jan. 28), Seton Hall (Feb. 6), Villanova (Feb. 21) and West Virginia (Feb. 12). The Panthers' 2009-10 Conference road opponents are Cincinnati (Jan. 4), Connecticut (Jan. 13), Marquette (Feb. 18), Notre Dame (Feb. 24), St. John’s (Feb. 27), Seton Hall (Jan. 24), South Florida (Jan. 31), Syracuse (Jan. 2) and West Virginia (Feb. 3).
A non-conference schedule highlight includes games in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City against Wichita State (Nov. 23) and either Iowa or Texas (Nov. 24) and also the Jimmy V Classic against Indiana (Dec. 8) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Those three games will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2. Pitt also plays Duquesne in the annual City Game Dec. 2 at Mellon Arena.
Pitt has nine non-conference home games and opens its regular season at the Petersen Events Center against Wofford Nov. 13. The Panthers also play host to 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Binghamton (Nov. 17) and Eastern Kentucky (Nov. 19) as part of its four-game O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, Youngstown State (Nov. 28), New Hampshire (Dec. 4), Kent State (Dec. 12), Mount St. Mary’s, Dec. 19), Ohio (Dec. 22) and Robert Morris (Feb. 8). The Binghamton game is at 5:30 p.m. and televised by ESPN2 among the network's 24-hour college basketball coverage.
According to ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi, Pitt ranks fourth nationally in average ratings percentage index (RPI) over the last seven seasons (2002-09). The Panthers average a 12.4 RPI ranking to trail only No. 1 Duke (6.4), No. 2 Kansas (10.9) and No. 3 North Carolina (12.3). Last year, Pitt (31-5) ranked No. 2 nationally in RPI behind North Carolina and No. 7 overall in the strength of schedule ratings. The RPI takes into account several factors, including winning percentage, strength of schedule, opponents' average winning percentage along with opponents of those teams average winning percentage. It is the NCAA's No. 1 factor in determining seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
The Big East Championship Tournament is scheduled for March 9-13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
As part of the preseason schedule, Pitt's annual Fan Fest is Oct. 3, while the Blue-Gold intra-squad scrimmage is Oct. 27. Additionally, the Panthers play host to exhibition games against Slippery Rock (Nov. 1) and Coker College, S.C. (Nov. 8) at the Pete.
As part of Fan Fest, the Maggie Dixon Heart Fair is Saturday, Oct. 3 from 1-4 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. Basketball Fan Fest is free and open to the public and has interactive games with the Pitt men's and women's basketball teams along with a Heart Fair. The event has been moved to a date prior to the first day of official practice for both the Pitt men's and women's basketball teams. Pitt's official practice schedule begins Friday, Oct. 16.
The Blue-Gold matchup is Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. The annual event offers fans an initial glimpse of the 2009-10 Pitt men's basketball team.
2009-10 PITT MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
(as of September 10, 2009/All times are subject to change)
Date Opponent (TV) Location Time
Saturday, Oct. 3 FAN FEST Petersen Events Center 1-4 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 27 BLUE-GOLD SCRIMMAGE Petersen Events Center 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1 SLIPPERY ROCK (Exh.) Petersen Events Center 4 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 8 COKER COLLEGE, S.C. (Exh.) Petersen Events Center 4 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 13 WOFFORD Petersen Events Center 7 p.m.
O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Tuesday, Nov. 17 BINGHAMTON (ESPN2) Petersen Events Center 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 19 EASTERN KENTUCKY Petersen Events Center 7 p.m.
O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic Semifinals and Finals (Kansas City, Mo.)
Monday, Nov. 23 vs. Wichita State (ESPN2) Sprint Center 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 24 Consolation Game (ESPN-U) Sprint Center 7:45 p.m. Championship Game (ESPN2) Sprint Center 9:50 p.m.
(vs. Iowa or Texas)
Saturday, Nov. 28 YOUNGSTOWN STATE Petersen Events Center TBA
Wednesday, Dec. 2 vs. Duquesne (CBS-CS) Mellon Arena 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 4 NEW HAMPSHIRE Petersen Events Center TBA
Jimmy V. Classic (New York, N.Y.)
Tuesday, Dec. 8 vs. Indiana (ESPN) Madison Square Garden 9 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12 KENT STATE Petersen Events Center TBA
Saturday, Dec. 19 MOUNT ST. MARY’S Petersen Events Center TBA
Tuesday, Dec. 22 OHIO Petersen Events Center TBA
Monday, Dec. 28 *DePAUL Petersen Events Center TBA
Saturday, Jan. 2 at *Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. TBA
Monday, Jan. 4 at *Cincinnati (ESPN) Cincinnati, Ohio 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 13 at *Connecticut (ESPN2) Hartford, Conn./XL Center 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 16 *LOUISVILLE Petersen Events Center TBA
Wednesday, Jan. 20 *GEORGETOWN Petersen Events Center TBA
Sunday, Jan. 24 at *Seton Hall Newark, N.J./Prudential Center TBA
Thursday, Jan. 28 *ST. JOHN’S Petersen Events Center TBA
Sunday, Jan. 31 at *South Florida Tampa, Fla. TBA
Wednesday, Feb. 3 at *West Virginia Morgantown, W.Va. TBA
Saturday, Feb. 6 *SETON HALL Petersen Events Center TBA
Monday, Feb. 8 ROBERT MORRIS Petersen Events Center TBA
Friday, Feb. 12 *WEST VIRGINIA (ESPN) Petersen Events Center 9 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 18 at *Marquette (ESPN) Milwaukee, Wis. 9 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 21 *VILLANOVA (CBS) Petersen Events Center Noon
Wednesday, Feb. 24 at *Notre Dame (ESPN2) South Bend, Ind. 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 27 at *St. John’s New York, N.Y./MSG TBA
Thursday, March 4 *PROVIDENCE (ESPN) Petersen Events Center 9 p.m.
Saturday, March 6 *RUTGERS Petersen Events Center TBA
Tue.-Sat., March 9-13 at Big East Championship (ESPN) New York, N.Y. TBA
March 18-21 NCAA First & Second Rounds (CBS) TBA TBA
March 25-28 NCAA Regionals (CBS) TBA TBA
April 3-5 NCAA Final Four (CBS) Indianapolis, Ind. TBA
All Times Eastern. All home games in CAPS and BOLD. Television games in parentheses. All game times are subject to change.
*indicates Big East Conference games.
All home games played in the Petersen Events Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
|