Air Force Announces 2003-04 Men's Basketball Schedule
9/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 3, 2003
2003-04 Schedule in PDF Format
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Nine opponents that played in either the 2003 NCAA or NIT Tournament highlight the 2003-04 Air Force men's basketball schedule, released today by head coach Joe Scott.
For the first time in Scott's tenure at Air Force, the Falcons will open the season at home, playing Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Clune Arena on Saturday, Nov. 22.
"It will be nice to play our season opener at home," said Scott, who enters his fourth season with Air Force. "We need to get off to a good start since our next four games are on the road."
The Falcons begin their season-long four-game road swing with the annual matchup against service-academy rival Navy on Nov. 28 in Annapolis, Md. The Falcons will also play 2003 Sweet 16 team Auburn on Dec. 7. The other two games are against Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 30, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 9.
Air Force returns home to take on Charleston Southern on Saturday, Dec. 20 before heading to Berkeley, Calif., for the EA Sports Golden Bear Classic hosted by the University of California. Prairie View A&M is the Falcons' opponent in the first round on Saturday, Dec. 27. NCAA Tournament participant California and Columbia meet in the other first-round tilt.
Three straight home games after the beginning of the new year lead the Falcons into the MWC slate. 2003 NCAA Tournament qualifier Wisconsin-Milwaukee comes to Clune Arena on Friday, Jan. 2, followed by Savannah State on Tuesday, Jan. 6 and Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday, Jan. 9.
"Our non-conference schedule is very challenging," said Scott. "However, it will put us in position to improve in the Mountain West Conference this season."
Air Force opens Mountain West play against 2003 MWC tournament champ Colorado State on Monday, Jan. 12 in Fort Collins, Colo., followed by another road game at New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 17. After facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at home on Wednesday, Jan. 21, the Falcons host MWC regular season co-champs BYU and Utah on Saturday, Jan. 24 and Monday, Jan. 26, respectively. A trip to the West Coast follows for games at San Diego State (Jan. 31) and UNLV (Feb. 2). The game at UNLV marks the third consecutive year Air Force will appear on ESPN's "Big Monday" package. The nationally televised game is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Mountain Time.
The second half of the MWC schedule begins with three consecutive home games against Wyoming on Saturday, Feb. 7, Colorado State on Monday, Feb. 9 and New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 14. A non-conference game at Texas-Pan American on Feb. 16 precedes the team's trip to Utah (Feb. 21) and BYU (Feb. 23). The Utah game will be televised regionally by ESPN+Plus. Air Force plays two of its final three MWC games at home, Saturday, Feb. 28 against UNLV and Monday, March 1 against San Diego State. The regular season closes on Saturday, March 6 at Wyoming.
This year's EAS Mountain West Conference Championships will be held in Denver at The Pepsi Center after four years in Las Vegas, Nev. The tournament will take place from Thursday, March 11 to Saturday, March 13.
