Air Force Releases 2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule
9/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sept. 11, 2008
2008-09 Schedule in PDF Format 
The Reggie Minton Air Force Classic, a contest against a 2007 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team and 15 nationally-televised games highlight the 2008-09 Air Force men's basketball schedule, released today by head coach Jeff Reynolds.
Air Force, coming off a 16-14 record and fifth-place finish in the Mountain West Conference last season, opens the regular season on Nov. 14 as the Falcons host Western State College, followed by a game against Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 16. The Air Force Classic, which gains the name of former Falcon head coach Reggie Minton this year, follows on Nov. 22 and 23. The two-day event features UCCS, Wofford and Texas Pan-American. The Falcons, who captured the title in last year's inaugural tournament, will play UCCS (Nov. 22) and Wofford (Nov. 23) in this year's Classic.
Air Force then hits the road to play Stanford, which fell to Texas in the round of 16 at last year's NCAA Tournament, the night before Thanksgiving. Home games against Norfolk State (Nov. 30) and Northern Illinois (Dec. 3) precede the Falcons second road game of the season against Northern Colorado in Greeley on Dec. 6.
Two consecutive games at Clune Arena against Texas Pan-American (Dec. 13) and Texas Southern (Dec. 22) lead Air Force into the Golden Bear Classic at Berkeley on Dec. 27-28. The Falcons, who captured the Golden Bear Classic title during the 2003-04 campaign, will open against Portland while California will battle Dartmouth in the other first-round game. Air Force completes its non-conference slate at home against Stony Brook on New Year's Eve, the first of 15 nationally-televised games for the Falcons this season.
"Our non-conference schedule will prepare us well for conference play," said Reynolds. "Playing Stanford and hopefully Cal on the road will simulate league games for us."
Air Force opens the conference slate on Jan. 3 against San Diego State at Clune Arena. After a trip to Albuquerque to face New Mexico on Jan. 10, the Falcons host Utah (Jan. 14) and TCU (Jan. 17).
Defending MWC tournament champion UNLV invades Clune Arena on Jan. 31, followed by 2007-08 regular-season champ BYU on Feb. 3. The regular season ends on March 7 in Provo against the Cougars.
The Falcons' 15 appearances on national TV are more than any other season. Air Force will appear 10 times on The Mtn., Mountain West Sports Network, four times on CBS College Sports Network and once on VERSUS.
The Mountain West Conference tournament, once again in Las Vegas, Nev., runs from March 11-14.
