Charlotte's C-USA Home Slate to Include Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette
May 19, 2003
Halton Arena - With Conference USA opting to do away with its two-division format, the league's men's basketball schedule has undergone a drastic change. At the recently completed C-USA meetings, opponents and sites for league games were released, although dates have yet to be determined.
Under the new one-division format, the 16-game league schedule will be made up of three "mirror" series in which teams will play three opponents both home and away. Added to those six games will be 10 games vs. the other 10 league opponents, with five being played at home and five on the road.
Charlotte's "mirror" games will be with Cincinnati, East Carolina and Saint Louis, meaning the 49ers will play each of those teams twice in 2003-04. Of the remaining 10 league teams, the 49ers will play Louisville, Marquette, South Florida, Tulane and UAB at home and DePaul, Houston, Memphis, Southern Miss and TCU on the road.
"I'm obviously pleased with the conference schedule. We have a challenging home schedule but one that I think that our fans will enjoy," said 49ers head coach Bobby Lutz, who will begin his sixth season at the helm. "Having Saint Louis, East Carolina and Cincinnati as the teams we're paired up with will be very challenging and should make for some great home and away games. In terms of the other conference games, having Louisville and Marquette at home, it's going to be difficult but it provides great home-court games for our fans to see."
The result is that the 49ers will play three of C-USA's four 2003 NCAA Tournament teams at home in 2003-04, including traditional rival Cincinnati, 2003 NCAA Final Four participant Marquette and 2003 C-USA Tournament Champion Louisville. UAB, which advanced to the C-USA Tournament Finals and to the NIT Quarterfinals, will also be coming to Halton Arena. In addition, the inclusion of East Carolina as a "mirror" team, means the in-state rivalry with the Pirates will continue, with games between Charlotte and ECU being played in both Halton Arena and Greenville, N.C. In another scheduling note, due to the format of the previous system, this will be the first time that the 49ers and TCU will meet, despite being a member of the same league for the past two years.
In past years, the 16-game league schedule was broken into 12 divisional games (home-and-home series with the six other divisional opponents) and four games vs. the other seven-team division (2 home; 2 away). That format meant that a team would not play three teams from the other division.
For ticket information, contact the 49ers Athletic Ticket Office 704-687-4949 or visit the 49ers official website at www.charlotte49ers.com.
Charlotte 49ers Conference USA Opponents (dates to be determined)
Home
Cincinnati, Saint Louis, East Carolina, Louisville, Marquette, South Florida, Tulane, UAB
Away
Cincinnati,
Saint Louis,
East Carolina,
DePaul,
Houston,
Memphis,
Southern Miss,
TCU
|
|
 |
