Oct. 7, 2008
COLUMBIA, S.C.
First-year head coach Darrin Horn announced today the University of South Carolina men’s basketball schedule for the 2008-09 season. The Gamecocks will face strong competition throughout the upcoming season, including contests against nine NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, 20 televised competitions and 18 home games at Colonial Life Arena, including eight Southeastern Conference contests. Matchups against intrastate rival Clemson, perennial Southern Conference contender College of Charleston, NCAA Tournament participant Baylor and Ivy League contender Princeton highlight the non-conference portion of South Carolina’s schedule.
Twenty of South Carolina’s 29 regular-season contests will be televised during the 2008-09 campaign, with two games on the ESPN family of networks, including a road contest at Florida and a home matchup with Tennessee, a participant in last season’s NCAA Sweet 16. Five contests will be broadcast on various Fox Sports Net divisions, including home games against Clemson (FSN), Ole Miss (FSN) and Georgia (FSN) and road contests against Tennessee (FSN) and Baylor (FSNSW). As part of its multi-year deal with ISP sports, eight Gamecock home games will be televised on SportSouth, while four games will be broadcast on Raycom Sports.
“We feel that our non-conference schedule will help prepare us for the SEC stretch later in the season,” Horn commented. “We look forward to hosting several games at Colonial Life Arena, including the Clemson contest in late December. We recognize that our road games during non-conference play will provide us with formidable challenges.”
South Carolina will open the season with an exhibition contest against Division II powerhouse Kentucky Wesleyan on Nov. 7, before welcoming the Jacksonville State Gamecocks to Colonial Life Arena for its season opener, the first of four consecutive home contests broadcast on SportSouth, on Nov. 14. Winthrop (Nov. 16), USC Upstate (Nov. 22) and Gardner Webb (Nov. 25) will also travel to Columbia in late November.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday, South Carolina travels to College of Charleston in its first road contest of the season on Nov. 28, while continuing its road travels with a trip to the Northeast Dec. 2 to face Princeton.
South Carolina returns to Colonial Life Arena for a five-game stretch on its home court in December, welcoming Furman (Dec. 5), NC Central (Dec. 16, SportSouth), The Citadel (Dec. 20, SportSouth) and Presbyterian College (Dec. 23, SportSouth) prior to the Christmas holiday break.
South Carolina hosts Clemson on Dec. 30 (FSN) in a game that always proves highly competitive, while the Gamecocks open the New Year on the road against Baylor (Jan. 2) in a contest to be broadcast on FSNSW, before returning home for its final non-conference contest of the season against Wofford on Jan. 5 (SportSouth).
The Gamecocks open the SEC portion of their schedule at home for the first time since the 2005-06 campaign, when Auburn travels to Columbia on Jan. 10. South Carolina travels to LSU (Jan. 14) and Tennessee (Jan. 17, FSN), prior to hosting Florida (Jan. 21, Raycom), Ole Miss (Jan. 24, FSN) and Vanderbilt (Jan. 28) at Colonial Life Arena in its longest SEC homestand.
The Gamecocks play four of their next five league games on the road, first traveling to Lexington, Ky., to face the Wildcats at Rupp Arena on Jan. 31, and following with a prime-time ESPN matchup against Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 3.
South Carolina hosts Georgia on Feb. 7 (FSN) and travels to Alabama (Feb. 14, Raycom) and Mississippi State (Feb. 18) prior to its return to Columbia, hosting Arkansas (Feb. 21) and Kentucky on Feb. 25 (Raycom). Following a Feb. 28 matchup at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Carolina hosts Tennessee on March 5 in a contest to be shown on either ESPN or ESPN2. The Gamecocks conclude the regular season at Georgia on March 7.
“However the SEC league schedule shakes out, it’s always going to be extremely challenging and tough when you face some of the top competition in the country,” Horn said. “We’re very excited to have ESPN television games against Florida and Tennessee, and we look forward to providing a great atmosphere at Colonial Life Arena for our SEC home contests.”
The 2009 SEC Tournament will be held in Tampa, Fla., at the St. Pete Times Forum, March 12-15, while the 2009 NCAA Tournament opens on March 19. Please visit www.GamecocksOnline.com for the most updated information on game times, television broadcasts and all information for the South Carolina men’s basketball team. The complete schedule is listed below:
2008-09 SOUTH CAROLINA MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| F-Nov. 7 | Kentucky Wesleyan (EX) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| F-Nov. 14 | Jacksonville State (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Su-Nov 16 | Winthrop (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 4 p.m. |
| Sa-Nov. 22 | USC Upstate (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 1 p.m. |
| Tu-Nov. 25 | Gardner Webb (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| F-Nov. 28 | College of Charleston | Charleston, S.C. (Carolina First Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Tu-Dec. 2 | Princeton | Princeton, N.J. (Jadwin Gym) | 7 p.m. |
| F-Dec. 5 | Furman | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 6 p.m. |
| Tu-Dec. 16 | NC Central (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 8 p.m. |
| Sa-Dec. 20 | The Citadel (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 5 p.m. |
| Tu-Dec. 23 | Presbyterian College (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Tu-Dec. 30 | Clemson (FSN) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| F-Jan. 2 | Baylor (FSNSW) | Waco, Texas (Ferell Center) | 5:30 p.m. |
| M-Jan. 5 | Wofford College (SS) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Sa-Jan. 10 | Auburn* | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| W-Jan. 14 | LSU* (CST#) | Baton Rouge, La. (Pete Maravich Assembly Center) | 8 p.m. |
| S-Jan. 17 | Tennessee* (FSN) | Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena) | 6 p.m. |
| W-Jan. 21 | Florida* (Raycom) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Sa-Jan 24 | Ole Miss* (FSN) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 8 p.m. |
| W-Jan. 28 | Vanderbilt* | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Sa-Jan. 31 | Kentucky* (Raycom) | Lexington Ky. (Rupp Arena) | 3 p.m. |
| Tu-Feb. 3 | Florida* (ESPN) | Gainesville, Fla. (Stephen C. O’Connell Center) | 9 p.m. |
| Sa-Feb. 7 | Georgia* (FSN) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 5 p.m. |
| Sa-Feb. 14 | Alabama* (Raycom) | Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Coleman Coliseum) | 3 p.m. |
| W-Feb. 18 | Mississippi State* | Starkville, Miss. (Humphrey Coliseum) | 8 p.m. |
| Sa-Feb. 21 | Arkansas* | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| W-Feb. 25 | Kentucky* (Raycom) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Sa-Feb. 28 | Vanderbilt* | Nashville, Tenn. (Memorial Gymnasium) | TBA |
| Th-Mar. 5 | Tennessee* (ESPN/ESPN2) | Columbia, S.C. (Colonial Life Arena) | 7 p.m. |
| Sa-Mar. 7 | Georgia* | Athens, Ga. (Stegeman Coliseum) | 4 p.m. |
| Mar. 12-15 | SEC Tournament | Tampa, Fla. (St. Pete Times Forum) | TBA |
* Denotes SEC contest
(Raycom) denotes Raycom TV game
(SS) denotes SportSouth TV Game
(ESPN) denotes ESPN/ESPN2 TV game
(FSN) denotes Fox Sports Net TV game
(FSNSW) denotes Fox Sports Net Southwest TV game
(CST#) denotes tape delayed TV game on Cox Sports
all home games in bold
all dates and times subject to change (check www.GamecocksOnline.com for the most updated schedule)
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