| Penguins Announce Challenging 2003-04 Schedule |
| Friday, September 26 2003 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- Fifth-year Head Coach John Robic announced an impressive 2003-04 men's basketball schedule on Thursday that includes 13 games at the Beeghly Center and seven contests throughout the year against schools who made the NCAA Tournament or NIT in 2002-03. The Penguins begin the season by playing three of their first four contests and five of the first seven games on the road. Later, the schedule turns in YSU's favor with two three-game homestands and a stretch in the heart of the season where the Penguins play seven of 10 at home. Youngstown State opens the season on Nov. 22 playing at Niagara. The visit to Niagara is YSU's first since Dec. 20, 1997. The Penguins remain on the road playing at Toledo on Nov. 26. YSU beat the Rockets for the first time in school history last season earning a 69-61 victory. The home opener is set for Saturday, Nov. 29 against St. Francis (Pa.) at the Beeghly Center. YSU gets back on the road almost immediately playing at Boston on Monday night. The Terriers won the America East Conference regular-season title last year only to lose to Vermont in the finals. Boston appeared in the NIT losing to St. John's in the first round by five points. The Penguins are back at the Beeghly Center on Dec. 3 with their annual game against Slippery Rock. YSU has played host to the Rockets in each of the past six seasons. The final two road non-conference games follow at Buffalo (Dec. 6) and at perennial-power Pittsburgh (Dec. 13). The Penguins visit the Bulls for the first time since Jan. 22, 1997, and will play their first game against the Panthers since Nov. 27, 1993. YSU opens league play early this year at home against Wright State on Dec. 18 to tipoff the first three-game homestand of the year. YSU then welcomes former Mid-Continent Conference foes Oakland and UMKC to the Beeghly Center before an 11-day break over the holidays. To start the 2004 portion of the season, the Penguins play three Horizon League games on the road at Loyola, at Illinois-Chicago and at UW-Green Bay. Along with playing the members of the Horizon League, Division I Independent IPFW visits Youngstown on Jan. 31 to round out the non-league part of the schedule. A new aspect to the program will be five afternoon home games. The Penguins played UIC in afternoon tilt at the Beeghly Center last season, their first true afternoon home game in 16 years. The concept was so well liked a year ago, that YSU has scheduled five afternoon home games -- all 2 p.m. starts -- this season. Youngstown State is also one of eight schools who will take part in ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21. Forty-six teams from 11 different conferences will square-off in a 23-game event that day. The Horizon League Tournament will follow the same format as was introduced last season. Teams who place fourth through ninth in the regular season will square off in the first round. The remainder of the tournament will be hosted by Butler as long as the Bulldogs remain in the tournament. The Penguins begin practice on Saturday, Oct. 18 and will first be in action on Nov. 10 when they play an exhibition game against the 320 All-Stars. |
| YSU To Take Part in Bracket Buster |
| Friday, September 12 2003 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Indianapolis, Ind. -- The Youngstown State men's basketball team, along with seven of the remaining eight members of the Horizon League will take part in the second year of the Bracket Buster Saturday presented by ESPN, both the network and league announced on Tuesday. For the event, the Penguins are scheduled to play a road game on Feb. 21 against a to-be-determined opponent. The pairings for that day, which features a total of 46 teams representing 11 conferences in a 23-game one-day basketball extravaganza, will be announced on Feb. 1. Youngstown State has been selected as one of the 23 road teams for the Feb. 21 event. The Penguins cannot play a member of the Horizon League so there are 18 remaining possible opponents from four conferences (Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Sun Belt and Western Athletic). Possible opponents for YSU that day are: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Bradley, Evansville, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, Fresno State, Nevada, Rice or Tulsa. Another important part of participating in the Bracket Buster is that each team who participates agrees to enter into a home-and-home series with its to-be-named opponent. The return game of each series is made in November or December in the season following the Bracket Buster Saturday game. A total of 10 games will be televised, including five games on ESPN or ESPN2, and the remaining five games will be on ESPN's Full Court. The remaining 13 games will not be broadcast. The only team in the Horizon League who will not participate in this season's Bracket Buster Saturday is Wright State. The Raiders had a scheduling conflict they could not work out to be part of the event. Five Horizon League schools -- Butler, Cleveland State, Illinois-Chicago, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee -- will host games on Feb. 21. Last year's inaugural Bracket Buster Saturday featured nine games representing seven conferences. Both the teams and matchups were determined prior to the start of the season. The Penguins begin practice in October and play their first exhibition game on Monday, Nov. 10. |