Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Men's Basketball unveils 2007-08 schedule
08/24/2007 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 24, 2007
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University men's basketball program will reap the benefits of its recent success with up to 15 network television broadcasts in the regular season this year, including as many as 12 games on the ESPN family of networks.
Click to view 2007-08 Schedule
The Missouri Valley Conference released its 2007-08 schedule and tentative TV lineup on Friday, and the Salukis were tapped to make six appearances on ESPNU, two appearances on ESPN2 and two Anaheim Classic games (Nov. 23 and 25) on an ESPN network to be determined. Also, SIU could appear on an ESPN channel for its home BracketBuster game (Feb. 23) and MVC Wildcard Weekend matchup with Illinois State (Mar. 1).
"We understand that you earn the right to play on TV, and it could easily go away as fast as we built it," said head coach Chris Lowery, whose team is coming off a Sweet 16 season and has posted six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. "We're on TV because of the players who built this program. We have to continue to build, so that the next group can enjoy the same exposure."
Including exhibition, the Salukis have a school-record 17 homes games in the 2007-08 season. Southern is 79-3 at home in the past six years and has the best home-winning percentage of any team in the country during that span (.963).
"We don't want to play one-time guarantee road games, because it's important that we provide our fans with a strong home schedule," Lowery said. "We insist that teams come back to SIU Arena."
Last year, the Salukis had a stretch of 11 games away from home in a 14-game span early in the season, and Lowery feels this year's slate will make it easier to prepare his team.
"We challenged ourselves last year with a strong road schedule, and now those teams have to return a game to our place," Lowery said. "Last year, we felt we didn't have enough time to prepare, because we were constantly traveling."
Highlights of this year's home schedule include Saturday home games against Indiana (Dec. 1), Wichita State (Jan. 19), Creighton (Jan. 26) and ESPN BracketBusters (Feb. 23). The Salukis also have a Friday night game against Butler (Dec. 28) in a battle between 2007 Sweet 16 clubs.
Saluki Athletics has designated a new seating area called the "Big Dawg" section (OO and GG). For more season ticket information call (618) 453-2000.
Single-game tickets will go on-sale at a date to be determined.
