After a long wait for the TV executives to determine their game selections, SEC basketball schedules were finally released today, Bama's included. There were no surprises, as each of the major non-conference games had been previously reported or at least rumored. The Tide will have home dates with VCU and Georgetown and a game against Oklahoma State in Birmingham's BJCC Arena. Home games against Detroit and Oakland will be no pushover either; don't be fooled by the lack of name recognition there.
The Tide will also face road tests at Dayton (Grant's alma mater), Kansas State and Georgia Tech. And don't forget the Puerto Rico tip-off tournament, where Bama will face off against Maryland in the opener, followed by one of its two 2011 NIT Final Four opponents, Colorado or Wichita State, in the second game the following day. The tournament will then conclude with a third and final game two days later against one of Purdue, Temple, Iona or Western Michigan.
The best part about this schedule is that it features only three games that can safely be assumed to be "cupcakes", or RPI-killers: North Florida, Alabama A&M and Jacksonville, all at home. And even Jacksonville wasn't all that bad last year. If Bama can take care of its business on the court, a brutal RPI shouldn't hold us back this year.
The full schedule, as well as TV info, below the jump.
|
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
Broadcast |
|
Fri Nov 11 |
North Florida |
Home |
|
|
Mon Nov 14 |
Oakland |
Home |
|
|
Thu Nov 17 |
Maryland |
Neutral (Puerto Rico) |
ESPN2 |
|
Fri Nov 18 |
TBA |
Neutral (Puerto Rico) |
ESPN2 |
|
Sun Nov 20 |
TBA |
Neutral (Puerto Rico) |
ESPN2 |
|
Wed Nov 23 |
Alabama A&M |
Home |
|
|
Sun Nov 27 |
VCU |
Home |
|
|
Thu Dec 1 |
Georgetown |
Home |
ESPN2 |
|
Wed Dec 7 |
Dayton |
Away |
|
|
Sun Dec 11 |
Detroit |
Home |
|
|
Sat Dec 17 |
Kansas State |
Away (Kansas City) |
|
|
Wed Dec 21 |
Oklahoma State |
Home (Birmingham) |
ESPN2 |
|
Thu Dec 29 |
Jacksonville |
Home |
|
|
Tue Jan 3 |
Georgia Tech |
Away |
|
|
Sat Jan 7 |
Georgia |
Away |
Fox Sports |
|
Wed Jan 11 |
LSU |
Home |
CSS |
|
Sat Jan 14 |
Mississippi State |
Away |
SEC Network |
|
Thu Thu 19 |
Vanderbilt |
Home |
ESPN |
|
Sat Jan 21 |
Kentucky |
Away |
CBS |
|
Wed Jan 25 |
South Carolina |
Away |
SEC Network |
|
Sat Jan 28 |
Arkansas |
Home |
SEC Network |
|
Sat Feb 4 |
Ole Miss |
Home |
ESPN |
|
Tue Feb 7 |
Auburn |
Away |
ESPNU |
|
Sat Feb 11 |
LSU |
Away |
ESPN2 |
|
Tue Feb 14 |
Florida |
Home |
ESPN |
|
Sat Feb 18 |
Tennessee |
Home |
SEC Network |
|
Thu Feb 23 |
Arkansas |
Away |
ESPN |
|
Sat Feb 25 |
Mississippi State |
Home |
ESPN |
|
Wed Feb 29 |
Auburn |
Home |
SEC Network |
|
Sat Mar 3 |
Ole Miss |
Away |
SEC Network |
The SEC schedule offers a couple of brutal 2-day turnarounds, namely getting Vandy at home on Thursday followed to a trip to Rupp Arena the following Saturday, and having to travel to Arkansas (the longest SEC road trip) on Thursday before returning home to face Mississippi State the following Saturday.
The other quick note is the broadcast schedule. Notice that eight of the Tide's 16 SEC games are set to be televised nationally, with seven on ESPN networks and one on CBS. Of course the other eight games will be televised regionally. At least five of the 14 non-conference games will be televised nationally, with the VCU, Dayton, Kansas State and Georgia Tech games all expected to get picked up as well. The TV execs are showing Bama some respect, if nothing else.