Men face Kansas, women play Georgia this season

The Belmont men’s and women’s basketball teams will be playing from coast to coast this season while facing opponents that have consistently made it to March Madness.

The university announced this week two squads will play six teams combined who made the NCAA tournament last season.

While both teams will be in a new conference and face major non-conference opponents, they will also continue to play local teams like Middle Tennessee State and UT-Chattanooga. They will continue their Battle of the Boulevard rivalry with Lipscomb with home-and-home series that starts Nov. 9 with the men’s season opener at Allen Arena.

Men’s basketball:

The Belmont men’s basketball schedule includes several games versus NCAA tournament teams, most of which will be on the road early in the season.

The centerpiece of their non-conference schedule will be at historic Allen Fieldhouse versus the Kansas Jayhawks, a three-time national champion. The Bruins lost to the Jayhawks 81-51 on the road in 2009.

The Bruins will also face Pac-12 member and NIT champion Stanford in Palo Alto, Ca. on Nov. 18. They’ll go to Richmond, Va. in Dec. 2 to play VCU, a 2011 Final Four team, and then face 2012 Summit League champion South Dakota State at home on Dec. 19.

Conference play will begin for the Bruins on the road against Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech on Jan. 3. The Bruins will hostfour home conference games from Jan. 10-19, including their cross-town opponent at Tennessee State.

On Feb. 7, Belmont will travel to Kentucky to face the defending conference tournament champions Murray State. The Racers are coming off a two-loss season that had them ranked in the top 10 nationally last season.

Belmont will also host a game as part of the annual ESPN BracketBusters event on Feb. 23. Their opponent has not been determined and will be announced until sometime in January.

The Bruins will also participate in two tournaments. The first will be the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage, Alaska, Nov. 22-24. The second will be at the UCF Holiday Classic Dec. 28-29 in Orlando, FL before conference play begins.

The OVC conference tournament will be Mar. 6-9 in Nashville at Municipal Auditorium.

Women’s basketball:

The Belmont women’s basketball team also has road-dominated non-conference schedule this season against major conference opponents.

The Bruins will face two SEC opponents Georgia and Ole Miss on the road, as well as Big 10 member Indiana.

Other non-conference opponents include in-state rival UT-Chattanooga and Big East member Cincinnati.

After spending the majority of December on the road, Belmont will finish the month off at home hosting its first conference games against SIU-Edwardsville and SEMO on Dec. 29 and 31.

In January, Belmont will start to dig deep into conference play, facing opponents such as Murray State, Tennessee State and Eastern Kentucky.

The Bruins will host the defending conference champion UT-Martin Lady Skyhawks on Jan. 12 at the Curb Event Center.

Belmont will also face the Bison women’s basketball team at the road Dec. 1 and at home on Feb. 11.

Three games on the road will follow the battle before Belmont wraps up its season at home against Jacksonville State.

The OVC women’s tournament will coincide with the men’s tournament in Nashville at Municipal Auditorium.

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