MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 9, 2012) – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Oliver Luck and the Big 12 Conference have announced the 2012-13 men’s basketball schedule.
At least 19 regular season games on national television highlight the schedule, including 11 Big 12 contests that will be televised nationally. Three of those games will be on ESPN’s Big Monday (Kansas, Texas and at Kansas State), while WVU will have two contests on CBS (at Purdue and at Kansas) this season.
“This schedule is very competitive from start to finish, and I know our fans will enjoy watching us on the court as we enter our first season in the Big 12 Conference,” says Luck. “We are delighted to have 19 games already selected for national television to showcase our basketball program and our great University. Coach Huggins has coached in the Big 12 before, and I know he and his guys are looking forward to getting the season tipped off.”
The Mountaineers will play 14 regular season games at home, with every Big 12 team visiting Morgantown. In addition to conference play, Virginia Tech, VMI, Oakland, Radford and Eastern Kentucky will visit the Coliseum.
WVU will play road games at Purdue and Duquesne and will open the season at Gonzaga on Nov. 12 in a preliminary game of the Old Spice Classic that begins the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. WVU will then play three games in the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The 2012 Old Spice Classic will feature Vanderbilt, Gonzaga, Clemson, Davidson, Marist, Oklahoma, UTEP and WVU.
The Mountaineers will play two more neutral site games against Marshall in Charleston and against Michigan in Brooklyn, N.Y.
West Virginia will play its first Big 12 Conference game at home against Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 5. WVU will conclude the Big 12 schedule against Iowa State on Saturday, March 9, also at home.
WVU’s nationally televised games this season will be Gonzaga (ESPN), Virginia Tech (ESPN2), Michigan (ESPN), Oakland (ESPNU), at Texas (ESPN2), at Iowa State (ESPN2), Purdue (CBS), TCU (ESPN2), at Oklahoma State (ESPNU), Kansas (ESPN), Texas (ESPN), at Baylor (ESPN2), at Kansas State (ESPN), Oklahoma State (ESPN2), at Kansas (CBS) and at Oklahoma (ESPN2). WVU’s three games in the Old Spice Classic will be televised by either ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, including the opening game against Marist on ESPN2.
West Virginia will play one exhibition game against Glenville State on Nov. 6.
“I know I say this every year, but top to bottom, this has to be one of the toughest regular season schedules in school history,” says coach Bob Huggins. “We have ranked in the top 20 in terms of strength of schedule in each of the last four years, including two years where we were ranked in the top three, and this year’s schedule will be no different. To have 19 of our 31 games already selected for national television is something our basketball program is proud of and certainly proud to be able to showcase our University and the great state of West Virginia.
“I’ve spent a year in the Big 12, and the fan support is tremendous. I think the Big 12 has the best home court advantages in college basketball in addition to having great coaches. I was sitting at the Big 12 meetings in the spring and looking around and we had 10 coaches there and five of them have been to the Final Four. When 50 percent of your coaches have been to the Final Four, you have a pretty good league.”
The rest of the game times will be announced at a later date. All dates and times are subject to change for television. Basketball practice begins Friday, Oct. 12.
The complete WVU men’s schedule:
Day Date Opponent Location TV Time
Tue Nov. 6 Glenville State (exh.) Morgantown Root Sports TBA
Mon Nov. 12 at Gonzaga ^ Spokane, Wash. ESPN 11:59 p.m.
Thu Nov. 22 vs. Marist $ Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ESPN2 Noon
Fri Nov. 23 vs. Vanderbilt/Davidson $ Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ESPN/ESPNU 12:30/3 p.m.
Sun Nov. 25 vs. UTEP/Oklahoma/Clemson/Gonzaga $ Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ESPN2/ESPNU TBD
Thu Nov. 29 VMI Morgantown Root Sports TBA
Wed Dec. 5 vs. Marshall # Charleston Capital Classic Net. 7:30 p.m.
Sat Dec. 8 Virginia Tech Morgantown ESPN2 4 p.m.
Tue Dec. 11 at Duquesne Pittsburgh, Pa. TBA
Sat Dec. 15 vs. Michigan ! Brooklyn, N.Y. ESPN 8 p.m.
Wed Dec. 19 Oakland Morgantown ESPNU TBA
Sat Dec. 22 Radford Morgantown Root Sports TBA
Sun Dec. 30 Eastern Kentucky Morgantown Root Sports TBA
Sat Jan. 5 Oklahoma * Morgantown Big 12 Network 4 p.m.
Wed Jan. 9 at Texas * Austin, Texas ESPN2 9 p.m.
Sat Jan. 12 Kansas State * Morgantown Big 12 Network 1:30 p.m.
Wed Jan. 16 at Iowa State * Ames, Iowa ESPN2 9 p.m.
Sat Jan. 19 at Purdue West Lafayette, Ind. CBS 2 p.m.
Wed Jan. 23 TCU * Morgantown ESPN2 7:30 p.m.
Sat Jan. 26 at Oklahoma State * Stillwater, Okla. ESPNU 1 p.m.
Mon Jan. 28 Kansas * Morgantown ESPN 9 p.m.
Sat Feb. 2 at Texas Tech * Lubbock, Texas Big 12 Network 1:30 p.m.
Mon Feb. 4 Texas * Morgantown ESPN 9 p.m.
Sat Feb. 9 at TCU * Fort Worth, Texas Big 12 Network 4 p.m.
Wed Feb. 13 at Baylor * Waco, Texas ESPN2 9 p.m.
Sat Feb. 16 Texas Tech * Morgantown Big 12 Network 4 p.m.
Mon Feb. 18 at Kansas State * Manhattan, Kan. ESPN 9 p.m.
Sat Feb. 23 Oklahoma State * Morgantown ESPN2 2 p.m.
Wed Feb. 27 Baylor * Morgantown Big 12 Network 8 p.m.
Sat Mar. 2 at Kansas * Lawrence, Kan. CBS 2 p.m.
Wed Mar. 6 at Oklahoma * Norman, Okla. ESPN2 9 p.m.
Sat Mar. 9 Iowa State * Morgantown Big 12 Network 1:30 p.m.
Wed-
Sat Mar. 13-16 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Kansas City, Mo. ESPN/ESPN2/ TBD
Big 12 Network
^ Old Spice Classic/ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon
$ Old Spice Classic
! BROOKLYN HOOPS Winter Festival
# Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic
* Big 12 Conference Game
- ALL DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE FOR TELEVISION
- All Times Eastern
