Cleveland State 2010-11 basketball schedule includes games vs. Final Four teams West Virginia and Butler, plus matchups with local rivals Akron and Kent State.
CSU coach Gary WatersCleveland State announced its men's basketball schedule today, and it offers several plum contests for Vikings fans to savor, including games against 2010 Final Four teams in Butler and West Virginia.
CSU is expected to be among one of several contenders for the Horizon League basketball throne. The non-conference schedule should be a solid prep for the HL season that begins Dec. 2 with a road game at Wisconsin-Green Bay. Overall there will be seven 20-win Division I teams in non-conference play for CSU. One of the three with a losing record, 15-16 St. Bonaventure from the Atlantic-10, defeated the Vikings last season.
A season-opening World Vision Tournament, Nov. 12-15 at the Wolstein Center, will feature high-powered mid-majors in Iona and Kent State, both 20-game winners last season. As part of the same tournament, the Vikings will also play Bryant and Urbana. The matchup with nearby Kent, a team the Vikings demoralized, 67-41, the last time the two teams met in 2008, should be one of two Northeast Ohio highlights.
Cleveland State will also play a road game at Akron, Nov. 24. This will mark the first time since 2005 CSU has played both of its neighbors from the Mid-American Conference in the same season. Vikings head coach Gary Waters said now that the three schools all have solid programs in place, it is time to collectively highlight each other through competition, for the benefit of all.
"What we've done (each an NCAA Tournament berth within the last three years), between us three, we all believe we might as well start moving toward making this a NE Ohio kind of challenge,'' Waters said. "At this stage it's good financially for all three schools. It's good for marketing. I know it will help us.''
Along with power conference challenges against West Virginia and South Florida out of the Big East, the Vikings will also play a mid-major gauntlet of Robert Morris, Sam Houston State, St. Bonaventure, and Louisiana-Lafayette along with Iona. The turn to more quality mid-majors on the schedule is a major change from last season when the Vikings played the likes of Kentucky, West Virginia, Kansas State, Virginia and Ohio State to ultimately finish at 16-17 on the season.
"We don't have the light mid-majors, we have strong mid-majors on our schedule, both home and on the road,'' Waters said. "What influenced our decision to go this way is we were high-major heavy last season. We played six Sweet 16 teams and most of them on the road. It's hard to have a solid record like that.''
CSU will also play a pair of small college teams in West Virginia Tech along with Urbana, and have a New Years Day Home game vs. Illinois-Chicago.
CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY
2010-11 MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
November Opponent Location Time
Mon. 8 BALDWIN-WALLACE (Exhibition) Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
World Vision Classic
Fri. 12 Iona vs. Kent State Wolstein Center 5:00 p.m. EST
CSU vs. BRYANT Wolstein Center 7:30 p.m. EST
Sat. 13 Kent State vs. Bryant Wolstein Center 3:30 p.m. EST
CSU vs. IONA Wolstein Center 6:00 p.m. EST
Sun. 14 Iona vs. Bryant Wolstein Center 3:30 p.m. EST
CSU vs. KENT STATE Wolstein Center 6:00 p.m. EST
Mon. 15 CSU vs. URBANA Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
Tues. 23 Kent State vs. Urbana Wolstein Center 5:00 p.m. EST
Fri. 19 at Louisiana-Lafayette Lafayette, La.
Wed. 24 at Akron Akron, Ohio
Sat. 27 ST. BONAVENTURE Wolstein Center 6:00 p.m. EST
Mon. 29 ROBERT MORRIS Wolstein Center 6:00 p.m. EST
December
Thurs. 2 at Green Bay * Green Bay, Wisc. 8:00 p.m. EST
Sat. 4 at Milwaukee * Milwaukee, Wisc. 8:00 p.m. EST
Tues. 7 WEST VIRGINIA TECH Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
Sat. 11 at Sam Houston State Huntsville, Texas
Sat. 18 at West Virginia Morgantown, W.V.
Wed. 22 SOUTH FLORIDA Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
Thurs. 30 LOYOLA * Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
January
Sat. 1 UIC * Wolstein Center 2:00 p.m. EST
Fri. 7 at Butler * Indianapolis, Ind.
Sun. 9 at Valparaiso * Valparaiso, Ind.
Sat. 15 at Youngstown State * Youngstown, Ohio 7:05 p.m. EST
Thurs. 20 DETROIT * (DH) Wolstein Center 7:30 p.m. EST
Sat. 22 WRIGHT STATE * (DH) Wolstein Center 2:00 p.m. EST
Thurs. 27 at UIC * Chicago, Ill.
Sat. 29 at Loyola Chicago, Ill. 4:00 p.m. EST
February
Thurs. 3 VALPARAISO * Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
Sat. 5 BUTLER * Wolstein Center 2:00 p.m. EST
Mon. 7 at Detroit * Detroit, Mich.
Sat. 12 YOUNGSTOWN STATE * (DH) Wolstein Center 2:00 p.m. EST
Wed. 16 at Wright State * Fairborn, Ohio 7:00 p.m. EST
Sat. 19 at BracketBusters TBA
Thurs. 24 MILWAUKEE * Wolstein Center 7:00 p.m. EST
Sat. 26 GREEN BAY * (DH) Wolstein Center 2:00 p.m. EST
March
2010 Horizon League Championship
Tues. 1 First Round at Campus Sites 7:00 p.m. EST
Fri. 4 Second Round Site TBA TBA
Sat. 5 Semifinals Site TBA TBA
Tues. 8 Championship Site TBA 9:00 p.m. EST
* Denotes Horizon League game
Home games in BOLD CAPS are played at the Wolstein Center at CSU.
(DH) denotes doubleheader with CSU women’s basketball team Schedule updated as of Sept. 8, 2010