Aug. 10, 2012

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -

Fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance and its second straight 20-win season, the 2012-13 University of Alabama men’s basketball team will be challenged by a schedule that includes 17 home dates, tough road tests and the always difficult Southeastern Conference gauntlet, the league and UA head coach Anthony Grant announced Friday.

The Crimson Tide’s 32-game schedule includes 20 games against teams that won 18 or more games last season and seven known non-conference opponents to date that won 20 or more games last season and three teams that won more than 25 contests.

“We have assembled another exciting and demanding non-conference schedule,” UA head coach Anthony Grant said. “Eight of our current, potential 12 non-conference opponents advanced to the postseason last year. We’ll face four quality programs in the 2K Classic to open the season and then 2012 NCAA tournament teams in Cincinnati, VCU and Lamar.”

Crimson Tide fans will get their first look at the squad in a Nov. 6 exhibition game against nearby Stillman College before opening the 2012-13 season with a pair of home games on Nov. 9 and 11 against opponents to be determined by the organizers of the 2K Sports Classic. The event continues later in the week when UA travels to New York City to face Oregon State in Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15. The following day, the Tide will face either Villanova or Purdue in the final contest of the four-game event.

UA closes out November with games against Charleston Southern and Lamar, the 2012 Southland Conference tournament champion. December will continue to challenge the Tide as the squad opens the month at Cincinnati, which advanced to the Sweet 16 last season, on Dec. 1 as part of the SEC/Big East Challenge. UA returns home to face Grant’s alma mater, Dayton, in Coleman Coliseum on Dec. 5 followed by a trip to Richmond, Va., to go against a VCU team that won 29 games last year. A contest at Texas Tech and a home date against Mercer on Dec. 22 are UA’s final games before the holiday break. The Tide returns to action on Dec. 30 to host Tulane before its final non-conference test on Jan. 5 against Oakland in Tuscaloosa.

“Our non-conference schedule will expose our team to different styles of play, challenges and tough road environments that will prepare us for our 18-game conference schedule,” Grant said.

On Jan. 8 the squad jumps straight into SEC play against one of the league’s newest members with a trip to Columbia, Mo., to face a Missouri team that won 30 games last season. The squad will also face SEC road tests at Mississippi State (Jan. 16), Tennessee (Jan. 26), Vanderbilt (Feb. 2), Auburn (Feb. 6), Georgia (Feb. 12), Florida (March 2) and Mississippi (March 5).

The Tide’s home SEC schedule is highlighted by the defending NCAA Champion Kentucky Wildcats visiting Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 22. UA opens its home SEC slate on Jan. 12 against Tennessee and will also welcome Texas A&M (Jan. 19), Arkansas (Jan. 31), LSU (Feb. 9), South Carolina (Feb. 16), Mississippi State (Feb. 20), Auburn (Feb. 26) and Georgia (March 9) to Coleman Coliseum as part of the SEC’s new 18-game schedule.

As it has been in each of the last three seasons, all of the Tide’s SEC contests will be televised with seven currently airing on either ESPN or ESPN2. UA’s non-conference television schedule will be announced at a later date.

2012-13 University of Alabama Men’s Basketball Schedule

(All Times Central)