Aug. 21, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford basketball team officially released its 2008-09 schedule Thursday, announced Head Coach Jimmy Tillette. The Bulldogs' upcoming slate includes road games at Ohio State, Saint Louis and Belmont, as well as home-and-home matchups against 2008 Elite Eight-finalist Davidson.

"We're playing against a lot of good teams this season," said Tillette. "We have a good mix of opponents in our non-conference schedule and then we're starting play against a new conference. To open the season, we're playing at Belmont and they are an NCAA Tournament team. We're also playing at home against Lipscomb and Louisiana Tech, and those games will also be tough."

Samford will begin play in the prestigious Southern Conference this season after officially joining the league in July. The Bulldogs' first SoCon game will be at Georgia Southern on Dec. 6, while their first home game in the SoCon is scheduled for Jan. 8, against Furman.

Samford will once again play a 20-game league schedule this season, similar to the Ohio Valley Conference, but the Bulldogs will not play a home-and-home series against all 11 SoCon opponents. This season, Samford will only play The Citadel and the College of Charleston once.

The Bulldogs are slated to play at the College of Charleston on Jan. 12, and at home against The Citadel on Jan. 26. Samford will play each of the other nine SoCon opponents twice in a home-and-home series.

"Once again, it's going to be a very long conference season," Tillette said. "We're playing 20 games and it's going to be even longer for us, because we weren't able to schedule at least four of them before Christmas. We'll have to play three games in five days a lot down the stretch and that's going to be hard for our student-athletes."

The Bulldogs' most high-profile games in the conference this season will be at Davidson (Jan. 3) and at the College of Charleston (Jan. 12), as well as home games against both Appalachian State (Jan. 17) and Davidson (Jan. 31). Last season, Davidson won the SoCon title and advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2008 NCAA Tournament behind the play of junior All-American Stephen Curry.

Following a pair of home exhibition games against Covenant College (Nov. 6) and Tennessee Wesleyan (Nov. 10), Samford will open its 2008-09 schedule Nov. 14, against Belmont in Nashville, Tenn. Last season, the teams played in the inaugural game held in the Pete Hanna Center and Belmont rallied for an 82-73 victory.

On Nov. 17, the Bulldogs will begin a three-game homestand against Spring Hill, Campbellsville and Lipscomb before traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for a matchup against Ohio State.

Samford's meeting with Ohio State on Nov. 29 will be its second matchup in six seasons. During the 2003-04 campaign, the Bulldogs played against the Buckeyes and dropped a hard-fought 80-62 decision.

After opening SoCon play at Georgia Southern on Dec. 6, Samford will remain on the road to play against the Rick Majerus-led Saint Louis Billikens on Dec. 13. The Bulldogs then return home to face Louisiana Tech in a return game from the 2008 ESPNU BracketBusters Challenge. Samford defeated Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La., last season 73-70 (OT).

Samford's last two non-conference games of the 2008-09 campaign are at Chicago State (Dec. 20) and at McNeese State (Dec. 30).

"This season, we are playing at Chicago State as a hometown game for (junior forward) Jim (Griffin) and then we're going to McNeese State for (junior guard) Trey (Montgomery)," said Tillette. "The McNeese State game will also be a huge recruiting tool for us because that's where we do a lot of recruiting. We've been trying to get down there more often, but Hurricane Katrina has put things in disarray."

The Bulldogs will end their regular-season schedule with a three-game SoCon road trip against Chattanooga (Feb. 21), Western Carolina (Feb. 26) and Appalachian State (Feb. 28). Samford will then begin play in the 2009 SoCon Tournament from March 6-9 at The McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn.

2008-09 Men's Basketball Schedule