The football season is starting to come to an end, and believe it or not, basketball starts in just a couple of weeks.
MTSU will be tipping off another season next month in which both the men and women’s teams will look to return to the postseason. As usual, during the final two months of the year, both squads have another challenging non-conference schedule.
For the past few years, the Lady Raiders used a tough non-conference schedule to help gain valuable points in order to fall back on an at-large berth into the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The 2011-2012 season is no different.
What also makes it fun is the type of competition that will visit the Murphy Center during the months of November and December.
Two SEC, one ACC and a giant-killer in the NCAA tournament, will make the trip to the Murphy Center this season.
The first one is Nov. 17 against South Dakota State, a Division I team that has knocked off big-name schools.
After a Nov. 29 trip to Knoxville to play the Lady Vols, the Lady Raiders welcome Arkansas on Dec. 3.
On Dec. 11, MTSU will start a five-game home stand that includes Georgia Tech and Kentucky, slated for Dec. 28.
In-state foe, Tennessee State comes down Dec. 18.
Two Sun Belt Conference games will also fill out the home stand, Florida International on Dec. 21 South Alabama on New Year’s Eve.
Maui in Murfreesboro
It should be a fun beginning to the season.
As for the men, the Blue Raiders will play in the Maui Invitational without having to travel all the way to the islands.
Let me explain.
For the first time, in the tournament’s long history, it is expanding the bracket from the usual eight teams to 12.
But, MTSU will not get to enjoy the good life in Hawaii.
Instead, the men will play host to the mainland portion of the tournament.
Here is the format: Each of the 12 teams will play one of two games in the opening round. Some of those match ups include Belmont at Duke, UNCG at Tennessee, and the Blue Raiders will face off against UCLA in Hollywood.
The eight winners will travel to Maui for the traditional eight-team tournament, which include Michigan, Memphis, Tennessee, Duke, UCLA, Georgetown, Kansas and host Chaminade.
As for the other four, here comes the fun part: UNCG, Towson, Belmont and MTSU will play a four-team tournament at the Murphy Center on Nov. 19-20.
It is a bummer that the Blue Raiders will not get a chance to take a vacation in Hawaii, but all four will have a good chance to advancing to postseason play.
“We are hosting the very first inland tournament with some good teams, and we are very excited about doing that,” MTSU head coach Kermit Davis said. “Our schedule is the toughest one we’ve had. We feel very good about our team, so we were confident to do that.”
I hope the Rutherford County community takes a break from watching football and comes to watch quality basketball during the next two months.
Finally, on a personal note, this will be my final column until 2012.
I will be taking the next two months off from The Murfreesboro Post because I will be busy with my other job during the holiday season.
I want to thank all the community for reading, and everyone else for taking the time to answer all of my questions.
I want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. See you in 2012. |
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