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2011-12 Cornell Men's Basketball Schedule
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's basketball team will play 10 games against 2011 postseason opponents in a rigorous 2011-12 schedule it has put together to challenge itself during the upcoming year. The Big Red will play six non-conference games against postseason teams from a year ago, including four foes that advances to the NCAA tournament.
Highlighting the non-conference portion of the schedule is a five-game road swing that includes contests at NCAA opponents Illinois, Penn State and Bucknell, as well as traditional national power Maryland.
Cornell opens the 2011-12 campaign at St. Bonaventure on Nov. 11. The Big Red and Bonnies played a classic at Newman Arena a year ago, with SBU taking a two-point win with a last-second go-ahead basket. St. Bonaventure used that win to propel itself to an 8-8 season in the Atlantic 10 and a bid to the College Basketball Invitational.
The game will be the first of three straight against schools from New York, with Cornell opening the home slate against Binghamton on Nov. 14 at Newman Arena, followed by a visit to Buffalo two days later. The Bulls will provide the first of 11 games against Big Red opponents who won at least 19 games a season ago. Buffalo earned a spot in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT) in 2011.
Cornell will play its second of 12 home games when it welcomes defending America East NCAA representative Boston University on Nov. 20. The Terriers were 21-14 a year ago, including an exciting 66-61 decision over the Big Red that also came down to the final five seconds.
A contest at Delaware on Nov. 22 sets up the Big Red's only three-game homestand before the start of Ivy play, as American (Nov. 27), Lehigh (Dec. 3) and Albany (Dec. 17) visit Ithaca. All three teams won at least 16 games a season ago. The matchup against Albany comes after a two-week break for final exams, while American was 22-9 and finished second in the Patriot League regular season race.
The Big Red will then embark on a treacherous six-game road swing beginning with consecutive games against Big Ten opponents for the first time since the 1949-50 season when the Big Red lost consecutive narrow decisions to Ohio State (43-42) and Michigan State (61-54) in East Lansing, Mich. Cornell visits Illinois on Dec. 19, then heads to Penn State on Dec. 21. The teams tied for fourth in a loaded Big Ten a season ago, with each squad earning an NCAA bid.
A contest against Stony Brook on Dec. 28 sets up another showdown with a 2011 NCAA tournament team when the Big Red visits reigning Patriot League champion Bucknell on New Year's Eve. The road trip ends when Cornell visits Maryland to open the 2012 portion of the schedule when it travels to face the Terrapins out of the ACC, featuring new coach Mark Turgeon, on Jan. 3.
Cornell plays its final tuneup for conference action when it meets Division III opponent Albright College on Jan. 7. The Lions, under head coach Rick Ferry, went 15-10 overall and 7-7 in the Commonwealth Conference a season ago.
Cornell, winner of three of the last four Ivy League titles, will open conference season at home against Columbia, who finished tied with Cornell for fifth place in the league standings a year ago, at Newman Arena on Jan. 14. Ivy co-champ and NCAA tournament respresentative Princeton, with new coach Mitch Henderson, visit Ithaca on Jan. 27. Harvard, who shared the title with the Tigers and earned a spot in the NIT, will head to Ithaca on March 3 to close out the regular season.
