* 2013-14 Cornell Men's Basketball Schedule
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell men's basketball has earned a reputation for taking on all comers, but the 2013-14 schedule will be unprecedented even for them. Matchups with a pair of 2013 NCAA Final Four teams, including a road game at defending national champion Louisville, highlight a 28-game schedule.
Cornell will meet seven opponents who won at least 20 games a year and four that won 25 or more contests. The Big Red will play eight games against seven different squads that advanced to postseason a year ago, including five games against NCAA teams.
The Big Red's 13 Division I non-conference opponents posted a cumulative .516 win percentage in 2012-13, with three of their foes entering the year as the regular season conference or division champions (Louisville - Big East, Stony Brook - America East, Western Michigan - Mid-America West).
Cornell opens the campaign at local foe Syracuse, a 2013 NCAA semifinalist. The game will be the first for the Orange in their inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim and his squad. It will be the Big Red's first trip to the Carrier Dome since 2010, when No. 8/7 Syracuse topped the Big Red 78-58 for their 33rd consecutive win in the series.
Two days later, head coach Bill Courtney's squad begins its 13-game home schedule with a game against 2013 CIT participant and 23-game winner Loyola (Md.) under first year head coach G.G. Smith. It is the Greyhounds' first season in the Patriot League. A contest against Central New York rival Binghamton is scheduled to Wednesday, Nov. 13 at Newman Arena.
A two-game road trip opens with a visit to defending national champion Louisville on Friday, Nov. 15. The Cardinals won the Big East a season ago and finished the season 35-5 under Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino. Louisville returns three starters and its entire bench, along with introducing a recruiting class ranked among the nation's top 10.
After a visit to Central New York rival Colgate on Wednesday, Nov. 20, Cornell will return home for consecutive home games against Siena on Friday, No. 22 and Radford on Monday, Nov. 25.
The day after Thanksgiving, Cornell will visit Western Michigan on Nov. 29 as part of a two-game midwest road trip that also includes a visit to 2013 NCAA participant Western Michigan on Sunday, Dec. 1. The following Saturday, Cornell will close out the semester with a home game against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, Dec. 7.
Cornell will have a 15-day break for final exams before returning to action on Sunday, Dec. 22 when it visits defending America East champion and 2013 NIT participant Stony Brook, another 25-game winner a year ago. That game begins a three-game road trip that continues at St. Peter's on Saturday, Dec. 28 after the holidays, and ends with a visit to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Jan. 4.
The Big Red will play its annual game against a Division III opponent against Oberlin on Saturday, Jan. 11.
A brutal Ivy League schedule awaits Cornell, who will play five of its first six contests on the road. The Big Red visits Columbia on Jan. 18, then hosts the return trip on Jan. 25 at Newman Arena. Other highlights include a home game against defending Ivy champion Harvard on Saturday, Feb. 15, and Senior Day against Penn on Saturday, March 8.
