2010-11 Viking Basketball Schedule Announced
    Wolstein Center Record 17 Home Games Includes CSU-Hosted World Vision Classic From Nov. 12-15

    Sept. 8, 2010

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    CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A school regular season record tying 17 home games, including contests against Kent State and Iona as part of the World Vision Classic in early November, a contest at Final Four participant West Virginia and a Feb. 5 home meeting with national runner-up Butler, highlight the 2010-11 Cleveland State men's basketball schedule. The schedule was released on Wednesday (Sept. 8).

    "This is really going to be a challenging schedule for us with a good balance of tough and solid teams," CSU head coach Gary Waters said.

    "The mixture of teams that are on our schedule will allow us to compete in the non-conference portion of our schedule and have us prepared for the grueling challenge of the Horizon League," Waters added.

    Playing at home will be a key for the Vikings this year as CSU owns a 37-10 record in the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons, posting the top three single season win totals in the Wolstein Center in each of the last three campaigns. CSU sandwiched a Wolstein Center record 13 home wins in 2008-09 around 12-win efforts in 2007-08 and 2009-10.

    After an exhibition game against Baldwin-Wallace on Nov. 8, the first time that the Vikings will meet the crosstown school since the 1978-79 season, CSU will open the regular season schedule by playing host to teams from Kent State, Iona, Bryant and Urbana for the World Vision Classic from Nov. 12-15 in the Wolstein Center.

    Cleveland State will open the tourney against Bryant on Friday (Nov. 12), square off with Iona on Saturday (Nov. 13), Kent State on Sunday (Nov. 14) and Urbana on Monday (Nov. 15).

    Following a road game at Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 19, a game that will be returned and played at CSU next season, the Vikings will play at Akron on Nov. 24.

    "This will be the first time since I came to Cleveland State that we will play both Kent State and Akron in the same season," Waters said. "We are committed to playing both of these schools each year with one of the games being at home."

    Home games against Atlantic 10 sleeper St. Bonaventure (Nov. 27) and 2010 NCAA Tournament participant Robert Morris (Nov. 29) close the eight-game schedule in November, tying it with the 2006-07 season for most games in the month.

    The Vikings open December on the road with their first league series of the year, playing at Green Bay (Dec. 2) and Milwaukee (Dec. 4). They are the first two of 18 league games on the slate.

    The rest of the December schedule has the Vikings hosting West Virginia Tech on Dec. 7, Big East up start South Florida on Dec. 22 along with Horizon League matchups against Loyola (Dec. 30) and UIC (Jan. 1) while traveling to Sam Houston State on Dec. 11 and West Virginia on Dec. 18.

    The league schedule picks up after the new year, featuring home games against Detroit (Jan. 20), Wright State (Jan. 22), Valparaiso (Feb. 3), Butler (Feb. 5), Youngstown State (Feb. 12), Milwaukee (Feb. 24) and Green Bay (Feb. 26).

    The only break from league play will come on Feb. 19 when CSU takes part in the eighth annual ESPNU BracketBusters. The Vikings will play a road game at an opponent that will be determined in early February.

    Regular season play ends on Feb. 26 with the first round of the Horizon League Championship, which will be held at campus sites on Tuesday, March 1. The league final will be held on Tuesday, March 8.

    Full and partial season ticket packages for CSU men's basketball are now on sale: just $199 for lower-level seats between the baselines and $299 for center court seats. Season ticket holder benefits include discounted prices for all home games, including the Feb. 5 matchup with the national runner-up Butler Bulldogs. Full season ticket holders have access to an expanded ticket exchange program and preferred-rate covered indoor parking. Season ticket holders also get Priority Points that determine presale access to postseason play, including Horizon League, NIT and NCAA tournaments.

    In addition to full season plans, all-tournament passes for the season-opening World Vision Classic are also on sale. Prices are $90 or $50 for nine games in five days, Nov. 12-15. World Vision Classic tournament tickets are included in all full season packages.

    For tickets, call (216) 687-4848 or visit CSUHoops.com.

    Some notes on the 2010-11 schedule:

    • CSU will play 31 regular season games for the third consecutive year, the most since the 2000-01 season. The Vikings scheduled 30 contests in 2007-08 (played 34), 31 in 2008-09 (played 37) and 31 last year (played 33).

    • The 17 home games are the third-highest total in school history and ties the 2009-10 season for the most home games scheduled during the regular season. The Vikings are 37-10 in the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons, including the three highest single season win totals in Wolstein Center history.

    • The Vikings will play as many as 10 games against teams that advanced to postseason play last year, including five against NCAA Tournament teams and three vs. Final Four participants. Four of these contests will come at home with the Vikings hosting Robert Morris (NCAA) on Nov. 29, national runnerup Butler on Feb. 5, along with Kent State (NIT) on Nov. 14 and Green Bay (CBI) on Feb. 26.

    • CSU resumes its series with Akron after not playing since the 2005-06 season. It will be the 64th meeting against the Zips, tying it for the third most-often played opponent in school history.

    • The Vikings will play a road game as part of the eighth annual ESPNU BracketBusters, which will be held on Feb. 20. This will be the seventh straight year that CSU has been involved with the event. Last year, the Vikings defeated Toledo, 87-63. The Vikings BracketBusters opponent will be decided in early February.

    • The World Vision Classic will mark the first time that CSU serves as the host of an exempted basketball tournament. In the past, the Vikings have traveled to Miami and Daytona Beach, Fla., Cancun, Mexico, Evansville, Ind., and Fort Collins, Colo. to take part in these tourneys.

    • The CSU men's and women's basketball teams will play four doubleheaders during the year, all during the league schedule. Both the men's and women's teams will play Detroit on Jan. 20 and Wright State on Jan. 22. The last two twin bills have the men facing Youngstown State on Feb. 12 followed by the women's game against Butler and the men hosting Green Bay on Feb. 26 followed by the women facing Youngstown State. Over the last three years, Viking teams have combined to go 23-5 in doubleheaders with nine sweeps, the men owning a 11-3 mark with the women going 12-2.

    • The annual Horizon League Championship will begin play at campus sites on March 1 leading up to the championship game on March 8.