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Sept. 18, 2007

2007-08 Schedule

The Siena College athletic department released its 2007-2008 men's basketball schedule Tuesday afternoon after receiving the conference lineup from the league office. The slate is highlighted by five non-conference home dates against premier competition and an appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Syracuse.

For the first time, a Pac-10 school will visit Albany to play Siena, as Stanford is the guest for the Saints' much-anticipated home-opener Saturday, November 17. Siena defeated Stanford 80-78 in the 1989 NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal won last year's encounter in Palo Alto, 92-72.

UAlbany (12/1) and Holy Cross (12/22) visit Times Union Center after NCAA appearances last season. 2004 NCAA Tournament Elite 8 participant Saint Joseph's comes to town December 28 and a New Year's Eve showdown with Dartmouth completes the non-conference home docket. Tickets figure to be hard to come by as three of the games (Stanford, UAlbany and Holy Cross) are on Saturday's, while the Saints and Hawks square off on a Friday night and the Big Green match-up is slated for one of downtown Albany's biggest nights of the year.

All games except the UAlbany contest will take place in the reconfigured Times Union Center with capacity capped at 8,065. Arena capacity of 14,750 will be used for the UAlbany game.

The Saints open their season Friday, November 9 at James Madison. The game is a rematch of last year's ESPNU Bracketbusters contest which Siena won 76-66.

The following Monday, Siena begins play in the NIT Season Tip-Off at BIG EAST power Syracuse. The game will air at 7 p.m. on ESPNU at the Carrier Dome. It will be the Saints third appearance in the Tournament formerly known as the Preseason NIT and first since 1999 when they advanced to the Second Round with an 89-79 win over Davidson before falling 107-97 at Notre Dame. St. Joseph's and Fairleigh Dickinson are also in the Syracuse Regional. The winners and losers of Monday's first round games will meet Tuesday and the team that emerges from the Regional earns a trip to the NIT Season Tip-Off Finals November 21 and 23 at Madison Square Garden.

The non-conference road schedule also features a trip to Memphis on January 3 where the Saints and Tigers will square off at Fed Ex Forum. Memphis is listed as the preseason #1 by several national publications. John Calipari returns all five starters after guiding the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for the second straight season in March.

The Saints will again participate in ESPNU Bracketbusters, this season as a road team. The game takes place either February 22 or 23 and the opponent will not be announced until a couple weeks before the game. The final game added to the Siena schedule will take place at Cornell on Sunday, November 25. The Big Red will be among the favorites in the Ivy League this season.

The MAAC schedule includes an ESPN 2 game against Rider Saturday, February 2 at Times Union Center. It will be the third time Siena has played on "The Deuce" in the past two seasons. Siena's home game with Saint Peter's on January 6 is also part of the MAAC TV Package as is the road game at Niagara on January 11 which will air on ESPNU.

Siena and archrival Marist played two thrilling games in an eight-day stretch last season. This year the two teams are scheduled to meet twice in just five days, with the Red Foxes coming to Times Union Center on Monday, February 4 and the Saints making the quick trip down the Thruway for an ESPU televised game on Friday, February 8.

The Saints will play a minimum of 29 regular-season games, with 14 of those scheduled to take place at Times Union Center. The team will hold its annual Sneak Preview on Thursday, September 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Times Union Center. Fans wishing to attend need simply RSVP by calling 518-782-6769. Season tickets sales are brisk, but orders are still being accepted. Those interested can phone the Times Union Center Box Office at 518-487-2085. Season ticket holders are guaranteed the best seats available for all 14 games.