Ohio State’s 2007-08 Men’s Basketball Schedule Announced – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Buckeyes open Nov. 12 in Preseason NIT
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Thad Matta, now in his fourth season as head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, has put together a challenging non-conference schedule to go along with an expanded Big Ten regular-season slate in 2007-08.
Every Ohio State game will appear on national television in 2007-08. CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and the Big Ten Network will showcase the Buckeyes this season.
The Buckeyes, winners of back-to-back regular-season outright Big Ten titles, will have a tougher road to a third-consecutive championship this season with an additional two games added to the league schedule. Ohio State will face a daunting 18-game Big Ten regular-season schedule this year. The league returned to the lengthier conference schedule after playing a 16-game schedule from 1998-2007. The Buckeyes will take on eight league foes twice while playing Wisconsin (home) and Penn State (away) just once in 2008.
Matta said the difficulty of the non-conference schedule will prepare the Buckeyes for the additional conference games and postseason play.
“Our 2007-08 schedule will be exciting for our fans for sure,” Matta said. “We have some great teams coming to Value City Arena and we will be traveling to Butler, Tennessee and Cleveland State.
“Ohio State has not played in Cleveland since 1996,” he said. “We are looking forward to the opportunity for our fans to see us in that part of the state. This schedule will certainly help us prepare for the conference schedule and postseason competition.”
The game against the Vikings will be played in Quicken Loans Arena.
Ohio State will play at least 13 games this season vs. nine teams that played in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, which includes a Dec. 22 rematch vs. Florida at Value City Arena. Ohio State fell to the Gators in the 2007 NCAA Championship game. If the Buckeyes advance to New York in preseason NIT competition, Texas A&M poses a potential matchup of another 2007 NCAA tournament opponent.
The first two rounds of the 2007 Preseason NIT will be contested on the Ohio State campus Nov. 12-13. The Buckeyes will face Wisconsin-Green Bay to open the season (9 p.m., Dec. 12) after Columbia and Delaware State tip off at 6 p.m. The winners meet at 9 p.m. Nov. 13 after a 6 p.m. consolation game. Four teams, the winner from each of four regional competitions, travel to New York for the NIT semifinals and finals Nov. 21 and 23 at storied Madison Square Garden.
The Buckeyes also could face Syracuse in preseason NIT play this year. The Orange, along with Michigan, advanced to postseason NIT competition a season ago.
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge will again be part of the Ohio State schedule this year. The Buckeyes play host to North Carolina Nov. 28.
Tennessee and Ohio State squared off twice last season. The Buckeyes narrowly defeated the Volunteers in Columbus (72-69, Jan. 13) and then again in NCAA tournament play March 22 (85-84). Tennessee will host its part of the home-and-home series Jan. 19, 2008 in Knoxville.
The Butler series also resumes this year in Indianapolis Dec. 1 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Matta, a 1990 Butler graduate, is 1-0 vs. his alma mater as head coach of the Buckeyes. Ohio State defeated the Bulldogs 79-69 in overtime Nov. 22, 2005 in Matta’s second season in Columbus.
The Buckeyes will play one game in historic St. John Arena this season marking only the second game Ohio State has played in its former home since the opening of Value City Arena in 1998-99. VMI and Ohio State will play in St. John Arena Nov. 25. Game time has not been determined. The Buckeyes called St. John home from 1957-1998. The Buckeyes defeated Chattanooga 84-67 Nov. 27, 2004 in the last game played in the facility. Ohio State is 427-151 in St. John Arena all-time for a winning percentage of .739.
The VMI game will not be a part of the 2007-08 men’s basketball season ticket package. A separate ticket will be sold for this game. Further information will be available at a later date.
Matta has directed the Buckeyes to 25-consecutive home victories in Value City Arena, the third-longest home win streak in Ohio State history. Matta is 21-3 vs. the Big Ten at VCA and is 27-0 vs. non-conference opponents during his tenure. The Buckeyes posted a school-record 18-0 home record at VCA a season ago and in three seasons in Columbus, Matta’s Buckeyes are 48-3 in VCA and 50-3 in Columbus. Ohio State owns single victories at St. John and Nationwide arenas since Matta took over the program in 2004-05.
Ohio State will open the season with 11 scholarship players, eight of whom are underclassmen. Just three of 13 available student-athletes in 2007-08 are upperclassmen with significant playing experience.
Ohio State will open defense if its back-to-back outright Big Ten regular-season championships Jan. 3 at Illinois on ESPN when the Buckeyes begin their 95th year as a member of the Big Ten Conference in men’s basketball.
Ohio State won its 17th league championship and its 12th outright with a 15-1 Big Ten regular-season record a season ago.
The Buckeyes will play two exhibitions Oct. 31 and Nov. 6. Ashland University will be the opponent Oct. 31. The Nov. 6 opponent will be Findlay. Both games tip at 7 p.m. at Value City Arena.
Ohio State put together a 35-4 campaign in 2006-07 on its way to an outright Big Ten regular-season title, the Big Ten tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA title game, the ninth Final Four appearance in program history. Matta was named the league’s coach of the year for the second-consecutive season, as well.
2007-08 Ohio State Men’s Basketball Schedule
| Date | Day | TV | Opponent | Time (EST) | Series |
| October | |||||
| 31 | Wed. | Ashland (Exhibition) | 7 p.m. | ||
| November | |||||
| 6 | Tues. | Findlay (Exhibition) | 7 p.m. | ||
| 12 | Mon. | TBA | 1-WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY | 9 p.m. | 0-0 |
| 1-Columbia vs. Delaware State | 6 p.m. | ||||
| 13 | Tues. | TBA | 1-COLUMBIA OR DELAWARE ST. | 9 p.m. | 1-0/1-0 |
| 1-Midwest Region Consolation | 6 p.m. | ||||
| 21-23 | Wed.-Fri. | TBA | 2-Preseason NIT | TBA | |
| 25 | Sun. | TBA | 3-VIRGINIA MILITARY INS. | TBA | 1-0 |
| 28 | Wed. | TBA | 4-NORTH CAROLINA (&) | TBA | 2-8 |
| December | |||||
| 1 | Sat. | TBA | at Butler (&) | TBA | 30-8 |
| 10 | Mon. | TBA | COPPIN STATE | TBA | 2-0 |
| 15 | Sat. | TBA | PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE | TBA | 0-0 |
| 18 | Tues. | TBA | 5-vs. Cleveland State | TBA | 5-1 |
| 22 | Sat. | TBA | FLORIDA (&) | TBA | 5-4 |
| 29 | Sat. | TBA | MD.-BALTIMORE COUNTY | TBA | 2-0 |
| January | |||||
| 3 | Thurs. | ESPN | at Illinois (&) | 8 p.m. | 57-97 |
| 6 | Sun. | BTN | NORTHWESTERN | Noon | 103-44 |
| 9 | Wed. | BTN | IOWA | 7 p.m. | 62-72 |
| 12 | Sat. | BTN | at Purdue (&) | 4 p.m. | 72-78 |
| 15 | Tues. | ESPN | at Michigan State (&) | 7 p.m. | 47-54 |
| 19 | Sat. | TBA | at Tennessee (&) | TBA | 4-0 |
| 22 | Tues. | BTN | ILLINOIS (&) | 9 p.m. | |
| 26 | Sat. | BTN | MINNESOTA | 8 p.m. | 72-52 |
| 29 | Tues. | ESPN | at Penn State | 7 p.m. | 20-12 |
| February | |||||
| 2 | Sat. | BTN | at Iowa | 6 p.m. | |
| 5 | Tues. | ESPN | MICHIGAN (%) | 7 p.m. | 82-69 |
| 10 | Sun. | CBS | INDIANA (&) | 1 p.m. | 68-97 |
| 13 | Wed. | BTN | at Northwestern | 9 p.m. | |
| 17 | Sun. | CBS | at Michigan (%) | 1 p.m. | |
| 23/24 | Sat./Sun. | ESPN, BTN/CBS | WISCONSIN (&) | 2, 4/4 p.m. | 79-61 |
| 26 | Tues. | ESPN | at Indiana (&) | 7 p.m. | |
| March | |||||
| 1/2 | Sat./Sun. | ESPN, BTN/CBS | at Minnesota | 4 or 6/2 p.m. | |
| 4/5 | Tues./Wed. | ESPN, BTN/BTN | PURDUE (&) | 7 or 9 p.m. | |
| or 6 | Thurs. | BTN, ESPN, ESPN2 | 7 or 9 p.m. | ||
| 9 | Sun. | ESPN | MICHIGAN STATE (&) | Noon/2/4 p.m. | |
| 13-16 | Thurs.-Sun. | TBA | 6-at Big Ten Tournament | TBA |
Home games in BOLD CAPS // All Times Eastern and subject to change
1-Preseason NIT, Columbus, Ohio
2-Preseason NIT, New York
3-St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
4-Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Columbus, Ohio
5-Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
6-Indianapolis, Ind.
(&) 2007 NCAA Tournament Participant
(%) 2007 (Postseason) NIT Participant
