The men’s basketball team will likely face at least two high-profile teams during its 2011-2012 season, with Virginia Commonwealth scheduled for the annual BB&T Classic.
The Colonials are also in talks with a number of teams to ink competition, including potential road games against Syracuse and Tulane, director of athletics Jack Kvancz said.He said the Colonials are also exploring contracts with the Bradley, Navy and Hartford programs.
“Scheduling is two things. It’s dates and money,” Kvancz said. “Our goal is home games, but we need to see where things will work out.”
The Colonials will open their season with the CBE Classic, a tournament hosted by No. 14 Notre Dame, Georgia, California and Missouri in mid-November. Each of those four programs will host regional round games, with the hosts advancing to a championship round held at Kansas City’s Sprint Center. The remaining teams will advance to subregional games held at various campus sites.
Official matchups, as well as the rest of the participating programs, have yet to be released.
“At least one game will be an ‘up’ game for us,” Kvancz said. “The question is, do you go 3-1, or 1-3 or 2-2 [in the tournament]? Personally, I like getting the wins.”
Other opponents on the books for the Colonials include a trip to Harvard, a team that beat GW in Foggy Bottom last season. Kvancz said GW has renewed a two-year contract with the Crimson. The Colonials will also host the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Less likely to be on the books are two opponents the Colonials faced during the 2010-2011 season. Though Kvancz said he’s in talks with Pac-10 competitor Oregon State, a program GW has faced for the past two seasons, the conflicting exam schedules of the two schools are proving to be a roadblock for the meeting. District rival George Mason is also unlikely, he added, because the Patriots have been selected to compete in the NIT Season Tip-Off. It’s a disappointing schedule loss for the Colonials after the high-profile meetings of the two schools in seasons past. Billed as the “Battle of the Orange Line,” it pitted the two programs against each other to create a District rivalry embraced by members of both communities.
The Colonials will also play all 13 Atlantic-10 programs at least once, including at least six home games, Kvancz said, but dates have yet to be determined. The 2011-2012 schedule will be finalized and released once all contracts are signed, which Kvancz estimated would be in about a month’s time.
This article was updated on April 25, 2011 to reflect the following changes:
Based on incorrect information from a source, The Hatchet reported that the Colonials will travel to the University of Alabama Birmingham next season. GW will host UAB. Based on the same information, we also reported that the winners of the first round of the CBE Classic will advance. The host teams will advance.
