City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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As the University of Pennsylvania basketball program prepares to enter its second season under Steve Donahue, the Quakers released their full schedule Monday afternoon, which features a wealth of intriguing matchups.

The toughest portion of the schedule is arguably the first, with Penn having four road tests to start the schedule, starting with Robert Morris--who the Quakers beat at home to start last year’s campaign. Following suit are Ja’Quan Newton and Miami, who reached the Sweet 16 last season, Central Connecticut State, and Navy.

Defending NCAA champion Villanova comes to the Palestra three days after the end of that road trip for Penn’s home opener, which also kicks off yet another year of Big 5 competition for the Quakers. Just four days after that gauntlet will be another Big 5 clash, a road date with Temple to start the month of December.

The remainder of the non-conference slate cools off for Penn, which finishes the month of December with four of five games at home; a trip to Central Florida is sandwiched between home matchups with Lafayette and George Mason, and Drexel and Fairfield.

Then, of course, comes the Ivy League slate, with the traditional Friday-Saturday scheduling pattern. The conference schedule opens with a rivalry game at Princeton, followed by home dates with Yale, defending league champion who took down Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament, and Brown. A break for the final two big five games follows suit, as the Quakers face St. Joe’s at home, followed by La Salle on the road.

February and March will consist solely of conference matchups, as preparations begin for the first ever Ivy League tournament, which will include the top four teams in the league at the Palestra.

A Tuesday home game on February 7 against Princeton, as well as three-straight road battles with Yale, Cornell, and Columbia to close the month of February will certainly the barometer for whether the Quakers can reach the inaugural tournament.

Penn closes the regular season against Dartmouth and Harvard, which brings one of the country’s top recruiting classes--before potentially starting the league playoff on March 11.

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Fri., Nov. 11 -- @ Robert Morris (10-22, 8-10 NEC)
Sat., Nov. 19 -- @ Miami (Fl.) (27-8, 13-5 ACC)
Mon., Nov. 22 -- @ Central Connecticut State (4-25, 3-15 NEC)
Thurs. Nov. 26 -- @ Navy (19-14, 9-9 Patriot)
#Mon, Nov. 29 -- vs. Villanova (35-5, 16-2 Big East)

#Sat., Dec. 3 @ Temple (21-12, 14-4 AAC)
Wed., Dec. 7 vs. Lafayette (6-24, 3-15 Patriot)
Sat., Dec. 10 vs. George Mason (11-21, 5-13 A-10)
Mon., Dec. 12 @ Central Florida (12-18, 6-12 AAC)
Wed., Dec. 28 vs. Drexel (6-25, 3-15 CAA)
Fri., Dec. 30 vs. Fairfield (19-14, 12-8 MAAC)

*Fri., Jan. 6 @ Princeton (22-7, 12-2)
*Fri., Jan. 13 vs. Yale (23-7, 13-1)
*Sat., Jan. 14 vs. Brown (8-20, 3-11)
#Sat., Jan. 21 vs. Saint Joseph’s (28-8, 13-5 A-10)
#Wed., Jan. 25 @ La Salle (9-22, 4-14 A-10)

*Fri., Feb. 3 @ Harvard (14-16, 6-8)
*Sat., Feb. 4 @ Dartmouth (10-18, 4-10)
*Tues, Feb. 7 vs. Princeton
*Fri., Feb. 10 vs. Columbia (25-10, 10-4)
*Sat., Feb. 11 vs. Cornell (10-18, 3-11)
*Fri., Feb. 17 @ Brown
*Sat., Feb. 18 @ Yale
*Fri., Feb. 24 @ Cornell
*Sat., Feb. 25 @ Columbia

*Fri., March 3 vs. Dartmouth
*Sat., March 4 vs. Harvard

* = Ivy League
# = Big 5