UTPA releases basketball schedules
EDINBURG — The UTPA men’s basketball team will host a Big 10 school for its home opener Nov. 17.
Northwestern may not be a basketball power but it was ranked in the Top 25 briefly last season and will be as recognizable a name that has played at the UTPA Field House in years.
“For schools that aren’t in major conferences, it is difficult to get BCS schools on your home floor,” said Broncs coach Ryan Marks, who went 6-27 in his first season. “We feel that our fans deserve to see this type of team once or twice a year.”
The schedule will be balanced this season as the team plays 15 home games and 15 away.
The Broncs open the season with a three-game round-robin tournament hosted by Loyola University-Chicago in Chicago Nov. 12-14. That is followed with four straight at home, which includes Northwestern, Texas State (Nov. 20), Lamar (Nov. 23) and Division III SUNY-Cobleskill (Nov. 24).
UTPA plays host to two other non-Division I schools, NAIA Victory University (Dec. 5) and Division II Texas A&M-International (Jan. 18). They also host Loyola University-Chicago on Dec. 22 and Army on Dec. 29.
The Broncs will see plenty of the West during the non-conference slate, traveling to Colorado (Nov. 30), Northern Arizona (Dec. 8), Washington State. (Dec. 10), Oregon State (Dec. 12) and Boise State (Dec. 19).
“With the caliber of those teams and the travel, I would say that would be one spot in the schedule that is very difficult,” Marks said. “That one definitely stands out.”
UTPA will also hit the road to play Tulane (Jan. 2) and Texas State (Jan. 4).
The Great West Conference slate begins Jan. 12 and the league tournament will be played March 10-12 in Orem, Utah.
The Lady Broncs, who finished 13-17 last season, have only 12 home games and face a difficult non-conference slate that includes 2009-10 Final Four teams Baylor (Dec. 30) and Oklahoma. The Lady Broncs will compete against the Oklahoma during the Oklahoma Tournament Nov. 26-28.
UTPA also travels to Texas (Dec. 8) and to Oklahoma State (Jan. 2). The Lady Broncs’ home opener is Nov. 13 against NAIA Our Lady of the Lake. Twenty of their 30 games are in Texas.
“We needed to play more in-state games,” Lady Broncs coach Denny Downing said. “Those are the people we recruit against. We need to establish ourselves in Texas. It’s amazing to me the number of times I’m out recruiting and people ask, ‘Coach, where is Texas-Pan American?’”
This season, the Field House will have a new court and new bleachers. For ticket information, call (956) 665-2221.
Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448 or via e-mail prasmussen@themonitor.com.
