INDIANAPOLIS -- The race for the Horizon League men’s basketball title will begin on January 2, 2015, as the League announced its conference men’s basketball schedule on Tuesday. Each of the nine Horizon League teams will play the others twice - for a total of 16 conference games - over a nine-week span culminating on Feb. 28.
Among the highlights is the rematch of the thrilling Horizon League Championship semifinal between eventual champion Milwaukee and Green Bay on Fri., Jan. 9, launching ESPNU’s weekly coverage of the conference.
Milwaukee will open its defense of the conference title with games at Cleveland State and Detroit, respectively, before returning to UWM Panther Arena to host Green Bay.
The Phoenix, which claimed the 2014 regular season crown, will begin conference play with home games against Wright State and Youngstown State sandwiched around the trip to Milwaukee.
Key matchups loom throughout the schedule, including on Friday, Jan. 23, when Valparaiso travels to Green Bay and Cleveland State heads to Detroit for an ESPNU wildcard selection.
The teams will swap venues for another ESPN wildcard pick on Friday, Feb. 13, with games chosen for ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Cleveland State’s trip to Green Bay (Feb. 20) and the Vikings’ home game against Valparaiso (Feb. 27) round out the conference’s regular season schedule on ESPN.
The Horizon League Championship will begin on Tuesday, March 3, with two first-round games. The winners, along with the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds, will be in action on Friday, March 6, with semifinals set for the following day. ESPNU will carry both semifinals, at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. ET.
Continuing a relationship that began with the 1988 Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship game, the Horizon League will host its championship game at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 10 on ESPN or ESPN2.
Last year, the Horizon League sent five teams into postseason play.
The current Horizon League national television schedule is as follows:
Date | Teams | Time (ET) | Network |
Nov. 14 | Milwaukee at Auburn | 10 p.m. | ESPNU |
Nov. 17 | Detroit at Oregon | 11 p.m. | ESPNU |
Dec. 10 | Wisconsin at Milwaukee | 9 p.m. | ESPN2 |
Dec. 13 | Wichita State at Detroit | 12 p.m. | ESPNU |
Dec. 14 | Oakland at Michigan State | 8 p.m. | ESPNU |
Dec. 18 | Cleveland State at Virginia | 7 p.m. | ESPNU |
Dec. 22 | Milwaukee at Arkansas | 9 p.m. | ESPNU |
Jan. 9 | Green Bay at Milwaukee | 9 p.m. | ESPNU |
Jan. 23 | Detroit at Cleveland State | ESPNU (wildcard) | |
Valparaiso at Green Bay | 9 p.m. | ESPNU (wildcard) | |
Feb. 13 | Green Bay at Valparaiso | 7/8 p.m. | ESPN2 or ESPNU |
Cleveland State at Detroit | 7/8 p.m. | ESPN2 or ESPNU | |
Feb. 20 | Cleveland State at Green Bay | 7 p.m. | ESPN2 |
Feb. 27 | Valparaiso at Cleveland State | 10 p.m. | ESPNU |
March 6 | Horizon League Tournament 2nd Round | 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |
March 6 | Horizon League Tournament 2nd Round | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN3 |
March 7 | Horizon League Tournament Semifinals | 9:30 p.m. | ESPNU |
March 7 | Horizon League Tournament Semifinals | 11:30 p.m. (tape) | ESPNU |
March 10 | Horizon League Championship | 7 p.m. | ESPN or ESPN2 |