UH BBall

Gotta admire McCallum for diving in head first

Houston men's hoops schedule marked by tough games
2:10 pm ET, Wed, Aug 23, 2000

By Jake McKim
The Daily Cougar


Houston, Texas (U-WIRE) -- If the UH Cougars men's basketball team wanted a challenge, it has one.

New head coach Ray McCallum insisted on a tough schedule for his rookie season and schedule makers obliged.

"Our players know that they will face a difficult opponent every night and we must raise our level of play," McCallum said.

After two exhibition games, the Cougars will open the season Nov. 16 against Air Force in the first round of the Black Coaches Association Classic in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Cougars will return to Houston Nov. 21 to play crosstown rival Rice at Autry Court followed by their first home game Nov. 25 against Southwest Texas State.

The difficult games on the Cougars' list of non-conference opponents include home games against LSU, Texas and Georgetown and they will visit the Connecticut campus to face an always elite Huskies team.

UH's conference schedule also looms as a large speed bump to a positive record with college basketball powers Louisville, North Carolina-Charlotte, DePaul and highly-ranked Cincinnati on the list.

The Cougars' only national television appearance will come Feb. 4 when UNC-Charlotte visits Hofheinz Pavilion (ESPN2).

Next-door neighbor Texas Southern will make the short trip over to the UH campus on Dec. 23. The Cougars then turn around two days after Christmas to play against Southeast Missouri State in El Paso in the first round of the Sierra Providence Sun Carnival Classic. Jackson State and Texas-El Paso will also do battle in the tournament.

UH's showdown with Texas goes down Dec. 20 at Hofheinz in what has recently become somewhat of an intense, heated rivalry between two teams that not only battle on the court, but also in the all-important recruiting wars.

Once the regular season comes to a conclusion March 3, when Tulane comes to town, the real fun begins in the Conference USA tournament.

This year's tournament will take place March 7-10 in Louisville, Ky., with the victor receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament later that month.

With a list of opponents that includes 16 games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last year and eight games against schools that made the National Invitational Tournament, the Cougars can certainly not be accused of playing a soft, non-challenging schedule.

"When you look at the University of Houston's program, we want to make a statement by playing one of the most challenging schedules in the country," McCallum said.


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In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things:
1. Don't tell everything you know.

[This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited August 23, 2000).]