Lumberjack Basketball Releases Schedule
10/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2006
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The first official practice date for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team was Friday evening. Considering the schedule ahead of SFA this season, the 'Jacks will want to take advantage of every minute of practice time available. Seventh-year head coach Danny Kaspar has put together a tough slate of opponents for the 2006-07 season that includes teams from the SEC, Big 12, Mountain West and Sun Belt Conferences.
The highlights of this year's schedule include five first-time opponents for the 'Jacks. Two of those first-timers are Southland Conference newcomers Central Arkansas and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as the league moves to a 12-team two-division format for the first time in the history of SLC basketball.
"This schedule is the toughest one I've had in my seven years here," Kaspar said. "We'll play San Diego, North Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette and Northern Illinois at home this year, so our home crowd will see a lot of good basketball. That has been hard to get in years past."
If this year's non-conference home slate is a step up in competition, the Lumberjacks' road games look even more challenging. SFA will travel to take on TCU, Arkansas, Missouri and Southern. That group includes two NCAA Tournament participants from 2005-06.
"The road will not be friendly to us," Kaspar said. "TCU, Arkansas, Missouri and Southern are all tough contests for us."
SFA's first contest of the year is an exhibition against Houston Baptist on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The Lumberjacks will then open the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 11, when they host San Diego in a 3 p.m. contest. San Diego is a West Coast Conference team that went 18-12 last season.
The Lumberjacks will then take to the road for what looks to be a very tough two-game stretch. SFA will take on the Mountain West's TCU on Nov. 14, then travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to play the Razorbacks on Nov. 18. Arkansas was 22-10 last season and finished second in the SEC West, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
SFA returns home on Nov. 21 to host Schreiner University, then travels to Missouri on Nov. 25. The Tigers are looking to bounce back from a rough 2005-06 campaign that saw them go 12-16 overall and finish 11th in the Big 12. This year's meeting will be the first between SFA and Missouri.
On Nov. 28, the Lumberjacks will host Texas College. They hit the road again on Dec. 2 to play at Southern in Baton Rouge, La. The Jaguars were an NCAA Tournament team last year, when they went 19-13 overall and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference with a 15-3 league mark.
Six of SFA's next seven contests are home dates, including three big non-conference games. The Lumberjacks will start the stretch by hosting the Sun Belt Conference's North Texas and Louisiana-Lafayette in back-to-back games on Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, respectively. Both games are return dates from SFA losses last season.
A long trip to Edinburg, Texas on Dec. 18 to take on Texas-Pan American will break up the home stand, then it's back to Nacogdoches for four straight games, including the first two Southland Conference contests. On Dec. 22, SFA hosts Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference. It will be the Lumberjacks' first meeting with the Huskies. After a short break for Christmas, SFA will wrap up its non-conference slate with a home game against Howard Payne on Dec. 30.
SLC play begins with a two-game home stand on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. The 'Jacks will take on Nicholls State first, followed by Southeastern Louisiana. In the conference's new divisional format, teams will play opponents in the same division twice each and will play opponents from the opposite division once. The Lumberjacks are set to play in the West Division for the first two years, meaning two games each against Sam Houston, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas-San Antonio.
Highlights of the conference schedule include the home contest against rival Sam Houston State -- the team picked to win the West Division in preseason polling -- on Jan. 18 and a home date against two-time defending Southland Conference champion Northwestern State on Feb. 10. Lumberjack fans will get their first glimpse of A&M-Corpus Christi when SFA hosts the Islanders on Jan. 31. The regular season will wrap up March 3 with a home game against Texas-San Antonio. The SLC Tournament is scheduled for March 8-11, in Houston, Texas.
-- SFA --
