First-year head coach Bill Grier took an aggressive approach and put together a testing pre-conference schedule for his USD men's basketball team last season.
The consensus of opinion was it paid off when the Toreros peaked at season's end to win the West Coast Conference Tournament and upset UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
And, with all five starters and 10 lettermen returning from a 22-14 team, Grier hasn't backed off from that approach in a 2008-09 schedule released yesterday. The Toreros will open at UNLV on Nov. 15, have their home opener against Nevada three days later and possibly face nine NCAA Tournament qualifiers from last spring before opening WCC play on January 9 at USF.
“I think it is equally as difficult as last season,” Grier said. “The difference is that from going on the road last year we've got some really good returned home games.”
In addition to Nevada, the Toreros will host San Jose State, New Mexico, Boise State and Marshall. The intracity rivalry game with San Diego State is Dec. 6 at Cox Arena.
On Feb. 21, a week before the end of the WCC regular season, USD will host a “Bracket Busters” game against a nonconference opponent to be determined by ESPN.
USD women
Like the men, the USD women – WCC Tournament Champions a season ago – have built a challenging schedule. In addition to contests against UCLA, Arizona, Seton Hall and New Mexico State, the Toreros will play San Diego State on Nov. 25.
After opening its home schedule against UCSD on Nov. 14, USD will head to the BYU-Hawaii Tournament on Dec. 5-6 before hosting its own Maggie Dixon Surf 'N Slam Classic Dec. 28 and 30. WCC play begins Jan. 8 against USF.
SDSU men
San Diego State's men's team has finalized game times for its appearances in the Great Alaska Shootout in November and the Wooden Classic in December. The Aztecs, who open the regular season at home against UC San Diego on Nov. 15, will face Western Carolina in the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage on Thursday, Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving), at 8:30 p.m. (PST). The winner will face the victor of the Seattle-Louisiana Tech game on Friday, Nov. 28, at 9 p.m. SDSU, participating in the Wooden Classic at Honda Center in Anaheim for the second straight year, will face a rematch with NCAA Tournament qualifier St. Mary's at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 13.
Staff Writers Nicole Vargas and Mick McGrane contributed to this report.
