Men's basketball releases full 2019-20 schedule
Keno Davis enters his eighth season as the coach of the Central Michigan men's basketball team, and his nonconference schedule isn't a walk in the park.
The nonconference and conference schedules for CMU were released Wednesday.
The Chippewas play marquee road games against Minnesota (Nov. 21), DePaul (Nov. 26), Texas (Dec. 14) and Purdue (Dec. 28). That's two Big Ten teams, one from the Big 12 and another from the Big East.
Games against Minnesota and DePaul are part of the Minnesota Classic, a tournament involving multiple teams from Nov. 16-30.
Central will receive $100,000 for playing Texas, $90,000 for the Purdue game and $85,000 for participating in the Minnesota Classic. However, playing in the Minnesota Classic offers a few other advantages. The Chippewas will receive $65,000 to use toward the 2020 summer tour and an additional $50,000 that will be paid to the program Nov. 1, 2020.
Other nonconference games include Michigan-Dearborn, Mississippi Valley State, Sam Houston State, Siena Heights, Trinity Christian, Youngstown State, UT Martin, Valparaiso (away) and Robert Morris (away).
The contests against Valparaiso and Robert Morris are straight home-and-home matches. Each team will play in Mount Pleasant during the 2020 season.
In the 2018-19 campaign, the Chippewas finished 23-12.
The Mid-American Conference schedule was also released, and it features a home-and-home with defending conference champ Buffalo and the typical in-state rivalry games.
CMU plays Buffalo at McGuirk Arena on Jan. 18 before going on the road to play the Bulls on Feb. 8.
Games against in-state rivals occur twice. The Chippewas play at Western Michigan on Feb. 1 and will host the Broncos on March 6 to cap off the regular season. Against Eastern Michigan, CMU plays at home on Feb. 11 and in Ypsilanti on Feb. 29.
Here's the full 2019-20 men's basketball schedule:
NONCONFERENCE
November 5 vs. Michigan-Dearborn
November 10 vs. Mississippi Valley State
November 16 vs. Sam Houston State
November 18 vs. Siena Heights
November 21 at Minnesota
November 23 vs. Trinity Christian
November 26 at DePaul
November 30 vs. Youngstown State
November 6 vs. UT Martin
December 8 at Valparaiso
December 14 at Texas
December 17 at Robert Morris
December 28 at Purdue
CONFERENCE
January 4 vs. Miami (Ohio)
January 7 vs. Northern Illinois
January 11 at Kent State
January 14 at Toledo
January 18 vs. Buffalo
January 25 vs. Ball State
January 28 at Miami (Ohio)
February 1 at Western Michigan
February 4 vs. Bowling Green
February 8 at Buffalo
February 11 vs. Eastern Michigan
February 15 vs. Akron
February 18 at Ohio
February 22 at Northern Illinois
February 25 vs. Toledo
February 29 at Eastern Michigan
March 3 at Ball State
March 6 vs. Western Michigan
