The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Men's Basketball Conference Schedule Announced
8/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 19, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Conference USA officials have released the 2011-12 men's basketball conference schedule on Friday, as UAB opens the conference season by hosting three if its first five league opponents at Bartow Arena. The Blazers, which released their non-conference schedule earlier this month, have a total of 29 games on this year's slate.
UAB, the reigning C-USA regular-season champions, will waste no time defending the title when it hosts arch-rival Memphis on Jan. 7 to open league play. The Blazers will make the return trip to Memphis on Feb. 11.
In addition to Memphis, UAB's 2012 league slate features home-and-home series against Marshall (Jan. 11 at Bartow Arena and Jan. 25 at in Huntington, W.Va.), Southern Miss (Jan. 14 in Hattiesburg, Miss. and Feb. 8 at Bartow Arena), UCF (Jan. 21 at Bartow Arena and March 3 in Orlando, Fla.) and East Carolina (Jan. 28 at Bartow Arena and Feb. 25 in Greenville, N.C.).
UAB's other home conference games include Houston (Feb. 1), Tulane (Feb. 18) and Tulsa (Feb. 29). The Blazers will play road contests at Rice (Jan. 18), at UTEP (Feb. 4) and at SMU (Feb. 15).
"Conference USA is a great league that continues to get better," Davis said. "We open conference play with Memphis and it won't get any easier after that. This is a league where you can truly say that every night you have to play at your top-level or you're going to get beat. This year will be no different."
The non-conference schedule, which was released on Aug. 4, will surely get the Blazers prepared for defending the regular-season league championship. Showdowns at Florida and Final Four participant VCU, as well as contests against NIT Champion Wichita State and traditional powers Creighton and Murray State, highlight the 2011-12 non-conference slate.
UAB will open the season with an exhibition game against Auburn-Montgomery (Nov. 12) at Bartow Arena.
Television appearances for UAB will be announced in the near future.
