Clemson Announces 2002-2003 Schedule

Aug. 14, 2002

CLEMSON,S.C. – Clemson’s 27-game men’s basketball schedule was released by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Wednesday. The slate includes non-conference contests against Cincinnati, Penn State and South Carolina, plus the 16 games against ACC foes.

Clemson will face Cincinnati in a national TV game (Fox Sports Net) on December 22nd, a Sunday evening. Only Duke has been ranked number-one in the nation more than Bob Huggins’ Bearcats over the last five years. Cincinnati was 31-4 a year ago.

Clemson will play 10 of its first 11 games at home, including the season opener against state rival Wofford on Sunday afternoon November 24th. That game will be held the Sunday after the Clemson vs. South Carolina football game.

The Tigers will call The Civic Center of Anderson home for at least the home games in November and December. The new Littlejohn Coliseum is scheduled to open on January 5 for a game with Duke that will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net. If the renovation is not complete, Clemson will continue to play its home games in Anderson.

The Civic Center of Anderson is a 5,000 seat facility that is 20 miles from the Clemson campus and located in Anderson, SC. It has been the site of the Big South Conference Tournament, Clemson exhibition games (men and women) and the Harlem Globetrotters in the past.

The Tigers will meet Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at The Civic Center of Anderson on December 3. In 1999, the Nittany Lions defeated the Tigers 85-75 in the first year of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in State College. Last year Clemson defeated the Nittany Lions in the same event by a score of 79-66. This will be the first time Penn State has come to Clemson. Penn State’s women’s team will also come to Clemson for a December 7th game with the Lady Tigers in the same facility.

The non-conference schedule also includes the annual battle with rival South Carolina. That contest will be played in Columbia on Feb. 12th.

Clemson will open ACC play at home against perennial power Duke on January 5. Both games against the Blue Devils will be part of Fox Sports Net’s ACC Sunday night package. Defending National Champion Maryland comes to Clemson on Saturday, January 25th.

Also included in this year’s schedule are three games with first-time opponents. Clemson plays High Point on November 27 at the Greensboro Coliseum, the site of the ACC Tournament in March. Also playing against the Tigers for the first time will be Maine and Gardner-Webb.

“We are excited about the renovations that will produce a “new” Littlejohn Coliseum,” said Shyatt. “The people in Anderson have been tremendous and we look forward to making The Civic Center of Anderson our home away from home. It actually should be an outstanding, intimate atmosphere for our team and our fans. It will be a challenge to play so many games away from home, but we have a mature group of young men.

“This will be a challenging schedule. We look forward to the ACC-Big Ten Challenge against Penn State and the game against Cincinnati will certainly prepare us for the ACC. The game with South Carolina is always highly competitive.

“We have at least six games that will be televised nationally and at least 20 games on television overall. We will be on ESPN, ABC, and Fox Sports Net and that should bring great exposure to our program.”

!at The Civic Center of Anderson, SC # at Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC FSNS – Fox Sports Net South Fox-SN – Fox Sports National Network RSN – Regional Sports Networks RJ – Raycom/Jefferson Pilot

Notes on the ACC Schedule overallGREENSBORO, N.C. – An all-time high 154 televised games involving Atlantic Coast Conference teams headline the league’s 2002-03 men’s basketball schedule as released by Commissioner John Swofford. The schedule boasts a record-high 231 appearances by ACC teams and marks the eighth-straight year that the league has had more than 200 television appearances. Highlights of the 2002-03 ACC Basketball schedule are:

** An all-time high 135 appearances on national television networks, including 52 appearances on ESPN, 33 on Fox Sports Net, 29 on ESPN2, 11 on CBS and 10 on ABC.

** Seventy of the league’s 72 regular season conference games, including 42 on national television networks, are scheduled to be televised. The league’s four-day, eight-game ACC Tournament scheduled for the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum, is also slated to be broadcast by both Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot, ESPN and ESPN2.

** Fox Sports Net will televise 19 games on a national basis on 15 consecutive Sunday’s starting on December 1, with Temple at Wake Forest. Fourteen of the 19 games are conference match-ups. Fox Sports Net will also host pre and post-game shows for the weeks when only one Sunday game is scheduled.

** Three of the regional sports networks headquartered in the ACC region – Fox Sport Net South, the Sunshine Network and Comcast Sports Net – will broadcast another 29 games, including 10 conference match-ups.

**The ACC’s 50th season tips off on Monday, November 18, with North Carolina hosting Penn State in the first round of the Pre-Season NIT. Headlining the non-conference TV schedule is the fourth annual ACC-Big 10 Challenge pairing two of the nation’s premier conferences in a regular season challenge series. Last year the ACC won the Challenge for a third-straight year winning five of the eight games played. Over the past four years, the ACC and Big Ten have dominated the Final Four with the two leagues providing 11 of the 16 Final Four teams. Also included in the regular-season schedule are 24 games against 20 non-conference teams that earned NCAA Tournament berths a year ago.

ACC Television Appearances By Year 2002-2003 231 2001-2002 224 2000-2001 219 1999-2000 213 1998-1999 222 1997-1998 206 1996-1997 204 1995-1996 201 1994-1995 182 1993-1994 170 1992-1993 178 1991-1992 159 1990-1991 121 1989-1990 132