Sept. 17, 2010

VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Villanova Wildcats will make no fewer than 18 national television appearances as part of the 2010-11 men's basketball schedule announced today.

Villanova will twice face BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh in nationally televised encounters. The first will take place at the Pavilion as ESPN brings "Game Day presented by State Farm" to Villanova for the first time on Feb. 12. On March 5, the Wildcats and Panthers will close out the regular season at the Petersen Events Center in a contest to be televised by CBS. Villanova will also face BIG EAST rival Syracuse in a pair of battles on ESPN, the first on Jan. 22 at the Carrier Dome and the second as part of the network's "Big Monday" presentation on Feb. 21 from the newly re-named Wells Fargo Center.

The regular season gets underway on Nov. 12 at the Pavilion when VU hosts Bucknell. Four days later, the `Cats open play in the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-off against Marist and then will host another NIT contest against either Boston University (coached by former VU assistant coach Patrick Chambers) or George Washington on Nov. 17. The winner of that four team regional bracket advances to Madison Square Garden in New York for the semifinals on Nov. 24.

December is highlighted by four games in the Philadelphia Big Five City Series. Saint Joseph's visits the Pavilion on Dec. 3 (ESPNU) and then Villanova travels to the Palestra to face Penn (Dec. 8) and to Tom Gola Arena to meet La Salle (Dec. 12). It closes out December with a Dec. 30 Big Five date against Temple at the Pavilion (ESPN2).

January and February will be dominated by a rugged 18-game BIG EAST slate that opens on Jan. 2 at the Pavilion against Rutgers. VU then hosts Louisville (Jan. 12), Georgetown (Jan. 29), Marquette (Feb. 2), West Virginia (Feb. 5), Pitt (Feb. 12), Syracuse (Feb. 21) and St. John's (Feb. 26) in nationally televised conference tussles.

The Wildcats will host seven regular season games at the Wells Fargo Center, where they averaged better than 19,000 in attendance last season. One of those contests is a battle with Maryland of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Jan. 15 (CBS).

Villanova spent every week of the 2010-11 regular season ranked in the top 10 of both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls en route to a 25-8 finish. The Wildcats return a trio of returning starters, including Corey Fisher, Antonio Pena and Corey Stokes, to the 2010-11 roster.

The remaining game times not shown on this schedule will be added at a later date along with regional television information.

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2010-11 VILLANOVA MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER 2 (Tuesday) UDC (WFC)

12 (Friday) BUCKNELL

16 (Tuesday) MARIST - NIT on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m.

17 (Wednesday) BOSTON U./GEORGE WASHINGTON - NIT

20 (Saturday) LAFAYETTE at 7:00 p.m.

22 or 24 (Monday or Wednesday) NIT Season Tip-off Third Round

23 or 26 (Tuesday or Friday) NIT Season Tip-off Fourth Round

DECEMBER

3 (Friday) SAINT JOSEPH'S+ on ESPNU at 8:30 p.m.

8 (Wednesday) at Penn+

12 (Sunday) at La Salle+ on ESPNU

18 (Saturday) DELAWARE (WFC) at 7:30 p.m.

22 (Wednesday) at Monmouth at 7:00 p.m.

30 (Thursday) TEMPLE+ on ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m.

JANUARY

2 (Sunday) RUTGERS* at 1:00 p.m. on ESPNU

6 (Thursday) at USF* at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU

9 (Sunday) CINCINNATI*

12 (Wednesday) LOUISVILLE* (WFC) on ESPN or ESPN2 at 7:00 p.m.

15 (Saturday) MARYLAND (WFC) on CBS at 1:00 p.m.

17 (Monday) at Connecticut* on ESPN at 3:30 p.m.

22 (Saturday) at Syracuse * on ESPN at noon< p=""> 26 (Wednesday) at Providence*

29 (Saturday) GEORGETOWN*(WFC) on ESPN at noon

FEBRUARY

2 (Wednesday) MARQUETTE* on ESPNU at 7:00 p.m.

5 (Saturday) WEST VIRGINIA*(WFC) on ESPN or ESPN2 at noon

9 (Wednesday) at Rutgers*< p=""> 12 (Saturday) PITTSBURGH* on ESPN at 9:00 p.m.

15 (Tuesday) at Seton Hall*

19 (Saturday) at DePaul

21 (Monday) SYRACUSE*(WFC) on ESPN at 7:00 p.m.

26 (Saturday) ST. JOHN'S (WFC)*`on ESPN at 2:00 p.m.

28 (Monday) at Notre Dame* on ESPN at 7:00 p.m.< p="">

MARCH

5 (Saturday) at Pittsburgh* on CBS at 4:00 p.m.

8-12 (Tues.-Sat.) Big East Tournament (ESPN & ESPN2)

HOME GAMES IN CAPS played at The Pavilion unless otherwise noted

* Denotes BIG EAST Conference game

+ Denotes Philadelphia Big Five game

WFC - Game played at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pa.

NIT - First and second round at Villanova, Pa. NIT - Third and Fourth Round either at Madison Square Garden, New York or Villanova, Pa.

Additional time and regional television information to be released at a later date

All times are tentative and subject to change