DePaul coach Oliver Purnell learned Thursday his first round of home and road BIG EAST opponents as the conference office unveiled each program’s opponents and locations for the 2010-11 season. Purnell and the Blue Demons are scheduled to face Cincinnati, USF and West Virginia twice next season while splitting the remaining dozen conference contests between the road and Allstate Arena.
Along with the Bearcats, Bulls and Mountaineers, DePaul’s slate of home opponents for the BIG EAST season include Connecticut, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Villanova. The Blue Demons travel to Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s and Syracuse along with the return games for the home-and-away opponents.
DePaul is facing USF twice in a regular season for the second time and taking on Cincinnati and West Virginia in seasonal home-and-away games for the first time. DePaul’s most common two-time seasonal opponents are Marquette and Notre Dame at three times each while the Blue Demons have faced St. John’s and Providence twice in a season on two occasions. Cincinnati and West Virginia are the ninth and 10th multi-game opponents for DePaul in BIG EAST history.
The 2010-11 season marks the fourth year of the 18-game BIG EAST schedule, which began in the 2007-08 season. All 144 regular-season conference games will again be televised, either by CBS Sports, the ESPN family of networks or ESPN Regional Television.
In 2009-10, the BIG EAST tied its own NCAA record by placing eight schools into the NCAA Championship with West Virginia advancing to the Final Four. It was the third time in the last five seasons that eight BIG EAST teams received NCAA bids.
The decisions regarding repeat opponents are based on natural interest, geography, rivalries, television contractual obligations and competitive balance.
The dates, times and television outlets for the 2010-11 BIG EAST schedule and the non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date this summer. DePaul is scheduled to participate in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., in November along with Cal State Northridge, Murray State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Tulsa, UNLV and Virginia Tech. For more information on the 76 Classic, go here.