BE Opener confirmed

[MUfan12]

In the Raftery press release, we had this tidbit-

"The Big East Conference schedule begins with a five-game, all-teams-featured New Year's Eve marathon on Dec. 31 (St. John's at Xavier, Noon ET; Seton Hall at Providence, 2:30 PM ET; DePaul at Georgetown, 5:00 PM ET; Villanova at Butler, 7:30 PM ET; and Marquette at Creighton, 10:00 PM ET)."

http://twitdoc.com/upload/rlrassociates/raftery.pdf

[boyonthedock]

/salivates

[Silkk the Shaka]

In the Raftery press release, we had this tidbit-

"The Big East Conference schedule begins with a five-game, all-teams-featured New Year's Eve marathon on Dec. 31 (St. John's at Xavier, Noon ET; Seton Hall at Providence, 2:30 PM ET; DePaul at Georgetown, 5:00 PM ET; Villanova at Butler, 7:30 PM ET; and Marquette at Creighton, 10:00 PM ET)."

http://twitdoc.com/upload/rlrassociates/raftery.pdf

Nice to know what my NYE plans will be 6 months in advance

[The Lens]

I LOVE the Raff pick-up.  Huge.

[Abode4life]

I LOVE the Raff pick-up.  Huge.

+1  I totally agree.  This is the first that its been announced right?

[jsglow]

Good day of hoops.  Makes sense to have Creighton playing at home for that late TV timeslot although any Central Time team would have worked.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Good day of hoops.  Makes sense to have Creighton playing at home for that late TV timeslot although any Central Time team would have worked.

Kinda think they're hoping that MU/Creighton can become a good central region rivalry that eventually plays well nationally too

[CAGASS24]

Nice little package- really wanted to make it to omaha for the game this year, not gonna happen now though- the link should be poppin for that game though!! 

[spartan3186]

FOX Sports 1 is slated to televise over 100 Big East men's regular-season basketball games this coming season. The non-conference schedule begins Friday, Nov. 8, the likely date of the first Johnson-Raftery assignment.

Another quote from that Press Release. It's been rumored that the MU vs Ohio State game is supposed to be early November. Pure speculation, but that may be the Nov 8th game. Would certainly be a way to kick off the new Big East in style.... with Gus Johnson and Raftery.

[robmufan]

Great now I can not remember the game instead of struggling to get through it!

[MU82]

Now all I'll have to do is convince friends and family to watch MU-Creighton instead of watching one of the zillion vapid NYE shows while waiting like zombies for the effen ball to fall.

Might have to go to a different room, which would be OK, too!!

[robertoc]

Now all I'll have to do is convince friends and family to watch MU-Creighton instead of watching one of the zillion vapid NYE shows while waiting like zombies for the effen ball to fall.

Might have to go to a different room, which would be OK, too!!

Excellent use of the word "vapid"!  :-)

[Norm]

Hmm, the three "new" schools - Butler, Xavier and Creighton - all open the BE season with home games. Hope they get sell-outs!

[LloydMooresLegs]

In the Raftery press release, we had this tidbit-

"The Big East Conference schedule begins with a five-game, all-teams-featured New Year's Eve marathon on Dec. 31 (St. John's at Xavier, Noon ET; Seton Hall at Providence, 2:30 PM ET; DePaul at Georgetown, 5:00 PM ET; Villanova at Butler, 7:30 PM ET; and Marquette at Creighton, 10:00 PM ET)."
http://twitdoc.com/upload/rlrassociates/raftery.pdf

Good lord, so much better than watching the ball drfop in Times Square!

[muwarrior69]

I like the 2.5 hour slot allotted for each game; minimizes the potential to miss the beginning of the following game. Always hated when a game would run over and miss the opening of an MU game on ESPN.

[Aughnanure]

I like the 2.5 hour slot allotted for each game; minimizes the potential to miss the beginning of the following game. Always hated when a game would run over and miss the opening of an MU game on ESPN.

Was about to come and say the exact same thing. Thanks Fox Sports for having an actual understanding for the correct amount of time a basketball game takes.

[Benny B]

Hmm, the three "new" schools - Butler, Xavier and Creighton - all open the BE season with home games. Hope they get sell-outs!

Creighton is a perennial top-ten team (nationally) as far as attendance goes... their tickets are nearly as hot as Nebraska football tickets.
If Butler drew over 9,000 on Dec 29, 2012 vs. Evansville, I'm pretty sure they'll sell out Nova (Hinkle seats 10,000).
Xavier's average attendance is over 99% of their capacity.  St. John's isn't going to be a problem.

Let's not be unduly criticizing the new guys... they'll draw better than most of the existing BE teams.

[Norm]

Creighton is a perennial top-ten team (nationally) as far as attendance goes... their tickets are nearly as hot as Nebraska football tickets.
If Butler drew over 9,000 on Dec 29, 2012 vs. Evansville, I'm pretty sure they'll sell out Nova (Hinkle seats 10,000).
Xavier's average attendance is over 99% of their capacity.  St. John's isn't going to be a problem.

Let's not be unduly criticizing the new guys... they'll draw better than most of the existing BE teams.

Didn't mean to imply criticism - just thought it interesting that they all drew home games for the first big BE day. And yes, Creighton's fanbase is great and quite loyal - one of the big reasons I wanted them included in the BE.

[Galway Eagle]

Looks like ill be ringing in the new year at the schoolyard tavern

[bilsu]

The nice thing about MU playing away in these openers is that I can watch all the games. Also, if they win at Creighton they will be the favorite to win the league.

[Windyplayer]

It's fun to finally see the line-up for opening day in the Big East.

Newborn + wife that's not a fan of NYE parties=MU viewing party of 3 that night. So choice. 

[Boozemon Barro]

This is excellent news. As an Omaha native and current resident it couldn't be better. The alumni club will certainly put something nice together. Finding tickets to this game will be tough. All my friends and family will be rooting for Creighton so I hope we win by 30.

[Atticus]

Didnt everyone complain about playing a game on New Year's Day? Why is this better? Because it's against...Creighton?

The bowl games shuffle around so much that it is impossible for me to keep track of which bowls are played on certain dates. Will there be bowl games on NYE? If so, those day games will have awful ratings. Playing at night will probably be worse.

NYE is rookie night...and people start early. The only people watching tv will be the ones watching the NYC NYE Ball. Do they even still do that? Who replaced Dick Clarke?

[keefe]

This is excellent news. As an Omaha native and current resident it couldn't be better. The alumni club will certainly put something nice together. Finding tickets to this game will be tough. All my friends and family will be rooting for Creighton so I hope we win by 30.

I spent a week in Omaha one night when we landed at Offutt...

Actually, I went to St Pius X school in Omaha. My fighter pilot father was getting his SAC ticket punched on his way to a star so we did six months in Hastings and six in Omaha. I have fond memories of NE.

[bradley center bat]

Didnt everyone complain about playing a game on New Year's Day? Why is this better? Because it's against...Creighton?

The bowl games shuffle around so much that it is impossible for me to keep track of which bowls are played on certain dates. Will there be bowl games on NYE? If so, those day games will have awful ratings. Playing at night will probably be worse.

NYE is rookie night...and people start early. The only people watching tv will be the ones watching the NYC NYE Ball. Do they even still do that? Who replaced Dick Clarke?

By your comments you must not follow college football. The bowl changes will start in 2014. The Peach Bowl is in primetime on NYE and draws strong ratings. All bowls games beats college basketball ratings.

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa/college-football-bowl-schedule.php