The Red Storm’s Season Schedule

National television appearances, 16 home games, a challenging conference slate, an early-season Madison Square Garden contest in the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational and the perennial non-league matchup with national-powerhouse Duke highlight the 2009-10 St. John’s men’s basketball schedule.

“Once again we’re excited to be playing a highly-competitive schedule. Besides the rigors that come with playing in a terrific league like the BIG EAST, we are excited to be taking on non-conference opponents like Duke, Siena, Temple and others. We look forward to playing in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, and also in the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival with Cornell, Davidson and Hofstra,” said head Coach Norm Roberts. “Our schedule features high-caliber opponents at Carnesecca Arena and at MSG, and we’re excited about the opportunities they provide and look forward to a very competitive year.”

Before tip-off on opening night, venerable Carnesecca Arena will have underwent Phase III of its interior renovation as part of the multi-phase upgrade to the facility. The installation of a new high-resolution video scoreboard and sound system, a refurbishing of the arena ceiling and the implementation of a new lighting system are among the series of changes Red Storm fans will see prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. A new playing surface, an overhauled seating bowl with 800 chairback seats, and enhanced ticketing and lobby areas were among the improvements made for 2008-09.

Fans will get a glance at the latest renovations right from the jump on Friday, Nov. 13 (7 p.m.), as the Blackbirds of Long Island University head up the BQE for a season-opening matchup in Queens. The Red Storm will then hit the road, traveling upstate to Rochester, N.Y., to meet St. Bonaventure in “The Flower City” at Blue Cross Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. The contest will mark the first between the Red Storm and Bonnies since 1985.

St. John’s next participates in the third-annual Philly Hoop Group Classic, beginning with a home matchup against Brown. The Bears visit Carnesecca Arena on Friday, Nov. 20 (7 p.m.), before the Red Storm travels to Philadelphia’s most storied collegiate venue, the Palestra, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The Red Storm meets a pair of 2009 NCAA participants as part of the new two-day, tripleheader format - St. John’s faces Siena in the second game of the tripleheader on Friday, Nov. 27 at 6:15 p.m., before facing Temple on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 8:30 p.m., in the nightcap.

After coming home to square off with Long Island squad Stony Brook on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in Queens (7 p.m., SNY), the Red Storm will head south to Tobacco Road for its annual meeting with Duke. The Saturday, Dec. 5, tilt will mark the 12th-straight season in which the two squads have met, and will air live nationally on ESPN2 (3:30 p.m.).

After facing the Blue Devils, the Red Storm heads back to New York to make its Madison Square Garden season debut, participating in the third-annual SEC/BIG EAST Invitational. St. John’s plays host to the Georgia Bulldogs on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at The Garden in a matchup that will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (7 p.m.). Fellow BIG EAST squad Connecticut plays host to the Kentucky Wildcats in the game that follows on ESPN as part of the doubleheader event at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

St. John’s has faced only eight opponents 80 or more times as it heads into its 103rd season of basketball, and the Red Storm renews one of those rivalries on Sunday, Dec. 13 (4 p.m.) when cross-town squad Fordham makes its way into Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s is 60-20 against the Rams all-time, though the two squads have not met since 2002.

St. John’s looks to recapture the MSG Holiday Festival crown in the second-straight pre-Christmas version of the classic event at Madison Square Garden, on Sunday and Monday, Dec. 20-21. The Red Storm meets Hofstra on Dec. 20 (2 p.m., MSG/MSG+), following a matchup between 2009 NCAA participant Cornell of the Ivy League and 2009 NIT participant Davidson of the Southern Conference. The Red Storm, which has claimed two of the last five titles, looks to hoist the trophy on Dec. 21 (7 p.m. and 9 p.m., MSG/MSG+).

Rounding out the Red Storm’s non-conference schedule is a Wednesday, Dec. 23 tilt against Bryant University (7 p.m.). St. John’s faces the Bulldogs, who completed their first NCAA Division I season in 2008-09, in the final pre-Christmas meeting at Carnesecca Arena, with BIG EAST Conference play to follow after the holiday.

BIG EAST action gets underway with a road contest on New Year’s Eve for the second-straight season, as the Red Storm attempts to ring in the New Year on a positive note in the nation’s capital. The Red Storm’s matchup vs. Georgetown at the Verizon Center (Dec. 31, 8 p.m.) will air live throughout the nation on ESPN2. St. John’s then returns to Queens to play host to Providence at Carnesecca Arena on Sunday, Jan. 3 (5:30 p.m., SNY), for the first of four BIG EAST contests at the renovated on-campus venue. A road trip to Louisville (Jan. 9, noon, SNY) for the first of two meetings with the Cards precedes a pair of home contests, as Cincinnati visits The Garden (Jan. 13, 7 p.m., ESPNU) and DePaul takes a trip to Carnesecca Arena for the first of a home-and-home series between the two Catholic, Vincentian, Metropolitan schools (Jan. 17, 2 p.m., MSG).

Three out of the next four contests will be played on the road, beginning with the Red Storm’s first trip to UConn’s Hartford XL Center in 13 seasons (Jan. 20, 7 p.m., SNY). Villanova comes to The Garden on Saturday, Jan. 23 for a nationally-televised noon meeting on ESPN (noon), before St. John’s hits the road to face Pitt (Jan. 28, 7 p.m., ESPNU) and Rutgers (Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., MSG).

The Red Storm is then rewarded with three of the next four games at home, as West Virginia (Feb. 6, noon, ESPNU) and Louisville (Feb. 11, 7 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2) both visit MSG, with the second matchup of the season vs. the Cardinals occurring on national television. After a Valentine’s Day visit to Notre Dame (Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m., SNY), St. John’s returns to Queens to play host to Seton Hall (Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m., MSG+) for what will undoubtedly be another hotly-contested matchup between the two schools.

The Red Storm heads south to Tampa’s Sun Dome to take on the USF Bulls on Feb. 20 (noon, SNY), before its final two regular-season home games. Marquette visits Carnesecca Arena on Feb. 24 (7:30 p.m., MSG), and Pitt completes this season’s home-and-home series with a trip to The Garden on Feb. 27 (noon, MSG).

St. John’s finishes its regular season on the road, with trips to the Carrier Dome to take on their upstate rivals, Syracuse (March 2, 7 p.m., SNY), and visits DePaul’s Allstate Arena for the second meeting between the teams on March 5 (8:30 p.m., SNY).

The 16-team BIG EAST Championship Tournament takes place at the World’s Most Famous Arena from Tuesday, March 9, to Saturday, March 13.

In all, St. John’s could play 16 regular-season games against teams that participated in postseason tournaments in 2008-09 (NCAA - Duke, UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Temple, Siena and Cornell; NIT - Notre Dame, Georgetown, Providence and Davidson).