Fresno State basketball: Mountain West releases 2016-17 schedules
Fresno State will open the 2016-17 Mountain West men’s basketball race Dec. 28 at New Mexico, where this past season the Bulldogs beat the Lobos for the first time in nine tries – a signature victory en route to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The format for the 11-school league again includes eight home-and-home series and two one-time games. The Bulldogs’ solo games will be at Utah State and home versus UNLV, a March 4 contest that will conclude the conference regular season, according to the tentative schedule released Tuesday by the conference.
Fresno State plays its league home opener Dec. 31 versus Nevada.
“Our goal every year is to win a Mountain West championship,” said Fresno State coach Rodney Terry, who in 2015-16 guided the Bulldogs to a 25-10 overall record and 13-5 finish in the conference, good for second place behind San Diego State (28-10, 16-2).
“We know how tough it is to compete in our league – night in and night out. We play in tough venues all season and take great pride in protecting our homecourt. Our guys have already been working hard to get even better this offseason.”
The conference tournament is March 8-11 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Fresno State won the tournament last year, beating San Diego State 68-63 in the final, to secure the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
Women open day later – Fresno State’s women’s team opens its Mountain West run Dec. 29 at home versus the Lobos. The women’s tournament is March 6-10, also at Thomas & Mack.
As part of a full women’s schedule released by the school Tuesday, the Bulldogs will play a Nov. 4 exhibition against Azusa Pacific before hosting Biola (Nov. 11), Utah (Nov. 15) and Cal State Northridge (Nov. 18) to begin the season.
Fresno State faces 2016 Final Four team Washington on Dec. 4 in Seattle.
2016-17 Fresno State Mountain West men’s basketball schedule
Dates are tentative, pending scheduling of CBS Sports Network, ESPN and ROOT Sports broadcasts that will move select games from Wednesdays to Tuesdays and Saturdays to Sundays. Game times, along with the nonconference schedule, also will be announced at a later date.
- Dec. 28: at New Mexico
- Dec. 31: vs. Nevada
- Jan. 4: vs. Wyoming
- Jan. 7: at San Jose State
- Jan. 11: at Air Force
- Jan. 14: vs. Boise State
- Jan. 18: vs. Colorado State
- Jan. 21: at Nevada
- Jan. 25: BYE
- Jan. 28: at Utah State
- Feb. 1: vs. Air Force
- Feb. 4: vs. San Diego State
- Feb. 8: at Wyoming
- Feb. 11: at Colorado State
- Feb. 15: vs. San Jose State
- Feb. 18: vs. New Mexico
- Feb. 22: at San Diego State
- Feb. 25: BYE
- March 1: at Boise State
- March 4: vs. UNLV
- March 8-11: Mountain West Tournament (in Las Vegas)
2016-17 Fresno State women’s schedule
- Nov. 4: vs. Azusa Pacific (Exhibition)
- Nov. 11: vs. Biola
- Nov. 15: vs. Utah
- Nov. 18: Cal State Northridge
- Nov. 25: at LMU (Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Tournament)
- Nov. 26: vs. Belmont/UC Irvine (Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Tournament)
- Nov. 30: vs. San Francisco
- Dec. 4: at Washington
- Dec. 7: vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills
- Dec. 10: at Pacific
- Dec. 16: vs. UC Santa Barbara
- Dec. 19: at Weber State
- Dec. 29: vs. New Mexico*
- Dec. 31: at Nevada*
- Jan. 4: at Wyoming*
- Jan. 7: vs. San Jose State*
- Jan. 11: vs. Air Force*
- Jan. 14: at Boise State*
- Jan. 18: at Colorado State*
- Jan. 21: vs. Nevada*
- Jan. 28: vs. Utah State*
- Jan. 25 BYE
- Feb. 1: at Air Force*
- Feb. 4: at San Diego State*
- Feb. 8: vs. Wyoming*
- Feb. 11: vs. Colorado State*
- Feb. 15: at San Jose State*
- Feb. 18: at New Mexico*
- Feb. 22: vs. San Diego State*
- Feb. 25: BYE
- Feb. 28: vs. Boise State*
- March 3: at UNLV*
- March 6-10 Mountain West Tournament (in Las Vegas)
*Denotes Mountain West Conference games
This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Fresno State basketball: Mountain West releases 2016-17 schedules."