:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/1487609/GYI0062596251.jpg)
The athletic department announced this morning that Marquette's men's basketball team will wrap up their non-conference schedule with a home game against North Carolina Central on Saturday, December 29. To the important information!
2011-12 Record: 17-15
2011-12 Conference Record: 10-6 (5th place in the MEAC)
Final KenPom.com Ranking: 205
And a brief rundown from GoMarquette.com:
Marquette’s last non-conference contest will feature a match-up with North Carolina Central for the first time in program history. NCCU played its first season in NCAA Division I last year and reached 17 victories for the first time since 1999-00. Of the 215 schools that have reclassified to the Division I level, the Eagles are one of just 38 schools to finish their first season with 17-or-more victories.
Hey, y'know what? When I first saw "North Carolina Central," I was concerned about the quality of opponent here. But these guys are no joke. Just outside the top 200 and they were competitive in the MEAC last year, although it appears that they didn't play Norfolk State at all. It's a little weird to be playing two teams from the same smaller conference that aren't in the state of Wisconsin, but it's a quality team in any case.
As the title mentions, this will be Marquette's 13th non-conference game on the schedule before the Big East slate starts around the first of the year. Marquette will play seven home games, just one true road game, and four neutral site games. Considering how high profile the 5 non-home games are, that's a very solid schedule. We'll be back tomorrow to compare the last few years of scheduling to this year's schedule!