Aug. 6, 2001

WACO, Texas - Baylor's men's basketball head coach Dave Bliss announced the team's 2001-2002 schedule Monday afternoon. The schedule includes 17 home games, several regional contests and a run through the competitive Big 12 Conference slate.

The Bears will have six games telecast as part of the Big 12's television package. The highlight is a Feb. 9 game vs. Missouri in Waco, which will be televised nationwide in prime time on ESPN. Other games slated to be televised regionally on ESPN-plus are Texas (Jan. 26), Texas A&M (Feb. 3), at Kansas (Feb. 16), at Oklahoma State (Feb. 23) and Texas Tech (March 2).

This season marks Baylor's third year under Bliss, who has revitalized the program since his arrival. In just his second season, Bliss took a Baylor team that did not win a conference game in 1998-99 and led them to an NIT selection in 2000-01.

In 2001-02, the Bears will renew several rivalries from the days of the Southwest Conference. Baylor hosts SMU in November, then follows that with trips to Rice and TCU. Each of those rivalries date back over 80 years, Baylor and TCU have the longest rivalry of the three, stretching back to the 1908-09 season.

Among the 17 games at the Ferrell Center this season are matchups against Colorado State, Iowa State and Kansas State, as well as the annual home contests vs. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

In addition to the former SWC schools and current Big 12 rivals, the 2001-2002 schedule includes non-conference games against three other in-state foes: Hardin-Simmons (Nov. 17), Texas-Arlington (Nov. 21), and North Texas (Dec. 8), for a total of 12 games against Texas schools.

In Big 12 action, the Bears will face Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech twice and will play the remaining six northern teams once. Baylor will also join in the San Juan Shootout, to be played Dec. 20-22 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Bears' first action will be Nov. 10, in an exhibition game vs. the Texas Blue Chip. A second exhibition game will be played Nov. 13 against the Houston Superstars. The season tips off Nov. 17, with a home game vs. Hardin-Simmons.

BAYLOR BASKETBALL 2001-2002 SCHEDULE
Date        Opponent            TimeNov.    10  TEXAS BLUE CHIP (exh.)      TBANov.    13  HOUSTON SUPERSTARS (exh.)   TBANov.    17  HARDIN-SIMMONS          TBANov.    21  TEXAS-ARLINGTON         TBANov.    24  SACRED HEART            TBANov.    27  SMU             TBANov.    29  CAL STATE FULLERTON     TBADec.    1   at Rice             TBADec.    8   NORTH TEXAS         TBADec.    17  CENTENARY           TBADec.    20-22   at San Juan Shootout ^      TBADec.    29  at TCU              TBAJan.    2   COLORADO STATE          TBAJan.    5   o IOWA STATE            TBAJan.    8   o OKLAHOMA STATE        TBAJan.    12  o at Texas          TBAJan.    16  o KANSAS STATE          TBAJan.    19  o at Texas A&M          TBAJan.    26  o TEXAS  (ESPN+)        8:00 p.m.Jan.    30  o at Colorado           TBAFeb.    3   o TEXAS A&M  (ESPN+)        1:00 p.m.Feb.    6   o at Oklahoma           TBAFeb.    9   o MISSOURI  (ESPN)      8:00 p.m.Feb.    12  o at Texas Tech         TBAFeb.    16  o at Kansas  (ESPN+)        3:00 p.m.Feb.    19  o OKLAHOMA          TBAFeb.    23  o at Oklahoma State  (ESPN+)    3:00 p.m.Feb.    27  o at Nebraska           TBAMar.    2   o TEXAS TECH  (ESPN+)       12:45 p.m.Mar.    7-10    * at Big 12 Tournament      TBA
All times Central^ San Juan Shootout (San Juan, Puerto Rico)o Big 12 Conference* Big 12 Tournament (Kemper Arena - Kansas City, Mo.)