Chris Braswell wins the tip over Jamal McLean of Xavier last season.

Coach Major wasn’t timid with his schedule for the final games before conference play, arranging dates with three high-major programs before the rigors of the Atlantic 10 season.

Thursday, December 22nd: Miami Hurricanes
Halton Arena

-ACC
-2011-12: 19-14, RPI 73
-5-Year RPI Average: 85.8
-NCAA Last 5-Years: 1 (2008)
-2011-12 Schedule 

First up will be Miami on Thursday, December 22^nd, who will have Jim Larranaga at the helm for his first season with the Hurricanes; he coached the George Mason team that dismantled the Niners in Charleston last November. It’s tough to know what to expect out Miami as they are already battling injuries and scandal, but after finishing 19-14 with an RPI of 73, Miami has potential to be a good team this season, and a win would go a long way.

Wednesday, December 28th: Arkansas Razorbacks
Fayetteville, AR

-SEC
-2011-12: 18-13, RPI 128
-5-Year RPI Average: 99
-NCAA Last 5-Years: 2 (2007, 2008)
-2011-12 Schedule 

Next is a trip to play at the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday, December 28^th. Arkansas brought in Mike Anderson from Missouri this season and he managed to keep Pelphrey’s excellent recruiting class intact. Anderson’s right hand man is former 49ers Head Coach and point guard, Melvin Watkins. Arkansas’ roster lacks experienced talent, having only two Seniors on the team, including one-time Niner recruit Michael Sanchez (we’re aware of the jokes).  Despite this, Anderson is one of the best coaches in the business and could quickly turn things around in Fayetteville with his high intensity defense; the Razorbacks had an RPI of 128 last season going 18-13.

Saturday, December 31st: Memphis Tigers
Memphis, TN

-Conference USA
-2011-12: 25-9, RPI 28
-5-Year RPI Average: 19.8
-NCAA Last 5-Years: 4 (2007, 2008, 2009, 2011)
-2011-12 Schedule 

Charlotte will stay out west for their next game, when they visit the Memphis Tigers on New Year’s Eve. Memphis is in the Top 10 on multiple experts’ ballots, and this is the final test before conference play for the Niners. Memphis ruled Conference USA with an iron fist since the shake-up in 2005 (because the real schools left).  cpip tried to say some nice things about Memphis here but that’s wack.  Memphis sucks, the fans are irrational idiots and think they are entitled to join the SEC despite being rejected by every BCS conference and having a football team that would rival Columbia’s for futility.  Fitting that Memphis and ECU are conference mates.  Both schools are STD-riddled, glorified community colleges.

Wednesday, January 18th: Kennesaw State Owls
Halton Arena

-Atlantic Sun
-2011-12: 7-23, RPI 320
-5-Year RPI Average: 308.4
-NCAA Last 5-Years: 0
-2011-12 Schedule 

Interrupting early conference play is a date with Kennesaw State.  The Owls features one of the Atlantic Sun’s best players in Markeith Cummings, but he isn’t good enough to get KSU better than the cellar in the lowly Atlantic Sun. He won’t be good enough for the Owls to win in Halton Arena either. The Owls won a whopping ZERO non-conference games on the road last season, though they were able to defeat a historically bad Georgia Tech comfortably on their home court.

The Niners then hit the road again to play George Washington (1/21), who went through a coaching change but still retain some of the talent that beat us last season. The cupboard isn’t empty. Charlotte then hosts the leagues elite with Temple (1/25) and Xavier (1/28), Temple may lose half a step from last season, but that’s still pretty good, while the Musketeers could be even better than last year’s team, and featuring a potential All-American in Tu Holloway.

Charlotte then hits the road for four of its next five games, first playing at La Salle (2/1) and Fordham (2/4). The Explorers have plunged in Atlantic 10 predictions after losing highly rated center Aaric Murray to transfer, while the Rams are still clawing at the cellar door to get out. After a week off, Charlotte will be out for blood with a home game against Rhode Island (2/11), their first trip to Charlotte since 2009. Rhode Island got highlight reel, game winning, buzzer beating putback in overtime of our game at the Ryan Center. When that many adjectives are used, you know we mean business. The Niners then go back on the road to face Dayton (2/15) and then the 2nd game against Richmond (2/18). Dayton, like George Washington, has a new coaching staff(Brian Gregory to GT? Yeah, right), but unlike George Washington, retained very little talent. We already talked about Richmond, but Chris Mooney signed a 10-year extension with the Spiders this offseason.

Charlotte then begins the final quarter of the season with three home games, George Washington (2/22), St. Bonaventure (2/25) and Duquesne (2/29), before visiting Xavier (3/3) to close the Atlantic 10 regular season. Losing to George Washington at home last year was the most painful loss t a GW last season, and it shan’t happen again. St. Bonaventure is being hailed as a Top 4 team this season, but with the kind of help they get from the refs at home(42-9?!?!?!), you’d expect them to be in the Top 4 EVERY year. Duquesne lost pieces to the team that got out to a great start in A10 play before fading down the stretch. The Dukes will be mid-pack this season. The road  game at Xavier will be a great test for this team if it is any good before the conference tournament, or the beginning of the end if things aren’t going so well. This Xavier game will provide the same litmus test that the Memphis game did. After this game we will know what our team is capable of in the postseason, and we are proud to announce Green Tinted Glasses plans on being in Cincinnati for this showdown.

And last but not least….

Maybe this year's MVP will be a member of the basketball team.

The Niners (and THE Niner Nation) hope for more nights like December 17th.

Continuing from the first of of this season’s schedule breakdown(Link), we move forward to the next portion of the schedule. The next three games will be more of a challenge, as all three opponents had a Top 125 RPI last season, with two of them on the road.

Tuesday, November 22nd: East Tennessee State Buccaneers
Halton Arena

-Atlantic Sun
-2010-11 : 23-12, RPI 91
-5-Year RPI Average: 119
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 2 (2009, 2010)
-2011-12 Schedule

The Buccaneers recorded 21 wins last season, after visiting the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and 2011. East Tennessee State is the closest thing that Belmont has to a challenger in the Atlantic Sun Conference, and will be looking for resume wins. The Buccaneers routinely find themselves in the Top 100 of the RPI rankings, so they should not be taken lightly by the team or our fans. Fortunately the Bucs lost 3 of their starters from last year’s squad, representing the bulk of the team’s scoring.  Sr. F Isiah Brown, who has terrific instincts for the game will be asked to lead the squad along side Adam Sollazzo, who has resisted calls from his uncle Virgil to join the family business and returned for his Sr. season.   ETSU has gone on the road and won at Dayton, Mississippi State and Arkansas in the last two seasons, so don’t expect them to be unsettled by playing in Halton Arena.

Saturday, November 26th: Wright State Raiders
 Dayton, OH

-Horizon League
-2011-12: 17-14, RPI 124
-5-Year RPI Average: 90.8
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 1 (2007)
-2011-12 Schedule

On Thanksgiving weekend Charlotte makes its first trip to Dayton of the season to face the Wright State Raiders. Wright State plays second fiddle to Butler in the Horizon League, and was able to split the season series with the two-time NCAA Runners-Up last year. Wright State didn’t make things easy for Charlotte last season in Halton Arena, forcing Charlotte to over come a 14-point deficit in the final 12:36 of the game. Derrio Green answered the bat signal to propel Charlotte to the 57-53 victory.  Joining the Raiders this season is local product Reggie Arceneaux from Olympic HS.  The diminutive (don’t listen to J_Felt, 5’9 tisn’t average) guard was a scoring machine on a loaded Olympic team (Josh Smith, 2012 Clemson verbal and Allerik Freeman, 2013), receiving some laurels from the fanbase as a possible recruit at one point.

Saturday, December 3rd: East Carolina Pirates
Greenville, NC

-Conference USA
-2011-12: 15-16, RPI 96
-5-Year RPI Average: 224.6
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 0
-2011-12 Schedule

This road trip concludes with a trip to Greenville, NC, where East Carolina will host Charlotte for the second consecutive season. The ECU Pirates finished the 2010-11 season with an RPI of 96 and their first trip to any type of postseason since the Clinton Administration was still getting the Barbara Bush smell out of The White House. Charlotte lost a heartbreaker in Greenville a season ago and should be looking for vengeance.  We would break down the roster for you but here’s what you need to know:  Jeff Lebo is a rockstar.  Though never leading any team he has ever coached to the NCAA tournament, poets slam sonnets about his virtues and historians document his achievements in leather-bound books.  But if you want Lebo to coach your team, TOUGH LUCK.  He’s happy in Greenville and he has FAMILY there.  Die in a fire, Indiana. He belongs to the Pirates.

Tuesday, December 6th: Radford Highlanders
Radford, VA

-Big South
-2011-12: 2-24, RPI 333
-5-Year RPI Average: 243.8
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 1 (2009)
-2011-12 Schedule 

The next three games shouldn’t be much of a test for the 49ers, as none of the teams cracked the RPI Top 150 in 2010-11. First is a road trip to Radford on Tuesday, December 6th, where the 49ers play their second game against the Highlanders in as many seasons. Charlotte won by a margin of 73-52 in Halton Arena, one of just two double-digit victories by Charlotte last season, on Radford’s way to a 2-24 (vs. D-I) record and an RPI of 333.  There can be only one victor in this contest and we expect it to the Niners.

Saturday, December 10th: Davidson LOLcats
Halton Arena

-Southern Conference
-2011-12: 16-14, RPI 182
-5-Year RPI Average: 92.8
-NCAA Last 5 Years:  2 (2007, 2008)
-2011-12 Schedule 

Next for Charlotte will be the first Hornet’s Nest game in Halton Arena since the 2007 Goldwire-Curry shootout. The Niners should have a sour taste in their mouths from the 14-point defeat last season. Davidson’s roster is full of goody two-shoes, pansies and boy scouts.  Really no need to expand on that.  Rumor has it the AD will be sponsoring a giveaway:  Free mouthguards and icepacks to all Niner fans in attendance to ward off the ill-effects of LOLcat elbows.

Monday, December 19th: Coppin State Eagles
Halton Arena

-MEAC
-2011-12: 13-14, RPI 246
-5-Year RPI Average: 256.6
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 1 (2008)
-2011-12 Schedule 

Then Charlotte has a nine day break for exams before reconvening to host the Coppin State Eagles. Don’t let the name confuse you.  Coppin isn’t a real state.  They have no senators in Congress.  It’s just a lie to confuse you.  The Eagles have been trending downward since taking the MEAC crown in 2008, but could once again be poised to contend in their conference, but not much elsewhere. Despite returning their four leading scorers from last season (three of which are seniors), when the buzzer sounds to end the Coppin State game, Charlotte better be heavy in the wins-column. From this point forward things get a lot tougher from Charlotte, if we take too many punches (aka losses) up to this point we could be in for a long season.

The Charlotte 49ers begin their 16th season in Halton Arena on Friday November 11th.

A few weeks ago, the Charlotte 49ers released the full basketball schedule, and now it is our turn to dissect the schedule, particularly the non-conference portion. This season’s schedule consists of 29 games, 13 of which are against non-conference opponents. This schedule is a step or two down in difficulty from last year’s schedule, but considering how last season worked out, this might not be a terrible thing. Alan Major’s sophomore effort begins with an exhibition against Belmont Abbey on November 3rd. Charlotte played the Crusaders eight times in our first four years of existence, losing all eight with the closest being the last meeting, February 4th, 1969 by a score of 73-71.

 Friday November 11th: NC Central Eagles
Halton Arena 

-MEAC
-2010-11: 11-15, RPI 275
-4 Year Average RPI: 310
-NCAA Last 4-years: 0
-2011-12 Schedule  

The Niners will have their opportunity to get out to a fast start with the first three games of the season against teams that finished with an RPI of 296 or worse last season. NC Central will be the first game of the season on November 11th, a double-header with the Women’s Basketball team (who play Presbyterian) in Halton Arena. The NC Central Eagles were once home to Jamar Briscoe, and is one of Division 1’s newest full members. NC Central has Dominique Sutton available this season, a homesick transfer from Kansas State. This will be Charlotte’s sixth consecutive year that it has opened the season at home, going 5-1* in those games. The Eagles were picked by Yahoo Sports to be Top 4 in the MEAC. They’ve been without postseason eligibility for four seasons and will be hungry out of the gate.

Tuesday, November 15th: Central Michigan Chippewas
Mt. Pleasant, MI

-MAC
-2010-11: 9-21, RPI 308
-NCAA Last 5-years: 0
-2011-12 Schedule 

Charlotte will travel to play Central Michigan for its second game of the season. Central Michigan hardly bares any resemblance to the program that stood in Charlotte’s way in the 1977 tournament these days; the Chippewas haven’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 2003, and have been bottom-feeders in the MAC the last two seasons.  Central Michigan does, however, have a terrific young SG in Trey Zeigler.  The 6’5 sophomore led the Chippewas in scoring last season and will be a difficult matchup when faced against smaller guards Deuce Briscoe and Derrio Green but the new look Niners can throw DeMario Mayfield (6’3), Pierria Henry (6’3), Luka Voncina (6’4) Terrence Williams (6’4) at him.

Saturday, November 19th: Lamar Cardinals
Beamont, TX

-Southland Conference
-2010-11: 9-17, RPI 290
-NCAA Last 5 Years: 0
-2011-12 Schedule 

The third game of the season finds Charlotte at Lamar, who just hired former Texas Tech coach Pat Knight, son of Hall of Famer Bobby Knight. Pat will be looking to build the Cardinals into a perennial contender in the Southland Conference. Lamar has been decent by Southland Conference standards, but has only made one NCAA Tournament since 1983. It’s possible that the relationship between Major and Knight goes back to the early 90s, when Knight was a walk-0n for his father’s Indiana Hoosiers teams while Coach Major was a manager for Gene Keady’s Purdue Boilermakers.

Lamar lost two of their top three scorers this past post-season and will look to a pair of former JUCO guards in Kendrick Harris and Devon Lamb to fill the void.  Lamar is a little thin in the post, lacking proven production and have brought in Nikko Acosta from Gulf Coast CC (the same Gulf Coast CC Derrio Green spent a year) and improved play from RS Sophomore Osas Ebomwonyi.

Even though the level of competition is pretty low for these first three games, we can still learn a great deal about this team. These are three games a good team would win handily. While we are a young team, and getting two road wins comfortably might be too much to ask, but starting 3-0 against this schedule is the standard we should hold this team to.

*DIDN’T HAPPEN.

For those who don’t follow GTG on twitter (and really, you should: @gtgblog), news has surfaced that the largely new look Niners will face their first public competition in an exhibition scheduled November 3rd.  Time and opponent are still to be determined; however, if recent trends hold true, it will likely be a regional Division II opponent, for instance the Davidson LOLcats.

On Friday, the Charlotte 49ers officially released the non-conference portion of the schedule in full, which included the surprise of seeing Kennesaw State visiting Halton Arena on January 18th. Also on Friday, Green Tinted Glasses got a hold of the 49ers’ Atlantic 10 slate, set to be released officially this week. As always, nothing is official until it’s official but this is the schedule as we understand it to be.

Fri 11/11: NC CENTRAL
Tue 11/15: at Central Michigan
Sat 11/19: at Lamar
Tue 11/22: EAST TENNESSEE STATE
Sat 11/26: at Wright State
Sat 12/3: at East Carolina
Tue 12/6: at Radford
Sat 12/10: DAVIDSON
Mon 12/19: COPPIN STATE
Thu 12/22: MIAMI (FL)
Wed 12/28: at Arkansas
Sat 12/31: at Memphis
Wed 1/4: RICHMOND
Sat 1/7: at Saint Joseph’s
Wed 1/11: at Massachusetts
Sat 1/14: SAINT LOUIS
Wed 1/18:  KENNESAW STATE
Sat 1/21: at George Washington
Wed 1/25: TEMPLE
Sat 1/28: XAVIER
Wed 2/1: at La Salle
Sat 2/4: at Fordham
Sat 2/11: RHODE ISLAND
Wed 2/15: at Dayton
Sat 2/18: at Richmond
Wed 2/22: GEORGE WASHINGTON
Sat 2/25: ST. BONAVENTURE
Wed 2/29: DUQUESNE
Sat 3/3: at Xavier

The 2011-12 schedule includes first time Niner opponents in NC Central, Arkansas and Kennesaw State, a historically-significant opponent in Central Michigan, our first victim in the 1977 NCAA Tournament and also the continuation of two bitter, but lopsided, in-state rivalries with Davidson and East Carolina. The 29 game schedule features 14 home games, including Atlantic 10 front runners Xavier, Temple, Richmond and Saint Louis, along with Miami of the ACC, featuring new Head Coach, Jim Larranaga, coach of George Mason’s 2006 Final Four team. Charlotte closes the regular season with three out of four games at home, which could inject a huge dose of mojo into the Niners heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament (yes, they will qualify for the A10 tournament this year).

Looking into future seasons, we know East Carolina will be playing in Halton Arena the two following seasons with a return to Greenville in ’14-’15. Davidson and Charlotte are set to swap hosting duties for two more seasons, and probably the foreseeable future. Oregon State, Radford and Lamar will be closing out series with Charlotte in Halton Arena in the 2012-13 season. Charlotte will in all likelihood will visit Miami, as the improbability of an ACC team playing a one-game series at Charlotte is 2^2079460347 to one, against. Considering this staff’s propensity to recruit in Georgia, it would not be a shock to see the Niners make a return to Kennesaw State. Memphis is a one-game deal.

Of course, if you want to catch all of these home games (and maybe even meet the GTGers), go ahead and grab some season tickets at the school’s website.

Today, Central Michigan released it’s non-conference schedule, and slotted in for Tuesday November 15th is a game against Charlotte hosted by the Chippewas. According Rivals.com’s Niner Report, this game is a part of the 24 hour college basketball marathon on the ESPN family of networks, our last appearance did NOT go well. Given the current state of Central Michigan basketball, GTG expects the Chippewas to return to Halton Arena in the future.

Central Michigan holds a special place in Niner history, as they were our first opponent (and victim) ever in the NCAA Tournament. The Niners survived Central Michigan in a 91-86 overtime bout that propelled Charlotte down the road to the 1977 Final Four.

All opponents are on the table, without an exempt event we are capped at 12 non-conference games, instead of the regular 14. The date of the Radford road game is still an unknown, but we think it will be between the East Carolina and Davidson games (December 6th or 7th) based on Radford’s and Charlotte’s current game dates. No word on who an exhibition game would be against at this moment, because it doesn’t really matter. The series with Oregon State is expected to conclude during the 2012-13 season with a game in Halton Arena.

11/11 NC CENTRAL
11/15 at Central Michigan
~11/18~ at Lamar
11/22 EAST TENNESSEE STATE
11/26 at Wright State
12/3 at East Carolina
TBD at Radford
12/10 DAVIDSON
12/19 COPPIN STATE
12/22 MIAMI (FL)
12/28 at Arkansas
12/31 at Memphis

Charlotte at Arkansas: December 28th, 2011

Via CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman, and eventually the release of their non-conference schedule, today it was learned that the Niners will be facing Arkansas on December 28th, one of the final pieces in the puzzle of our 2011-12 schedule. Based on one of the Razorbacks’ recent scheduling ads, it’s not outrageous to speculate that this is the first game of a  home and home series.

Arkansas Razorbacks–December 20,26 27, or 28. Need 1 game. Prefer home and home series.

This will be the first match-up in men’s  basketball between the 49ers and the Razorbacks, although the two baseball squads met in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Arkansas’ new Head Coach, Mike Anderson, is familiar with Charlotte, as he was the coach of UAB while both schools were members of Conference USA. More familiar to The Niner Nation would be Associate Head Coach Melvin Watkins, who was part of the 1977 Final Four team, as well as taking over Head Coach at Charlotte after Jeff Mullins’ retirement. Both of his seasons as head coach resulted NCAA Tournament appearences(’97, ’98) before leaving for everybody’s favorite domino, Texas A&M. This will be Coach Watkins first game against Charlotte since leaving the program in 1998.

Known Schedule to Date:

11/11 NC CENTRAL
11/18ish at Lamar
11/22  EAST TENNESSEE STATE
11/26 at Wright State
12/3 at East Carolina
12/10 DAVIDSON
12/19 COPPIN STATE
12/22 MIAMI(FL)
12/28 at Arkansas
12/31 at Memphis
TBA at Radford
TBA TBA

While the date for the Radford game is still an unknown, from gaps in our schedule, and known Radford dates, we expect the game to come in between the East Carolina and Davidson games. Those subscribed to Rivals.com’s Niner Report know about another supposed opponent.

What’s better than a quickie on a Friday?

Two quickies on a Friday.

In scheduling news, it seems our game with Lamar now hinges upon Charlotte’s agreeance to move the date of the game from November 19th to either the 18th or the 20th. Lamar’s football game that day was recently picked up for TV broadcast and could see its kick-off shifted to earlier in the afternoon. Lamar officials do not want both events to occur at the same time. We haven’t heard from Charlotte concerning the game, but since Lamar says they are working on it, we’ll assume Charlotte officials are also finding a solution. More info can be found here.

In recruiting news, our resident expert 2k has been notified that Willie Clayton, 2012 PF, is taking an official visit to Charlotte on August 24th. Clayton is a major target for our staff, so getting a verbal after this visit would be key. There’s been speculation that some of our targets are close to committing, GTG hopes that Clayton is one of those nearing a decision.

Today, the Wright State Raiders released their 2011-12 Schedule, and in spite of some doubt that a return game by the 49ers would happen, Charlotte will be playing at Wright State on Saturday November 26th, two days after Thanksgiving, and four days after hosting East Tennessee State. Wright State plays in the Nutter Center, located in Dayton, Ohio.

Derrio answered the bat signal in December, will he need to again this november?

Last season, Wright State fell victim to Charlotte’s streak of last minute victories in Halton Arena. Charlotte overcame a double-digit deficit midway through the second-half to win 57-53 behind a strong night from Derrio Green. Wright State also has key non-conferences games at Ohio State and Florida, while facing two-time NCAA runner-up Butler, at home and away, in Horizon League play.

Schedule to date:

• 11/11 NC CENTRAL
• 11/22 EAST TENNESSEE STATE
• 11/26 at Wright State
• 12/3 at East Carolina
• 12/10 DAVIDSON
• 12/19 COPPIN STATE
• 12/22 MIAMI (FL)
• 12/31 at Memphis
• TBA at Radford
• TBD vs. Lamar?

Via sources and a player’s Facebook recent status, it has been learned that the home opener of Charlotte’s 2011-12 Men’s Basketball season will be against the North Carolina Central Eagles on November 11th, 2011.

Briscoe will be in the good guys' uniform come November 11th.

Keeping in line our tradition of opening at home against a softy (High Point, UNC Greensboro, UNC Asheville… & SC State!). NC Central is part of the MEAC, but not necessarily ”Upper-Tier” as the Eagles will be embarking as their first season as a full member of Division I, if they are on schedule.

This locks our 7th known opponent into a date, along with East Tennessee State (11/22), East Carolina (12/3), Davidson (12/10), Coppin State (12/19), Miami (12/22) and Memphis (12/31). The date of the Radford game is still unkown, along with that of “probable” opponent Lamar, while Wright State and Oregon State are long-shots and no-shots, respectively, to appear on THIS year’s schedule.

All signs point to three games with complete question marks as far as the date and opponent. But we are only looking for two more games, which mean we get to speculating!

“Looking for two more games. Looking for any BCS at home. Nov 30 and Dec 28 are great dates with other options available”

Keep checking back with GTG for updates as we get them.