2013-2014 WSU basketball schedule: Cougs play Gonzaga early in season, forego Seattle game

With some dates still needing to be nailed down, WSU has released the men's basketball schedule for the 2013-2014 season. We already knew about a non-conference match-up with the TCU Horned Frogs and the Cougs trip to Orlando for the Old Spice Classic but beyond those and their yearly match-ups with the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Idaho Vandals, the non-conference schedule is fairly nondescript. There is one noticeable absence: no Cougar Hardwood Classic.

The Cougs officially open the season on November 8th against Cal State-Bakersfield and wait a week to play Lamar on November 16th, both games at home. Instead of the yearly visit to KeyArena, the Cougs will be back in Kennewick at the Toyota Center to take on San Francisco State, a Division II team from the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Two more home games over winter break without students against the UTEP Miners and Mississippi Valley St. Delta Devils finish off the non-conference schedule.

The Cougs open Pac-12 play after the New Year in the desert against Arizona or Arizona State (the only time they'll play them this year) before coming home to play Utah or Colorado in Spokane followed by a game in Pullman against the other opponent. The Cougs will only face USC and UCLA once this season, at home the final weekend of the year.

Overall, the non-conference schedule is a little underwhelming but that's to be expected for a team coming off a very rough season. The conference schedule is pretty fair with a couple of consecutive weekends at home and the road but do go three weeks without a home game near the end of the year.

Here's a look at the full schedule so you can pontificate all you want about wins and losses for next year.

EXHIBITION

Nov. 2 Saturday CENTRAL WASH. (EXH) PULLMAN TBA

NONCONFERENCE

Nov. 8 Friday CSU BAKERSFIELD PULLMAN TBA

Nov. 16 Saturday LAMAR PULLMAN TBA

Nov. 21 Thursday at Gonzaga Spokane, Wash. TBA

Nov. 24 Sunday TCU PULLMAN TBA

Nov. 28 Thursday vs. Butler# Orlando, Fla. ESPN2

Nov. 29 Friday Old Spice Classic# Orlando, Fla. ESPN(2/U)

Dec. 1 Sunday Old Spice Classic# Orlando, Fla. ESPN(2/U/3)

Dec. 7 Saturday at Idaho Moscow, Idaho TBA

Dec. 15 Sunday PEPPERDINE PULLMAN TBA

Dec. 18 Wednesday San Francisco State^ Kennewick, Wash. TBA

Dec. 21 Saturday UTEP PULLMAN TBA

Dec. 28 Saturday MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ST. PULLMAN TBA

CONFERENCE

Jan. 1-5 Wed.-Sun. at Arizona State/Arizona Tempe, Ariz./Tucson, Ariz. TBA

Jan. 8-12 Wed.-Sun. UTAH/COLORADO Spokane, Wash./PULLMAN TBA

Jan. 15-20 Wed.-Sun. at Stanford/California Stanford, Calif./Berkeley, Calif. TBA

Jan. 22-26 Wed.-Mon. OREGON STATE/OREGON PULLMAN TBA

Jan. 29-Feb. 2 Wed.-Sun. WASHINGTON PULLMAN TBA

Feb. 5-9 Wed.-Sun. at Colorado/Utah Boulder, Colo./Salt Lake City TBA

Feb. 12-16 Wed.-Sun. CALIFORNIA/STANFORD PULLMAN TBA

Feb. 19-23 Wed.-Sun. at Oregon/Oregon State Eugene, Ore./Corvallis, Ore. TBA

Feb. 26-March 2 Wed.-Sun. at Washington Seattle TBA

March 4-8 Tues.-Sat. UCLA/USC PULLMAN TBA

March 12-15 Wed.-Sat. Pac-12 Tournament% Las Vegas Pac-12/ESPN