IPFW men’s basketball head coach Jon Coffman has announced his program’s 2015-16 road schedule, a slate that includes the Utah Utes and the Indiana Hoosiers, and a total of seven road games against teams that played in the postseason a year ago.
"I’m excited about the opportunity that our 2015-16 schedule presents to both our players and our fan base as we embark on our most challenging schedule during my IPFW tenure," said Coffman. "This years’ road schedule includes two preseason top-25 teams and seven teams that played in the post season last year."
The game against the Hoosiers – on December 9 – will be the first time that the Mastodons and Hoosiers have faced off. "We are excited to be playing Indiana for the first time in school history," said Coffman. "We are looking forward to the challenge of facing Indiana in Assembly Hall. I have no doubt that we will have a great following trek to Bloomington to support us."
Last season the Mastodons finished the season with a 16-15 overall record, falling in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) to eventual tournament champion Evansville, in the Aces’ closest game of the tournament. Postseason teams from last season on this season’s road schedule include Valparaiso, Utah, Indiana, Western Michigan, Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, and North Dakota State.
The regular-season schedule opens on November 13 with a trip to Valparaiso – an NCAA Tournament squad in 2014-15. On November 18 the team makes its way to Clarksville, Tennessee, to face off against the Austin Peay Governors, and will take on the Miami University RedHawks on Tuesday, November 24.
The team makes a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Greensboro, North Carolina, to compete in a three-day exempt tournament where IPFW will face off against Navy, tournament host UNCG, and the Jacksonville Dolphins, led by former IPFW head coach Tony Jasick.
Following the trip to the East Coast, the Mastodons play their next two games in the western United States, with a Thursday, December 3 battle against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Two days after playing against Cal Poly, IPFW travels to Salt Lake City, Utah, to take on the Utah Utes, a team that advanced to the "Sweet 16" of last season’s NCAA Tournament before being ousted by eventual National Champion Duke.
Upon returning home, IPFW makes its inaugural trip to Bloomington, Indiana, for a December 9 battle against the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall. Indiana went 20-14 last season, falling in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
The final road game of the 2015 calendar year comes on December 22 when the team treks north to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where they will find a waiting Western Michigan Bronco squad for a December 22 contest. Last season Western Michigan finished 20-14 and fell in the opening round of the CIT.
The new year road schedule opens with a Saturday, January 9 battle with the Denver Pioneers – IPFW’s first road Summit League game – while a weekend later the team travels for a two-game road swing against South Dakota State (January 14) and Omaha (January 16).
On January 28 the team travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, before the second of three two-game road swings sends the Mastodons to face off against the South Dakota Coyotes on February 4 and against the North Dakota State Bison on February 6.,
Following a three-game homestand, the Mastodons close the 2015-16 regular season on the road with a two-game in three-day trip where they will face off against the Western Illinois Leathernecks on February 25 and against the IUPUI Jaguars on February 27.
The 2016 Summit League Tournament follows on March 5-8 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
