Aug. 20, 2003

ATHENS - Fans of Georgia basketball will enjoy ample opportunities to see their team play in person during the 2003-04 season. Of the 27 games on the regular-season schedule ­ announced today by head coach Dennis Felton ­ 16 of them are at Stegeman Coliseum. That's the most home dates ever in the 40 years at the Bulldogs' home arena.

A 17th game will be played at Philips Arena in Atlanta, and the 2004 Southeastern Conference Tournament is scheduled for March 11-14 at the Georgia Dome.

"We're very excited about our schedule for the upcoming season," Felton said. "Our fans will be able to watch the very early stages in the process of rebuilding Georgia basketball. This schedule will certainly provide us with challenges all year long, be it here, on the road, a neutral floor, outside of conference or within SEC play. I'm very much looking forward to the season and I know our players are, too."

The Bulldogs will play ACC backyard foe Clemson in the annual game at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Classic for Kids on Dec. 13 in Atlanta. Georgia Tech will play host to St. Louis in the other matchup at Philips Arena. Georgia¹s game against Clemson will be the two schools' first regular-season game since 1964.

Georgia's other two road games are both "return" engagements from contests played last season: Nov. 29 at Gonzaga and Dec. 30 at Pittsburgh. The Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 last season while Gonzaga advanced to the NCAA second round. The Zags have two players on the 50-man John R. Wooden pre-season All-America team: guard Blake Stepp and forward Cory Violette.

In all, Georgia¹s schedule features 13 games against teams that played in the postseason last year. Ten of those are against SEC teams.

Last season Georgia went 19-8, 11-5 in the SEC, but did not participate in the postseason. The Bulldogs finished third in the SEC Eastern Division, but their conference record would have won the West by a margin of two games.

Felton welcomes back three starters, five seniors overall, from the 2003 squad. However, there are no juniors or sophomores on the 2004 roster, just the seniors and seven freshmen, including four scholarship players and three walk-ons.

Georgia Bulldogs ­ 2003-04 Basketball Schedule
Date (Day) Opponent (TV) Site Time
Nov. 8 (Sat.) vs. TEAM NIKE (Exhib.) - 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 14 (Fri.) vs. SOUTHEASTERN ALL-STARS (Exhib.) - 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 21 (Fri.) vs. WESTERN CAROLINA - 8:00 p.m.
Nov. 25 (Tues.) vs. FLORIDA ATLANTIC - 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 29 (Sat.) at Gonzaga - 4:00 p.m.
Dec. 2 (Tues.) vs. TOWSON - 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 5 (Fri.) vs. FLORIDA A&M - 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 9 (Tues.) vs. WINTHROP - 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 13 (Sat.) vs. Clemson#(FSNS) - 3:00 p.m. (@Atlanta)
Dec. 18 (Thurs.) vs. SOUTH ALABAMA - 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 22 (Mon.) vs. CHARLESTON SOUTHERN - 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 30 (Tues.) at Pittsburgh (Time TBA)
Jan. 3 (Sat.) vs. GEORGIA TECH (FSNS) - 3:00 p.m.
Jan. 7 (Wed.) at Tennessee - 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 10 (Sat.) vs. SOUTH CAROLINA (SEC-TV) - 5:00 p.m.
Jan. 17 (Sat.) at Kentucky (JP) - 1:00 p.m.
Jan. 21 (Wed.) vs. ALABAMA - 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 24 (Sat.) at Mississippi State (JP) - 1:00 p.m.
Jan. 28 (Wed.) at LSU - 8:00 p.m.
Jan. 31 (Sat.) vs. ARKANSAS (SEC-TV) - 5:00 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Wed.) vs. MISSISSIPPI - 7:00 p.m.
Feb. 7 (Sat.) at Auburn - 4:00 p.m.
Feb. 11 (Wed.) at Vanderbilt (JP) - 8:00 p.m.
Feb. 14 (Sat.) vs. KENTUCKY (CBS) - 1:00 p.m.
Feb. 17 (Tues.) vs. FLORIDA (ESPN) - 9:00 p.m.
Feb. 21 (Sat.) vs. TENNESSEE (JP) - 2:00 p.m.
Feb. 28 (Sat.) at South Carolina (Time TBA)
Mar. 3 (Wed.) at Florida - 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 6 (Sat.) vs. VANDERBILT - 7:00 p.m.
Mar. 11-14 SEC Tournament Atlanta, Ga. TBA
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
All Times EST
#Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Classic for Kids - Philips Arena @Atlanta
Additional TV dates to be determined