Will Bryant's basketball team go back to the NCAA Tournament? This schedule will decide
Circumstantial evidence suggests not too many coaches were eager to accept or return scheduling phone calls from Bryant basketball coach Jared Grasso during this offseason.
Bryant released a 30-game men’s slate on Tuesday morning — one shy of the maximum at 31 and with a trio of non-Division I opponents visiting Chace Center. The Bulldogs will open on Nov. 7 against Thomas College (ME) before testing the Division I waters on Nov. 11 at Dartmouth.
Grasso’s program is coming off a first NCAA Tournament berth at the top level in program history. Bryant went 22-10 overall last season and is a combined 52-34 in its last three years. The Bulldogs rewarded their coach with an April contract extension that will run through the 2026-27 season.
Bryant visits Florida Atlantic and Florida International as part of a three-day road swing in November. The Bulldogs also travel to American Athletic Conference opponents Cincinnati and Tulane to open December. Highlight games in New England include a home date with Brown, another with Towson and a Hall of Fame Classic matchup with fellow mid-major pest Liberty in Springfield, Mass.
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Syracuse was the lone Power 5 or Big East foe willing to offer Bryant a guarantee game, and that Nov. 26 contest comes as a bit of a surprise. The Bulldogs suffered an 85-84 defeat in their last visit to the Carrier Dome, falling a baseline jumper shy of upsetting the Orange to begin the 2020-21 campaign. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim complained of COVID-19 scheduling difficulties during his postgame remarks and Grasso offered some rather pointed rebuttals directed at the Hall of Famer.
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New Year’s Eve will bring the program’s America East debut, as Bryant will host Binghamton. The Bulldogs jumped from the Northeast Conference after sweeping regular-season and tournament titles last season. Their last game in the league was a 70-43 demolition of Wagner, one partly clouded by an ugly late brawl among sections of the sellout crowd.
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Bryant visits the annual class of its new conference in its first road game. Vermont will play host to what could be a Jan. 5 showdown for the early top spot. The Catamounts are the defending tournament champions and have secured three of the last five automatic March Madness berths under John Becker.
Broadcast information and game times will be released in the coming weeks. Visit bryantbulldogs.com for updates.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
BRYANT UNIVERSITY 2022-23 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Nov. 7 — Thomas (ME)
Nov. 11 — at Dartmouth
Nov. 14 — Maine-Fort Kent
Nov. 17 — at Florida Atlantic
Nov. 19 — at Florida International
Nov. 21 — Detroit
Nov. 26 — at Syracuse
Dec. 2 — Brown
Dec, 4 — at Cincinnati
Dec. 6 — at Tulane
Dec. 9 — Stony Brook
Dec. 11 — Framingham State
Dec. 17 — Liberty (Hall of Fame Classic)
Dec. 22 — Towson
Dec. 31 — Binghamton
Jan. 5 — at Vermont
Jan. 8 — UMBC
Jan. 11 — Albany
Jan. 14 — at New Hampshire
Jan. 19 — NJIT
Jan. 22 — at UMass-Lowell
Jan. 28 — at Binghamton
Feb. 1 — Maine
Feb. 4 — New Hampshire
Feb. 8 — at Albany
Feb. 11 — at UMBC
Feb. 15 — UMass-Lowell
Feb. 22 — at NJIT
Feb. 25 — Vermont
Feb. 28 — at Maine
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bryant men's basketball schedule: 30-game slate for 2022-23 season
