University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Announces 2006 Schedule
1/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 17, 2006
HOUSTON -
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Another challenging slate against some of the nation's top collegiate teams awaits the University of Houston baseball team as head coach Rayner Noble announced the 2006 schedule Tuesday.
Houston will play 21 games against teams which are ranked in at least one national preseason poll to date. In addition, the Cougars will compete in 33 games against teams that are receiving votes in one of those national preseason polls.
The Cougars, who are ranked No. 32 in Collegiate Baseball magazine's preseason poll, will square off against teams that ranked among the nation's best a year ago. Houston faces nine different opponents who advanced to NCAA Regionals in 2005 in 21 games this season.
"Our schedule is true-to-form. It puts us in the right mindset," said Noble who enters his 12th season at the helm of the UH program. "Once you get into NCAA Regional play, you have to nose up against those folks. I would just as soon test the waters early in the season and see what we need to do to prepare ourselves to function in an NCAA Regional or Super Regional."
The Cougars open the 2006 season at the friendly confines of Cougar Field with a 2 p.m. showcase against Texas-San Antonio on Feb. 7.
From there, the team will compete in the Astros College Classic at Minute Maid Park for the sixth consecutive season on Feb. 10-12. The Cougars open their stay at the three-day, round-robin tournament against defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Texas at 7 p.m., Feb. 10.
The Cougars continue when they meet No. 19 TCU at 3:30 p.m., Feb. 11 and wrap up their visit at 11 a.m., Feb. 12 against Texas Tech.
With the new season comes a new Conference USA as Rice, UCF and Marshall join the league. All three teams will only add depth to a daunting list of league members, which include recent NCAA Regional participants Tulane, Southern Miss and East Carolina.
"The league is small, but it is very potent," Noble said. "Our league play is going to be very strong in itself."
The Cougars will welcome Marshall on March 24-26 at Cougar Field during the first C-USA weekend of the season. Besides the Thundering Herd, No. 12 Tulane (April 7-9), Memphis (April 21-23) and UCF (May 5-7) will visit Houston in three-game league series.
On the road, the Cougars will face East Carolina (March 31-April 2), No. 30 Southern Miss (April 14-16) and UAB (April 28-30)
For the first time in the history of the Silver Glove Series, the Cougars and No. 5 Rice will meet as conference foes. Although shortened to three games, the Series should be no less intense on May 12-14 at Reckling Park in Houston during the final weekend series of the year for the Cougars.
On the non-conference side, the Cougars will welcome Monmouth (Feb. 24-26) and No. 36 San Diego (March 17-19) in three-game weekend series at Cougar Field. Texas-San Antonio (Feb. 7), Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 14), Northwestern State (Feb. 22), Lamar (March 7), Baylor (March 14), Texas A&M (March 21), Prairie View A&M (March 28), McNeese State (April 4) and Sam Houston State (April 25) also are scheduled to visit Houston in non-conference midweek games.
Fans should note that the Prairie View A&M game was recently added to the 2006 schedule and does not appear on earlier publications like the team's poster, season ticket brochure and media guide.
Meanwhile, the Cougars will travel to No. 12 Arizona State (Feb. 17-19), No. 15 LSU (March 3-5) and UC Irvine (March 10-12) for weekend series. The team will face Lamar (Feb. 28), McNeese State (April 11), Texas A&M (April 18), Stephen F. Austin (May 2) and Sam Houston State (May 16) in single, midweek games.
With only nine league members playing baseball, each team will enjoy one off weekend from league play during the regular season. The Cougars won't enjoy their bye weekend until the final weekend of the year.
As a result, UH should be well-rested when it begins competing at the 2006 C-USA Tournament on May 24-28 at Rice's Reckling Park. The winner of the league's annual postseason tournament earns the automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals.
