Sept. 5, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Temple will play at Villanova on December 29. The date officially completes the Owls' 2008-09 men's basketball schedule.

The Owls open the season in the Charleston Classic on November 14 with a game against East Tennessee State. The schedule also includes a home date against SEC power Tennessee on December 13 and a trip to Allen Fieldhouse to take on defending NCAA Champions Kansas on December 20.

Miami (OH) serves as the Owls' home opener on December 3. Another Mid-American Conference foe, Kent State, rounds out the home portion of the non-conference slate on Jan. 5. Temple will play non-conference road games against Lafayette, Buffalo, Penn State, Long Beach State and Eastern Michigan as well as Big 5 rivals Villanova and Penn.

The Charleston Classic, a three-game tournament held at the Carolina First Arena in Charleston, includes Charleston, Hofstra, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Clemson, East Tennessee State, TCU and Western Michigan.

The Atlantic 10 Conference slate opens with road games at La Salle (Jan. 10) and Massachusetts (Jan 17). The Owls then play three of their next four leagues games at home - Saint Louis (Jan. 22), Charlotte (Jan. 24) and Richmond (Jan. 31) with the lone road contest in that stretch being Rhode Island (Jan. 28).

February opens with a date at Xavier (Feb. 5). The Owls then host Rhode Island (Feb. 8) before travelling to St. Joe's (Feb. 12) and Duquesne (Feb. 15). A three-game home stretch featuring Fordham (Feb. 18), St. Bonaventure (Feb. 22) and La Salle (Feb. 25) is followed by a trip to Dayton (Feb. 28) to conclude the month.

A home game with rival Saint Joseph's (Mar. 5) starts March Madness for Temple fans with a trip to George Washington ending the regular season (Mar. 7). The 2009 A-10 Men's Basketball Championship will again be held at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall from March 11 through 14.