Basketball releases final schedule

The Davidson men's basketball office has released the 2007 schedule and it looks to be as good as advertised.

The Wildcats will open the season with D-III Emory, the school where former Davidson players Jason Zimmerman and Matt McKillop are now coaching. There is also an intriguing connection with two players on Emory's team: John and Ryan Kresse. The Kresse twins are sons of former College of Charleston coach John Kresse. Kresse was a great rival and friend of McKillop's when he coached the Cougars as they made the leap into the Southern Conference.

Another intriguing scheduling note is the relative lack of games in the middle to end of Christmas break. Davidson will only play two December games after the completion of the semester which could prove to be beneficial. The Wildcats have historically struggled in mid-winter contests where the players are kept at an empty school and often play in front of sparse crowds.

Davidson seems to have drawn a tough straw for the month of February. In the month known as the doldrums of college basketball, the Wildcats will play all of last year's conference bye teams, face off against the reigning SoCon Player of the Year (Kyle Hines, UNCG) twice and travel somewhere to play a top mid-major team in the ESPN BracketBusters game.

On a final scheduling note, the SoCon championship game will be played on a Monday night instead the Saturday and Sunday times of the last few years.