Aug. 1, 2009
2009-10 Texas A&M Women's Basketball Schedule in PDF Format 
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - With four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances including back-to-back trips to the Sweet 16, Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair looks to continue the strong postseason tradition in Aggieland by assembling yet another challenging schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 women's basketball season.
Highlighted by a marquee season-opening game against perennial power Duke on Nov. 15, the Aggies will put their home court success rate to the test with 14 regular-season matchups at Reed Arena. A&M has won an unprecedented 92 percent (57-5) of its home games over the last four years under Blair. The Blue Devils are one of 15 teams on the slate to have reached postseason play a year ago and among six to receive a top four NCAA Tournament seed.
"This is one of the strongest and balanced schedules we've put together," said Blair who enters his seventh season with the Aggies. "We continue to play the top teams in the country to challenge and position ourselves well for postseason play. Every game is important. We finished fifth in the RPI last season for a reason. We earned a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed over teams with a better record than us, because we played the tougher schedule."
A&M will host former Southwest Conference rival Rice on Nov. 18, Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 2, North Texas on Dec. 8, Prairie View A&M on Dec. 28 and Lamar on Jan. 4 to round out its non-conference home slate. The Aggies will return home-and-home dates with travel to Auburn on Nov. 22, TCU on Dec. 12 and women's basketball hotbed New Mexico on Dec. 30. In addition, they will participate in two fall tournaments including the Colliers International Classic on Dec. 5-6 in Berkeley, Calif., and the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 19-20 in Las Vegas. They will face Southern Illinois on Dec. 5 and either host Cal or Colorado State on Dec. 6 in Berkeley, Calif., while they prepare for an NCAA Sweet 16 rematch with Arizona State on Dec. 19 and NCAA Tournament participant Gonzaga on Dec. 20 in Las Vegas.
The Aggies, who signed the eighth-best recruiting class in the nation according to ESPN HoopGurlz, will also face two of the nation's top-rated recruiting classes in Cal and Baylor. In fact, five of A&M's non-conference and conference opponents reached the Sweet 16 or better including Cal, ASU, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Baylor.
A&M commences Big 12 Conference play with the first edition of the State Farm Lone Star Showdown with archrival Texas on Jan. 9 in Austin followed by home matchups with Iowa State on Jan. 13, Texas Tech on Jan. 23, Oklahoma State on Jan. 31, Missouri on Feb. 3, Kansas State on Feb. 13, Texas on Feb. 20, Baylor on Feb. 22 and Oklahoma on March 2. Road dates include Oklahoma on Jan. 17, Baylor on Jan. 27, Nebraska on Feb. 6, Texas Tech on Feb. 10, Oklahoma State on Feb. 17, Colorado on Feb. 27 and Kansas on March 6 in the regular-season finale.
"The type of non-conference schedule we are playing early, prepares us well for league play," Blair said. "In return, the Big 12 schedule prepares us for the NCAA Tournament. We open up the season on the road at Texas and finish up on the road at Postseason WNIT runner-up Kansas, two of the early favorites to win the Big 12 this year. Our conference schedule is always challenging and we are excited to have the opportunity to play in front of a national audience once again with the league's second-ever ESPN2 Big Monday women's basketball game against Baylor at home."
The 2010 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship will be held on March 11-14 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, while the 2010 NCAA Women's Final Four will be held on April 4 & 6 in nearby San Antonio, Texas. Additional televised games, exhibition games and game times will be announced at a later date.