Four days later on Saturday, November 2, the Bulldogs will host Division III's DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana for their second and final exhibition contest before the games start counting for real.
Butler will be completely exposed to a national audience all season long in its first year as a member of the Big East conference. The regular season starts off with two straight games on Fox Sports 2, with the regular season/home opener with Lamar on Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m. and Princeton one week later on November 16 at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs continue their three-game opening spree at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the SEC's Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday, November 19 at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
Before heading to Lake Buena Vista, Florida for the Old Spice Classic at ESPN's Wide World of Sports, Butler heads up I-69 to Muncie, Indiana to face the improved Ball State Cardinals at Worthen Arena at 2 p.m. on Nov. 23.The ESPN networks will showcase the Old Spice Classic from November 28-December 1. The Bulldogs open up with a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Washington State Cougars on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Their second Old Spice game will be against either #12 Oklahoma State or Purdue. Others that Butler could meet up with are LSU, Siena, Saint Joseph's and #13 Memphis.
The week following, Butler returns home where they'll play three games in Indianapolis before ending their semester and starting their first season in the Big East conference. Home dates with North Dakota (Dec. 7) and Manchester (Dec. 9) on Fox Sports 1 will be offensive tune-ups.
On December 14, Butler faces Purdue in what could be their second meeting in just over two weeks. The two are the second game in the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. The Bulldogs and Boilermakers will be a 6 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network.
The only game, aside from their game at Ball State, that isn't currently slated to be televised, is December 21st at Evansville.
The Bulldogs get back into things on Fox Sports 2 to host NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) on December 28 at 1 p.m. They'll follow that up with a New Year's Eve game in the Big East opener at Hinkle Fieldhouse vs. the Villanova Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.
January and February are the meat and potatoes of Butler's schedule and will truly be a test of how they will survive in their first season in the Big East conference.
Ringing in the new year in conference play, they'll hit the road to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the Xavier Musketeers on Fox Sports National on January 4 at 2 p.m. Butler will have three more road tests in January, with all three in unfamiliar territory. Road games at Creighton (Jan. 14), Providence (Jan. 21) and Seton Hall (Jan. 29) will at be televised on Fox Sports 1.Home games with DePaul (Jan. 9) and Georgetown (Jan. 11) will both be on Fox Sports 1. The home game with Marquette (Jan. 18) will be on CBS Sports Network and St. John's (Jan. 25) first trip to Indianapolis will be on Fox Sports National.
February starts off with huge games on the road at Marquette on Feb. 4 (Fox Sports 1) and Georgetown on Feb. 8 (CBS). Two straight home games will give Butler a little break after four of five on the road. Xavier on Feb. 11 (Fox Sports 1) and Creighton on Feb. 13 (CBS Sports Network) come to Hinkle for two games in three nights for the Bulldogs.
Butler will spend three of their final five games on the road and all five will be on Fox Sports 1. They'll make their first trips to St. John's (Feb. 18), Villanova (Feb. 26) and DePaul (Mar. 6), but will also play Providence (Feb. 23) and then Seton Hall (Mar. 8) to wrap up regular season play at home.
It's going to be a big step for the Big East, as they will be the focal content throughout the winter with the conference's new television home being Fox Sports 1 and 2.
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