The Big East Conference and UConn Huskies men’s basketball program have released their 2012-13 schedule. The schedule features 18 home games (16 regular season, two exhibition).

Here’s the full release from UConn:

STORRS, Conn. – The first-ever NCAA regular season game to be played in Europe kicks off a challenging 2012-13 schedule for the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team.

UConn Huskies Men's BasketballThe Huskies will open their season by playing in the inaugural Armed Forces Classic, squaring off against perennial national power Michigan State, on Nov. 9 at Ramstein Air Base, a U.S. Air Force base located in the southwest portion of Germany. The game will be televised live in the United States by ESPN, one of 14 national television appearances by UConn on the ESPN family of networks this season.

The Huskies will also participate in the 2012 Paradise Jam at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in the Jimmy V Classic at New York’s Madison Square Garden as part of their 30-game slate. Besides its usual 18 games in the BIG EAST Conference, UConn will meet two opponents from the ACC and one from each of the Big Ten and Pac-12.

The Huskies will have an 18-game home schedule, including two exhibition games, with eight games at Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs campus and 10 at the XL Center in Hartford. Highlighting the home slate is the final appearance by Syracuse as a BIG EAST Conference opponent. The Orange will leave the conference following the 2012-13 season.

Besides Syracuse, UConn will face BIG EAST foes DePaul, Louisville, Rutgers, USF, Villanova, Cincinnati, Georgetown and Providence at home, while going on the road to meet Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, DePaul, Cincinnati and USF.

In addition to the Armed Forces Classic, the Huskies’ non-conference schedule is highlighted by a return to the Paradise Jam, which UConn won in 2008. The Huskies begin the tournament, which runs from Nov. 16-19, against Wake Forest of the ACC, then take on either Iona or Quinnipiac in the tourney’s second game. UConn’s third Paradise Jam opponent will come from among New Mexico, George Mason, Mercer or Illinois-Chicago. UConn’s opening game in the tournament will be televised by the CBS Sports Network, with an announcement forthcoming on coverage of the remaining games.

UConn will challenge another ACC opponent on Dec. 4, when it meets North Carolina State in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden and will begin a series against Washington of the Pac-12 on Dec. 29 in Hartford. The remainder of the non-conference opponents include Vermont (11/13), Stony Brook (11/25), New Hampshire (11/29), Harvard (12/7), Maryland-Eastern Shore (12/17), and Fordham (12/21).

UConn will have at least 13 games against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season, raising that total to 14 should the Huskies meet New Mexico in the Paradise Jam.

2012-13 UConn Huskies Men’s Basketball Schedule

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