MIAMI (Sept. 5, 2019) - After last week's release of the non-conference slate for the FIU men's basketball team, Head Coach Jeremy Ballard and the Panthers announced the 2020 Conference USA schedule on Thursday. 

For the web version of the schedule, click here. All times are currently TBA and will be released at a later date. 

"We are excited about the immense challenge that this season's conference schedule presents for our program," Head Coach Jeremy Ballard said. "I feel strongly that the depth of quality teams in Conference USA is as strong as it's been in recent memory. We look forward to hopefully continuing to make major strides in being successful in conference play."

The Panthers finished with 10 league wins last season, which was the most C-USA victories in program history and most conference wins overall since FIU's time in the Sun Belt in 2012-13. 

FIU begins 2020 with a Texas two-step, as the Panthers host UTEP (Jan. 2) and UTSA (Jan. 4) to open the C-USA slate. The Panthers keep the Texas theme for the following weekend, as FIU hits the Lone Star State to face North Texas (Jan. 9) and Rice (Jan. 11). FIU returns to Miami the next weekend against UAB (Jan. 16) and Middle Tennessee (Jan. 18), before heading up the Atlantic seaboard to face defending C-USA champion Old Dominion (Jan. 23) and Charlotte (Jan. 25) on the road. 

The Blue & Gold tips off a three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 30 against Marshall, before welcoming WKU on Saturday, Feb. 1 and Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Panthers return the favor on Saturday, Feb. 8 as FIU makes the short trip to Boca Raton to play FAU to cap a back-to-back series against the Owls. FIU stays on the road to face Louisiana Tech (Feb. 13) and Southern Miss (Feb. 15) to close out the finalized C-USA slate. 

The final four games of the regular season will once again be decided at a later date under the C-USA Bonus Play model.
 
Within the format, the 14 league programs will play each other once and their travel partner twice in the first seven weeks of the conference season. At the conclusion of the seven weeks, teams will be placed in one of three groups based on conference standings through the first 14 games of league action. The teams will be divided into two groups of five (1-5 and 6-10) and a group of four (11-14). During the final three weeks, teams will play within their respective grouping for the last four games of conference play. Home and away games within the groups will be determined by a preset formula.
 
Once all 18 games have been completed, the top 12 teams based on final league standings will be seeded in the conference tournament. Teams will be guaranteed seeding within their respective group. For example, if a program lands in the second group (6-10), it will seed no higher than six and no lower than 10 in the tournament field.

The 2020 C-USA Basketball Championships will take place March 11-14, once again hosted by the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

The 2018-19 season was one of the most successful in school history for the FIU men's basketball program, as head coach Jeremy Ballard led the squad to a 20-win season in just his first year with the Panthers. FIU advanced to its second postseason appearance in program history and its first since taking part in the 1995 NCAA Tournament against UCLA, as the Panthers earned the program's first postseason win after downing Texas State in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. 

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