The Saints Francis mens basketball team, which has gone to the NAIA national tournament three straight years, will open the 2012-13 season at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Nov. 22.
The Cougars, who finished last season ranked 19th and were 23-13 after losing in the national quarterfinals, will play a 29-game regular season schedule that includes six games against teams that finished last season ranked in the top 25, all of which were Division III championship qualifiers.
The ranked teams to be played include: No. 12 Grace (Jan. 12, Feb. 9), No. 13 IU Southeast (Dec. 5), No. 15 Warner (Dec. 17), No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan (Jan. 15, Feb. 5), No. 18 Marian (Jan. 10, Feb. 12) and No. 21 Indiana Tech (Nov. 13, Nov. 24).
Cougars coach Chad LaCross enters his third season with three full-time starters returning in junior Scott Kohne of Bishop Dwenger (12.2 points per game), senior Ethan Hussey (9.8 ppg) and sophomore Seth Small (5.3 ppg).