The release of the conference schedule is never as much fun as the nonconference schedule. You know who you’re playing. All that’s new are the dates.

Still, here are a few nuggets from SLU’s conference schedule:

I’ve been lobbying for years for the A-10 to have travel partners, or at least package some trips together, especially for SLU, which has a long way to go. I don’t know if it was a farewell gift from Ray Cella, who has handled the conference scheduling in the past, or just an accident, but SLU caught some breaks on the schedule.

They play at GW on Jan. 27, then at Richmond on Jan. 30. It seems very probable that the team would stay on the road for those games and make it one long trip rather than two short trips. And SLU plays at La Salle on Feb. 6 and at St. Joe’s on Feb. 9. That’s a gimme to stay over on, since the St. Joe’s game is on a Tuesday.

There’s one ESPN game, vs. Dayton on Feb. 13, on ESPNU, and one CBS College Sports national game, at Charlotte on Jan. 17. Five games are on CBSCS regional, and those games are likely to be picked up by somebody in the St. Louis market to broadcast.

Weekend games are more likely to be televised than weeknight games, because it’s easier to clear that time if it’s an over-the-air broadcast. Now that the schedule is out and the networks have picked their games, SLU AD Chris May can now finalize a TV deal. The school is hoping to have more games on the air this season, and the league is making it easier for teams to put together local packages.

And there could be another home game. Remember that starting this season, the first round of the conference tournament will be played at campus sites rather than at Atlantic City. If a team finishes 1 through 4, it goes straight to Atlantic City. If it finishes 5 through 8, it hosts a first-round game at home. If it finishes 9 through 12, it starts on the road. If it finishes 13 or 14, we have lovely parting gifts. (Not really.) SLU’s final regular-season game is at Dayton, and the first playoff game is Tuesday, so it’s likely that if SLU was starting on the road, it would go straight there.

Here’s the rest of the schedule:

Sat. Jan. 9 vs. Richmond

Wed. Jan. 13 at Duquesne

Sun. Jan. 17 at Charlotte CBSCS

Wed. Jan. 20 vs. Fordham

Wed. Jan. 27 at George Washington

Sat. Jan. 30 at Richmond CBSCS Regional

Wed. Feb. 3 vs. St. Bonaventure

Sat. Feb. 6 at La Salle CBSCS Regional

Tue. Feb. 9 at St. Joseph’s CBSCS Regional

Sat. Feb. 13 vs. Dayton ESPNU

Wed. Feb. 17 vs. Rhode Island CBSCS Regional

Sun. Feb. 21 at Massachusetts

Wed. Feb. 24 vs. Xavier

Sat. Feb. 27 vs. Duquesne

Wed. Mar. 3 vs. Temple

Sat. Mar. 6 at Dayton CBSCS Regional

Tue. Mar. 9 First round, A-10 tournament, at campus sites

Fri. Mar. 12-Sun. Mar. 14, A-10 tournament at Atlantic City

CBSCS - CBS College Sports

All start times TBA