MORGANTOWN - It's not quite the ideal non-conference schedule West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins is looking for, but it's inching closer to the goal.

WVU athletic officials released the majority of the Mountaineers' 2008-09 non-conference men's basketball schedule Thursday and it includes games against Ohio State, Mississippi and in tournament play against two of the following three teams: Iowa, Kansas State and Kentucky.

The scheduled also includes familiar foes in Marshall and Duquesne and a late-November date with Delaware State at the Charleston Civic Center.

There is one more game to be added to the slate, which is thought to be a potential matchup with NCAA tournament darling Davidson in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in December.

"We are striving for a more competitive non-conference schedule," Huggins said in a release. "We believe our schedule has enough balance to prepare us for a tough Big East schedule."

That Big East slate will include 16 games and won't be released until September. All told, the Mountaineers will play 30 regular-season games, plus for the second year in a row an exhibition against Beckley's Mountain State University to begin the season on Nov. 8.

The game with Ohio State is especially intriguing for several reasons. First, the two bordering state rivals have not played since 1996 and will square off in a game televised by CBS two days after Christmas in Columbus. The Buckeyes will return the game to Morgantown in 2009-10.

It also marks the first time Huggins has faced Ohio State since he lost two games to the Buckeyes when he was the head coach at Akron. In 16 years as the coach at Cincinnati, Huggins tried without success to get the Buckeyes to play the Bearcats.

MORGANTOWN - It's not quite the ideal non-conference schedule West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins is looking for, but it's inching closer to the goal.

WVU athletic officials released the majority of the Mountaineers' 2008-09 non-conference men's basketball schedule Thursday and it includes games against Ohio State, Mississippi and in tournament play against two of the following three teams: Iowa, Kansas State and Kentucky.

The scheduled also includes familiar foes in Marshall and Duquesne and a late-November date with Delaware State at the Charleston Civic Center.

There is one more game to be added to the slate, which is thought to be a potential matchup with NCAA tournament darling Davidson in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in December.

"We are striving for a more competitive non-conference schedule," Huggins said in a release. "We believe our schedule has enough balance to prepare us for a tough Big East schedule."

That Big East slate will include 16 games and won't be released until September. All told, the Mountaineers will play 30 regular-season games, plus for the second year in a row an exhibition against Beckley's Mountain State University to begin the season on Nov. 8.

The game with Ohio State is especially intriguing for several reasons. First, the two bordering state rivals have not played since 1996 and will square off in a game televised by CBS two days after Christmas in Columbus. The Buckeyes will return the game to Morgantown in 2009-10.

It also marks the first time Huggins has faced Ohio State since he lost two games to the Buckeyes when he was the head coach at Akron. In 16 years as the coach at Cincinnati, Huggins tried without success to get the Buckeyes to play the Bearcats.

The game at Mississippi - another that will be returned with a visit to Morgantown the following season - also has roots in Huggins' days in Cincinnati. The Rebels are coached by Andy Kennedy, who was a Huggins assistant and succeeded Huggins as interim coach when he was forced out at Cincinnati. The Bearcats did not hire Kennedy to the position full-time following his one season at the helm.

That game is Dec. 3 in Oxford, Miss.

The Las Vegas tournament parallels similar events in which the Mountaineers have played during recent seasons. West Virginia will play two home games and then advance to Las Vegas regardless of the outcome.

The Mountaineers play Longwood (Va.) at the Coliseum on Nov. 20 and then Delaware State at the Civic Center on Nov. 25 as part of the Las Vegas tournament, then go to Las Vegas for two games. It is believed WVU will face Iowa in the first game and then either Kansas State or Kentucky. Huggins was the coach at Kansas State for one season before coming to West Virginia last year.

The regular-season opener is Nov. 15 against Elon (N.C.). There are also home games against Cleveland State, Miami (Ohio) and the last of a three-game series with Radford. This year's game with Duquesne is Dec. 13 in Pittsburgh.

The date of the Marshall game is up in the air awaiting conference schedules, but will be either Jan. 13 or 14 at the Civic Center.

Reach Dave Hickman at 348-1734

or dphickm...@aol.com.