Tigers' first tilt- home game in Preseason NIT

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Missouri basketball team will open its season at home Nov. 14 in Preseason NIT play against Sam Houston State, the university announced Saturday.

The winner of that game advances to play Drexel or Princeton on Nov. 17. Should Missouri advance beyond those two games, the team would head to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals.

The Tigers' 2005-06 schedule includes 27 regular-season games.

Missouri's nonconference schedule includes the annual Busch Braggin' Rights Game against Illinois on Dec. 21 in St. Louis and a game against Arkansas on Dec. 2 in Fayetteville, Ark.

The Tigers also host the Missouri-Kansas City on Nov. 29, the first meeting between the two schools from the University of Missouri system.

The Big 12 Conference portion of the season starts Jan. 7 as the Tigers host the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Missouri's schedule also includes home-and-home pool play of with Big 12 North schools, highlighted with the Border Showdown matchup in Columbia against rival Kansas on Jan. 16.

Four of Missouri's games are scheduled to appear on national television -- two on ESPN (Dec. 21 against Illinois and Jan. 16 against Kansas), and one each on CBS (Feb. 18 at Kansas) and ESPN2 (Feb. 1 against Texas).