The Gophers Men’s Basketball team, coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons, released their schedule for the 2009-10 season.

Announced today in a press release by Gophersports, Tubby Smith’s Gophers play a total of 30 games; 12 against non-conference opponents and 18 against Big Ten competition.

Starting off the season are two exhibition games, against Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 5 and Minnesota State-Moorhead on Nov. 9. Both games are at Williams Arena.

Minnesota kicks off its regular season at home on Nov. 13 against Tennessee Tech. Two more non-conference opponents await the Gophers at Williams Arena before they head off to Anaheim, Calif.; sight of the 76 Classic.

The Classic will provide Minnesota with its first true test of the season, with a first-round matchup against 2008 NCAA Tournament team Butler. The winner of that game faces the winner of UCLA vs. Portland in the second round.

The Gophers finish out the non-conference portion of the schedule with home games against St. Joseph’s, Northern Illinois and South Dakota State.

Minnesota begins Big Ten conference play Dec. 29 against Penn State at Williams Arena. The Gophers play NCAA Tournament Runner-Up Michigan State twice, with the first game Jan. 13 in East Lansing. Minnesota faces Tom Izzo’s squad at Williams Arena on Jan. 23, with that game broadcast nationally on CBS.

Other key conference games for the Gophers include: Jan. 5 at Purdue, Jan. 9 vs. Ohio State, Jan. 26 vs. Northwestern, Feb. 18 vs. Wisconsin (the lone game against the Badgers in the 2009-10 season) and Feb. 24 vs. Purdue. Minnesota concludes its regular season March 7 at home against Iowa.

The Big Ten tournament runs from March 11-14, and the NCAA Tournament begins play March 18.