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Basketball Is Back! And the ‘Fans’ Await

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Cardboard cutouts of fans in stands.
The seats are already filling up ahead of the first basketball games of the season. (Tze Kiu Wan/51ԹϺ Davis)

The “fans” are in the stands for the return of Aggie basketball, Wednesday (Nov. 25), 3 p.m. tipoff in The Pavilion at the ARC, a women’s preseason game against the University of San Francisco.

The women’s team, four-time defending Big West Conference champion, will play another preseason game Saturday (Nov. 28), 2 p.m. vs. Simpson; and the Aggie men will play their first home game Friday, Dec. 4, a preseason matchup with William Jessup, tipoff 4 p.m.

Those fans are photos on cardboard — the , about 350 in number. As more fans sign up, their cutouts will take their seats with the rest of the crew. Faculty and staff can buy their first two cutouts for $40 each by starting the order process here: (enter Promo Code STAFFCUTOUTS).

As you might have guessed, the Big West Conference board of directors ordered all teams to begin the season without fans, because of the pandemic. The board indicated it will revisit the issue as the season progresses.

Here’s how to follow the action (and see the Aggie Cutout Crew on TV or the internet):

  • Video — Nonconference home games and all conference games, home or away, will be on . For nonconference away games, check the or the for the streaming information.
  • Audio — Men’s home games will rotate among three radio stations, KHTK 1140 AM, Money 105.5 FM and AM 1380 The Answer, depending on their other programming. Women’s home games will be on KDVS 90.3 FM. Radio for men’s and women’s road games is to be determined, depending on COVID-19 restrictions at the host schools. Check the or the for the latest information. Also check the schedule pages for internet links.
Basketball players show off their championship rings.
Aggies show off their 2020 Big West Conference championship rings, presented earlier this month. The faces you can see, from left: Cierra Hall, Makaila Sanders, Campbell Gray, Sage Stobbart, Kayla Konrad and Megan Jones. (Gregory Urquiaga/51ԹϺ Davis)

Near-term schedules

The Aggie women’s preseason will include three games at home: San Francisco, 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 25; Simpson University, 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 28; and Northern Arizona, 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20. The women’s team will open conference play Sunday-Monday, Dec. 27-28, hosting CSU Bakersfield (times to be announced) in a new conference format that has teams playing back-to-back games at one school or the other to limit travel during the pandemic.

The Aggie men’s preseason schedule includes only one home game: William Jessup, 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4. The men’s first conference games at home will be Friday-Saturday, Jan. 1-2, vs. 51ԹϺ Riverside (times to be announced).

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