PHILADELPHIA (09/24/03) - A trip to Madison Square Garden to square-off with Gonzaga in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and a trans-American flight to face California in the Pete Newell Classic highlight a dynamic schedule for the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team in 2003-04 which features 15 games against teams that qualified for postseason play last year. Coming off a 23-7 season, in which the team captured its third straight Atlantic 10 regular season crown, won the Philadelphia Big Five title outright for the first time since 1980 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, expectations are at an all-time high for the Hawk program. Ranked in the preseason Top 25 in most publications, SJU returns 11 letterwinners and four starters, including National Player of the Year candidate Jameer Nelson (Chester, Pa./Chester) in the backcourt. "This team deserves to be on a national scene," relates ninth year head coach Phil Martelli. "We are going to be the biggest game of the year at some of the places we play at on the road this year. I am looking forward to the challenges that lurk on the schedule." Both NCAA qualifiers in 2003, the Zags and Golden Bears are joined by Boston University (NIT), Boston College (NIT), Delaware, Old Dominion, Pacific and San Francisco on the competitive non-conference slate. Locally, action on the Philadelphia City Series circuit will be as fierce as ever with Pennsylvania (NCAA), Drexel (NIT), Temple (NIT) and Villanova (NIT) all receiving postseason bids a year ago. "We always put the schedule in place with the idea of preparing ourselves for the Atlantic 10," states Martelli. A pair of Atlantic 10 Conference games with NCAA qualifiers Dayton and Xavier, as well as five meetings with WNIT qualifiers Temple, Richmond and Rhode Island present difficult challenges once the league portion of the schedule gets underway. In addition to the Owls and Rams SJU will play home-and-home series with eastern division rivals, Massachusetts, St. Bonaventure and Fordham. In the West, SJU will host Dayton, George Washington and La Salle and take on Duquesne, Richmond and Xavier on the road. "The Atlantic 10 will be a multiple [NCAA Tournament] bid league again. We will have teams in the Top 25 most of the year and that is a challenge," relates Martelli. "That is the right preparation if you want to play in March."