HARROGATE, Tenn. -- This is the first installment of a five-part series previewing the 2014-15 Lincoln Memorial men's basketball season. Part one examines the Railsplitters' schedule and opponents for the upcoming slate.
 
The 2014-15 men's basketball schedule features a total of 28 regular-season contests with six non-conference affairs and 22 South Atlantic Conference match-ups. Of those 28 games, 16 are scheduled to be hosted at Tex Turner Arena, where the Railsplitters are 58-5 since the start of the 2010-11 campaign.

{2014-15 LMU Men's Basketball season preview - Part One}
 
The Railsplitters kick off the season against Lees-McRae at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 14 in the first of two games comprising the SAC/Conference Carolinas Challenge, which is being hosted in Harrogate. LMU and Lees-McRae have not met since the 2011 season, when the Railsplitters captured a 100-62 win at Tex Turner and an 86-54 triumph in Banner Elk, N.C. The following afternoon, Lincoln Memorial takes to the floor to square off with the King Tornado for the sixth consecutive season. The Railsplitters are 9-0 all-time against the Tornado, who completed the 2013-14 season at 16-13 overall.
 
Following that opening weekend, the Railsplitters quickly turn their attention to South Atlantic Conference play, which begins in mid-November for the second straight year. Lincoln Memorial hosts Mars Hill on November 19 in the SAC lid lifter before hitting the road for a pair of early tests against Queens (11/22) and Anderson (11/25). Mars Hill finished 10th in the league in 2013-14 with a 5-17 conference mark, but Anderson and Queens both placed among the upper half of the SAC standings. Fans have regularly been treated to outstanding theater when the Railsplitters and Trojans clash, as Anderson has accounted for six of LMU's 18 total losses since the 2010-11 campaign. Lincoln Memorial topped Anderson 76-71 in the title game of the 2014 SAC Championship. Queens, boasting a roster that features six players listed at 6-6 or better, finished 14-13 overall in its inaugural SAC season.
 
The Railsplitters begin a five-game home stand after returning from Anderson, S.C., hosting Tennessee Wesleyan (11/29) and Ohio Midwestern (12/3) for a pair of non-conference tilts. Lincoln Memorial has not played the TWC Bulldogs in nearly 100 years as the last meeting between the two programs was in 1929. The Railsplitters hold a 4-0 mark all-time against Ohio Midwestern with the slimmest margin of defeat in those four head-to-head encounters being a dominant 79-46 victory on November 10, 2012.
 
That five game stay in Harrogate comes to a close with two SAC clashes and another non-conference bout as the Railsplitters welcome Coker (12/6), VU-Lynchburg (12/10) and Newberry (12/5) to tangle under the Tex Turner lights. The Coker Cobras completed the 2013-14 season at 11-11 in SAC play, and the Railsplitters accounted for two of those losses with a 21-point win in Hartsville, S.C. and a 14-point triumph in Harrogate. The run-and-gun offense of the Newberry Wolves compiled a 14-8 league mark last season, falling to the Railsplitters in the semifinals of the SAC Championship. Lincoln Memorial has defeated Newberry in eight of the last nine meetings, but the Wolves did score a 113-98 win on LMU's home turf in February, 2013. The Railsplitters' match-up with VU-Lynchburg will be the first in program history.
 
The Railsplitters complete the 2014 portion of the schedule in their final non-conference contest on December 21, traveling to Wise, Va. to play UVA-Wise. Lincoln Memorial defeated the Cavaliers handedly last season in 83-57 fashion, but UVA-Wise handed the Railsplitters an 81-80 overtime loss during the 2012-13 campaign.
 
After a 12-day layoff, the Railsplitters return from Christmas break to face a daunting stretch of South Atlantic Conference opponents. Lincoln Memorial treks to Lenoir-Rhyne (1/3), hosts Anderson (1/7) and travels to Wingate (1/10) for the first three contests of 2015. The Railsplitters will aim to extend an eight-game winning streak against the L-R Bears in Hickory, N.C., which has proven to be one of the toughest places to play in the league on a year-to-year basis. The Bears compiled a cumulative 19-4 mark at Shuford Gym over the last two seasons. After completing the regular-season series against the Trojans, the Railsplitters head to Wingate, N.C. for a match-up with the Bulldogs, winners of two of the last three SAC tournament titles.
 
Four of the next five games will hosted at Tex Turner Arena as the Railsplitters are set to go toe-to-toe with Tusculum (1/14), Queens (1/17), Catawba (1/24) and Brevard (1/28) wedged around a trip to Mars Hill on January 21. Four of the five opponents during that span finished among the bottom third of the league standings in 2013-14 as Tusculum suffered through a 3-25 mark, while Brevard was 4-22 and Catawba went 7-19.
 
The Railsplitters then complete the regular-season series with Coker on January 21, which is just a prelude to the first of two battles with the Carson-Newman Eagles. Lincoln Memorial hosts Carson-Newman on February 4 before heading to Jefferson City, Tenn. on February 25. The Eagles and Railsplitters have played three times apiece in each of the past two seasons as Lincoln Memorial eliminated Carson-Newman from the SAC Championship in 2013 and the NCAA Southeast Regional in 2014. The Eagles finished runner-up to the Railsplitters last season, compiling a 16-6 league mark.
 
Including that trip to Jefferson City, five of the Railsplitters' last seven games will be played on the road. Lincoln Memorial's road-heavy closing stretch rolls through Newberry (2/7), Tusculum (2/11), Brevard (2/18) and Catawba (2/28) for the regular-season finale. Between all of those road trips, the Railsplitters await Lenoir-Rhyne (2/14) and Wingate (2/12) to close out the home schedule. The Railsplitters are tentatively slated to celebrate Senior Day on February 21 in that bout against the Wingate Bulldogs.
 
The South Atlantic Conference Championship begins with quarterfinal action on March 4. The top eight teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the SAC tournament, with the top four teams hosting their respective quarterfinal match-up. The semifinals and the title game of the SAC Championship will be held at Furman's Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. March 7-8. The NCAA Southeast Regional is scheduled for March 13-16 at a yet to be determined location with the Elite Eight set to begin on March 24 in Evansville, Ind.
 
The second installment of the 2014-15 men's basketball preview, taking a look at the national prognostications, will be released on Tuesday.