The Oakland Golden Grizzlies had their first ever Fan Fest today at the O’Rena to prep for the new horizon of the university.  The Grizzlies will host their first ever Horizon League game on Friday, September 6 when the men’s soccer team hosts Valparaiso.

Athletic Director Tracy Huth welcomed the crowd and first announced that interim women’s head basketball coach Jeff Tungate would become the full-time head coach of the team.  Tungate was an associate head coach of Greg Kampe on the men’s side for six seasons before being named the interim head coach of the women’s team on June 12.

Tungate took some lessons from his old boss with the schedule this upcoming season as the Golden Grizzlies will take on Tennessee (11/24), Indiana (11/9), Minnesota (12/29) and Michigan State (12/15) all on the road while hosting Miami (11/19) and Central Florida (11/12) at the O’Rena.  Tungate had this to say about the schedule:

This is obviously a very challenging schedule.  We play some of the nation’s elite programs in some of the nation’s top venues. We also have a very exciting home schedule for all of our fans to come see us in the O’rena, not to mention the excitement surrounding our first year in the Horizon League. I am really looking forward to the 2013-14 season.

As for the men, their schedule isn’t a cake walk either with two former number one ranked teams from last season in Indiana and Gonzaga.  OU starts the season at North Carolina, then UCLA, California and then Gonzaga.

But the biggest game/series for OU this season will be with new division rival, the Detroit Mercy Titans.  The Golden Grizzlies will head to Detroit on Saturday, January 11.  Detroit then returns to the O’Rena on February 14, Valentine’s Day.  This game will be televised on ESPN and will create many debates in the area, at least in my house.

I think that Oakland will be very successful in their inaugural season in the Horizon League across all sports, not just basketball.  What do you think fans, will Oakland make the state proud or struggle in the new Horizon League?  Let us know at DetroitSportsBloggers.com or on Facebook and Twitter.