By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILWAUKEE - Marquette's next game after tonight will be a Conference USA road game Saturday against Southern Miss.

But the Golden Eagles won't have to travel very far, because the game will be played in Green Bay, even though it's Southern Miss' home game.

It's a move that has caused an uproar among the league's coaches who say it's not fair for Marquette to, in effect, gain an extra home game.

"For our league to do that is ridiculous," UC coach Bob Huggins said.

To see this happen in a year when the league went to a one-division format to make scheduling more equitable is even more troubling to some coaches.

"We were trying to make everyone have a level playing field," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "That wasn't accomplished. Now other teams are buying home games with promoters."

But Marquette coach Tom Crean says any anger being felt toward Marquette is misdirected, because it was Southern Miss that approached Marquette with the idea, ostensibly in the hope that Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, a Southern Miss product, would show up. Marquette reportedly will make $85,000 off the game.

"It's not like you walk into the office and say, 'I wonder if we can play Southern Miss in Green Bay this year,' " Crean said. "We were totally approached to do that. It was Southern Miss' decision."

NO RETURN: This will be UC's only game of the regular season against Marquette. There is no return engagement at Fifth Third Arena.

Due to the league's decision to move from two divisions to one, each school plays every other school once and three other so-called "mirror" schools on a home-and-home basis. UC's three mirror schools are Louisville, DePaul and Charlotte. Marquette's mirror games are against DePaul, Louisville and Saint Louis.

GAME-TIME DECISION: Sophomore Armein Kirkland (sprained left knee) practiced sparingly Tuesday. He made the trip to Milwaukee, and whether he plays tonight will be a game-time decision.

FAMILIAR FACE: Marquette trainer Jayd Grossman worked as UC's trainer for 10 years before leaving for the Golden Eagles this season.

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E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com