Dec. 2, 2008
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Texas A&M men's basketball team will play in the 76 Classic set for Nov. 26-29, 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center adjacent to Disneyland.
The 12-game, bracketed collegiate basketball tournament features eight schools. Tournament pairings and game times will be announced at a later date.
The field includes teams from eight conferences: Texas A&M (Big 12), UCLA (Pac-10), West Virginia (Big East) Long Beach State (Big West), Clemson (ACC), Butler (Horizon), Minnesota (Big 10) and Portland (West Coast). Five of the eight teams earned berths in the 2008 NCAA Tournament: Texas A&M, UCLA, West Virginia, Clemson and Butler.
The Aggies played two games in Anaheim in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, defeating BYU in the first round and falling to UCLA in the second round. A&M also played UCLA in the 1007 Wooden Classic. All three of those games were played at the Honda Center.
"Once again, an outstanding field will represent conferences from around the country for the 76 Classic," said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Regional Television. "The Anaheim Classic showcases quality competition and an outstanding off-court experience for the student-athletes, coaches and staff. Fans will have an opportunity to spend the Thanksgiving weekend watching college basketball and enjoying Disneyland, along with all Southern California has to offer."
The Big West Conference again serves as the host for the Anaheim Classic at the 7,800-seat Anaheim Convention Center, which has served the conference for the past nine years as the site of its postseason tournament. The 76 Classic features four games each day, with the two undefeated teams competing in the championship game on ESPN2 on the final day.
Along with the 76 Classic, ESPN Regional Television stages four other eight-team exempt basketball events: the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan; the Old Spice Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports near Orlando; the Charleston Classic in South Carolina; and the newly created Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, set to debut in 2009.
Tickets for the 2009 76 Classic are expected to go on sale next summer. For more information, visit the official Web site: http://76CLASSIC.com.
ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership The nation's largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. - BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several other sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl; New Mexico Bowl; Papajohns.com Bowl; Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl; Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl; St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney; and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); O'Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; and the ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit www.espnplus.com. - ESPN contact: Jenny Zimmerman, at (407) 566-2213 or jennifer.j.zimmerman@espn.com