Aggies to Open 76 Classic Against Clemson on ESPN2
Aug 04, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 4, 2009
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Texas A&M will face Atlantic Coast Conference contender Clemson in the first round of the 76 Classic on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) at the Anaheim Convention Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (PT)/3:30 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
The eight-team field also includes Butler, Long Beach State, Minnesota, Portland, UCLA and West Virginia. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. All 12 games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
In other first-round action, West Virginia plays Long Beach State, Minnesota faces Butler, and Portland squares off against UCLA. The Aggies will play either West Virginia or Long Beach State on Nov. 27 in the second round. If A&M beats Clemson, its second-round game will be televised by ESPN.
Seven of the eight teams reached the postseason in 2008-09, including six in the NCAA Tournament: UCLA and A&M advanced to the second round, while Butler, Clemson, Minnesota and West Virginia were also in the field. No eight-team, regular-season tournament has ever had more than seven postseason teams from the previous year. The 2008 Old Spice Classic also had seven, while the EA Sports Maui Invitational has had seven postseason teams five times.
The two teams that remain undefeated throughout the tournament will play for the championship on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. (PT)/9 p.m. (CT) on ESPN2. The Big West Conference again will serve as the host for the 76 Classic at the 7,800-seat Anaheim Convention Center, which has served the conference for the past eight years as the site of its postseason tournament.
The inaugural 76 Classic (then called the Anaheim Classic) was played in 2007, with USC defeating Southern Illinois in the championship game. In 2008, Wake Forest captured the title by taking down Baylor in the championship game.
Tickets to the 2009 76 Classic will go on sale in early September, at www.Ticketmaster.com or by calling (714) 704-2000. Packages include all 12 games for $90 or single-session tickets for $20. Special travel package information can be found at www.GETTRAVEL.com.
Additional information can be found on the 76 Classic Web site at, www.76classic.com. For more information on Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com.
76 Classic Schedule (Home team listed second; Long Beach State will be home team in each of its games)
|
Date |
Time (ET/PT) |
Matchup |
Network |
|
Thu, Nov 26 |
2 p.m. / 11 a.m. |
West Virginia vs. Long Beach State (Game 1) |
ESPNU |
|
|
4:30 p.m. / 1:30 p.m. |
Texas A&M vs. Clemson (Game 2) |
ESPN2 |
|
|
8:30 p.m. / 5:30 p.m. |
Minnesota vs. Butler (Game 3) |
ESPN2 |
|
|
10:30 p.m. / 7:30 p.m. |
UCLA vs. Portland (Game 4) |
ESPN2 |
|
Fri, Nov 27 |
2:30 p.m. / 11:30 a.m. |
Game 5 |
ESPN |
|
|
5 p.m. / 2 p.m. |
Game 6 |
ESPNU |
|
|
9:30 p.m. / 6:30 p.m. |
Game 7 |
ESPNU |
|
|
11:30 p.m. / 8:30 p.m. |
Game 8 |
ESPNU |
|
Sun, Nov 29 |
2:30 p.m. / 11:30 a.m. |
Game 9 |
ESPNU |
|
|
5 p.m. / 2 p.m. |
Game 10 |
ESPN2 |
|
|
7:30 p.m. / 4:30 p.m. |
Game 11 |
ESPNU |
|
|
10 p.m. / 7 p.m. |
Game 12 (Championship Game) |
ESPN2 |
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. - SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); ESPNU Road to the Championship (Women; San Antonio); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; All-College Classic (Oklahoma City) and ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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