Men's Basketball: 76 Classic Field Set
August 04, 2009 02:13 PM | General
August 4, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today the schedule of matchups for the 2009 76 Classic, to be held Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 26, 27 and 29, at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center, adjacent to Disneyland. The third-year event will include 12 games in three days and will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU.
The 76 Classic field includes eight teams: Butler, Clemson, Long Beach State, Minnesota, Portland, Texas A&M, UCLA and West Virginia. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format.
In the first round of action Thursday, Nov. 26, West Virginia opens the 76 Classic against Long Beach State at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT on ESPNU. The other three games will all be televised live on ESPN2, with Texas A&M taking on Clemson at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT, Minnesota facing Butler at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT, and Portland squaring off against UCLA at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT.
Seven of the eight teams reached the postseason in 2008-09, including six in the NCAA Tournament: UCLA and Texas 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; the EA Sports Maui Invitational has had seven postseason teams five times, most recently in 2004.
The two teams that remain undefeated throughout the tournament will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2. Complete matchups are listed below.
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.
| Date | Time | Matchup | Network |
| Nov 26 | 2 pm | West Virginia vs. Long Beach State | ESPNU |
| Nov 26 | 4:30 pm | Texas A&M vs. Clemson | ESPN2 |
| Nov 26 | 8:30 pm | Minnesota vs. Butler | ESPN2 |
| Nov 26 | 10:30 pm | UCLA vs. Portland | ESPN2 |
| Nov 27 | 2:30 pm | Game 5 | ESPN |
| Nov 27 | 5 pm | Game 6 | ESPNU |
| Nov 27 | 9:30 pm | Game 7 | ESPNU |
| Nov 27 | 11:30 pm | Game 8 | ESPNU |
| Nov 29 | 2:30 pm | Game 9 | ESPNU |
| Nov 29 | 5 pm | Game 10 | ESPN2 |
| Nov 29 | 7:30 pm | Game 11 | ESPNU |
| Nov 29 | 10 pm | Game 12 (Championship) | ESPN2 |
