Field Announced for O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on ESPN2 and ESPNU

CELEBRATION, Fla. – Eight conferences will be represented in one of the most diverse lineups of the college basketball season when ESPN Regional Television (ERT) and ESPNU presents the 2007 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in November. The tournament, presented in conjunction with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, will feature 12 games at the state-of-the-art Coliseo de Puerto Rico, in the cosmopolitan Hato Rey district of San Juan.

The tournament will be held the week before Thanksgiving, with the opening games set for Thursday, Nov. 15. Second-round games will be played Friday, Nov. 16, and the finals and championship game will be played Sunday, Nov. 18.

The inaugural field will represent eight major conferences, including the ACC (University of Miami), Big East (Providence), Atlantic 10 (Temple), Colonial (Virginia Commonwealth), Southern (College of Charleston), Conference USA (Houston), the SEC (Arkansas), and MAAC (Marist). 

“We are very excited to bring men’s college basketball to Puerto Rico in November,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager of ERT. “The combination of eight quality basketball teams and this wonderful setting will make the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off truly a one-of-a-kind sporting event.”

For its inaugural year, sponsors for the Tip-Off will include the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The tournament will be the first of three ESPN Regional Television college basketball events in November.

The other two, the Old Spice Classic and Anaheim Classic, will be held during Thanksgiving weekend. Tickets will go on sale to the public for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Oct. 15, and will be available through Ticket Pop at www.ticketpop.com or by calling 866-994-0001.

All 12 games of the Tip-Off will be shown on ESPN2 or ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network.

Additional information on the tournament can be found on the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Web site at, www.PuertoRicoTipOff.com.

Follow the Action on ESPNU and ESPN2

Each game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off will be televised live on an ESPN network. ESPNU will cover the lion’s share of the tournament with ESPN2 showing the final two games in prime time on Sunday, Nov. 18.

ESPNU is a 24-hour college sports network that was launched on March 4, 2005. The network featured more than 500 live events in its first year. Action consists of live sporting events, SportsCenter U, and other collegiate sports programming. In addition, ESPNU.com, the online companion to ESPNU that functions as an online home for college sports multi-media content, was launched in August 2006.

Schedule of games for 2007 O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off:

All times are Eastern and subject to change.

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 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, Western Athletic).

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several other sporting events, including the Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl; the Papajohns.com Bowl; the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl; the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Football Classic; the National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway; and collegiate basketball events including the Spartan Clash (Auburn Hills, Mich.); the O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City, Okla.); the Old Spice Classic (Orlando, Fla.).

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