ESPN Announces Matchups for 2008 Anaheim Classic; Six of Eight Teams Participated in 2007-08 Postseason

ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today the schedule of matchups for the 2008 Anaheim Classic, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the Anaheim Convention Center, adjacent to Disneyland. The second-year event will include 12 games in three days and will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The 2008 Anaheim Classic field includes eight teams: Arizona State, Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, Charlotte, Providence, St. Mary’s, UTEP and Wake Forest. Six of the eight teams earned postseason berths in 2007-08, with Baylor, Cal State Fullerton and St. Mary’s selected to the NCAA Tournament,  Charlotte playing in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and UTEP invited to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

At the Anaheim Classic, each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. In the first round of action, Thursday, Nov. 27, St. Mary’s of the WCC will take on UTEP of C-USA; Wake Forest of the ACC will face Cal State Fullerton of the Big West; Arizona State of the PAC-10 and Charlotte of the Atlantic Ten will square off; while Providence of the BIG EAST will close out the competition for the day by taking on Baylor of the Big 12.

“We’re pleased to have such a competitive field and outstanding pairings in our second season of the Anaheim Classic,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Regional Television.

The two teams that remain undefeated throughout the tournament will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 30, at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2. Complete matchups are listed below. 

The Big West Conference again will serve as the host for the Anaheim 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 Anaheim Classic was played in 2007 with USC defeating Southern Illinois in the championship game, 70-45. USC freshman O.J. Mayo earned Most Outstanding Player honors by averaging 18.0 points per game in the Trojans’ three victories.

Tickets to the 2008 Anaheim Classic will go on sale Monday, Aug. 18, at www.Ticketmaster.com or by calling (714) 704-2000. Packages include all 12 games for $75 or single session tickets for $15. Special travel package information can be found by going to www.GETTRAVEL.com. 

Additional information can be found on the Anaheim Classic Web site at, www.anaheimclassic.com. For more information on Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU Tournament Schedule

(Home team listed second; Cal State Fullerton will be home team in each of its games)

Date                   Time (ET/PT)                     Game                                                              Network

Thu., Nov 27   2 p.m. / 11 a.m.                  St. Mary’s vs. UTEP (Game 1)                           ESPNU

                         4:30 p.m. / 1:30 p.m.           Wake Forest vs. CS-Fullerton (Game 2)        ESPN2                                     9 p.m. / 6 p.m.                    Arizona State vs. Charlotte (Game 3)              ESPNU

                          11:30 p.m. / 8:30 p.m.         Providence vs. Baylor (Game 4)                     ESPN2

Fri., Nov 28      3:30 p.m. / 12:30 p.m.      Game #5 (Game 1 vs. Game 2 winners)        ESPNU

                          6 p.m. / 3 p.m.                    Game #6 (Game 1 vs. Game 2 losers)           ESPNU

                          10 p.m. / 7 p.m.                  Game #7 (Game 3 vs. Game 4 losers)           ESPNU

                          *12:30 a.m. / 9:30 p.m.     Game #8 (Game 3 vs. Game 4 winners)        ESPN2

                                  (Note: Game 8 begins at 12:30 am ET on Sat., Nov. 30 / 9:30 p.m. PT on Fri., Nov. 29)

Sun., Nov 30   3 p.m. / Noon                     Game #9 (7th/8th Place)                                      ESPNU

                          5:30 p.m. / 2:30 p.m.        Game #10 (4th/6th Place)                                    ESPNU

                          8 p.m. / 5 p.m.                    Game #11 (3rd/5th Place)                                   ESPNU

                          10:30 p.m. / 7:30 p.m.      Game #12 (Champion/2nd Place)                     ESPN2

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership

The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 900 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; The Home Depot College Football Awards; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge; the New Mexico Bowl; the Papajohns.com Bowl; the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl; the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl; and the St Petersburg Bowl; collegiate basketball events: the Anaheim Classic (Calif.); the Charleston Classic (S.C.); the Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); the O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City); the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters; and the SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit www.espnplus.com.

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