NCAA Final Four Participant Memphis Leads Stellar Field for Second Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Eight conferences will be represented in one of the most diverse lineups of the college basketball season when ESPN Regional Television (ERT) and ESPNU present the 2008 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 2008 field includes Xavier (Atlantic 10), Virginia Tech (ACC), USC (Pac-10), Missouri (Big 12), Seton Hall (BIG EAST), Fairfield (MAAC), UT-Chattanooga (Southern) and Memphis (Conference USA). Four of the teams in the lineup participated in postseason play, including three 2008 NCAA tournament teams: Memphis, Xavier and USC; and one NIT team: Virginia Tech.

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

Memphis finished the 2007-08 season ranked No. 2 in the nation after nearly capturing a perfect regular season at 37-1. The Tigers played for the national championship, losing to No. 1 Kansas, 75-68.

Xavier, which won the Atlantic 10 championship, also finished 2007-08 in The Associated Press Top 25, ranked No. 8 with a 30-7 record. The Musketeers entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed and made it to the tournament’s Elite Eight, but lost to UCLA 76-57. The USC Trojans, who were a No. 6 seed, lost to Kansas State in the opening round.

Virginia Tech advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament, losing to Ole Miss, 81-72. The Hokies finished the season 21-14.

The 2008 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, hosted by the BIG EAST Conference, will be held the week before Thanksgiving, with the opening games set for Thursday, Nov. 20. Second-round games will be played Friday, Nov. 21, and the finals and championship game will be played Sunday, Nov. 23. All 12 games of the Tip-Off will be shown on ESPN2 or ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network.

In the inaugural year of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off, the Miami Hurricanes rallied from a 22-18 halftime deficit to beat the Providence Friars 64-58 and win the championship.

The tournament will be one of four ESPN Regional Television college basketball events in November, along with the newly created Charleston Classic, Nov. 14-16 in South Carolina; the Old Spice Classic, Nov. 27-30 at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.; and the Anaheim Classic, Nov. 27-30 in California.   

Tickets for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off – starting at $10 per session and $99 for the entire tournament – will go on sale to the public Sept. 1 and will be available through Ticket Pop at www.ticketpop.com or by calling 1-866-994-0001.

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

2008 Schedule:

All times are subject to change.

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 most 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 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.

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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