August 5, 2010

ESPN Announces Matchups for Fourth Annual 76 Classic

ESPN Regional Television announced today the first-round matchups for the 2010 76 Classic, to be held Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 25, 26 and 28, at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center, adjacent to Disneyland. The fourth-year event will include 12 games in three days and will be telecast on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The 76 Classic field features DePaul (Big East), Murray State (Ohio Valley), Cal State Northridge (Big West),  Oklahoma State (Big 12), Stanford (Pac-10), Tulsa (CUSA), UNLV (Mountain West) and Virginia Tech (ACC). Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format.

Five of the eight teams in the field reached the postseason in 2009-10, including three in the NCAA Tournament: Murray State advanced to the second round, while Oklahoma State and UNLV were first-round participants in the field of 65 teams. Tulsa (first round) and Virginia Tech (quarterfinals) both participated in the National Invitation Tournament.

In the first round of action Thursday, Nov. 25, Virginia Tech will take on Cal State Northridge, Oklahoma State takes on DePaul, Stanford faces Murray State and UNLV squares off against Tulsa. The complete schedule is below.

The 2010 76 Classic will feature 12 games through three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated will face off in a championship game Sunday, Nov. 28, at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on ESPN2.

The Big West Conference again will serve as the host for the 76 Classic at the 7,500-seat Anaheim Convention Center, which has served the conference for the past nine years as the site of its postseason tournament.

The inaugural 76 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.  In 2009 West Virginia, an eventual NCAA Final Four participant, defeated Portland for the championship. The 2009 76 Classic field also included Butler, which went on to the NCAA national championship game against Duke.

Tickets to the 2010 76 Classic will go on sale Monday, Aug. 16, and can be purchased at www.Ticketmaster.com or by calling 714-704-3000. 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 website, www.76classic.com. For more information on Disneyland Resort, visit www.disneyland.com.

2010 76 Classic Schedule

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

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, WAC).

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); Birmingham Bowl; MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Texas Bowl (Houston); 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.); Cancun Governor’s Cup; Charleston Classic (S.C.); DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters; as well as the new ESPNU Warrior Classic (Lacrosse) and the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

Media Contacts
Tim Simmons, Media Coordinator, (303) 678-8484 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Jenny Zimmerman, ESPN Communications, 407-566-2213 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it