ESPN Announces 76 Classic Field for 2010, including 2009 NCAA Participants, NIT Champion Penn State
ANAHEIM, Calif. – ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN, announced here Friday the field for the 
fourth annual 76 Classic, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend in 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center adjacent to Disneyland. The 2010 76 Classic field will feature eight schools, including 2009 NCAA Tournament participants Cal State Northridge and Oklahoma State and 2009 NIT Champion Penn State.
In addition to Cal State Northridge (Big West Conference), Oklahoma State (Big 12) and Penn State (Big Ten), the 2010 participants are DePaul (Big East), Stanford (Pac-10), Tulsa (Conference USA), UNLV (Mountain West) and Virginia Tech (ACC).
The 76 Classic features four games each day through three days, Nov. 25, 26 and 28. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 28.
The eight schools in the 2010 76 Classic field have compiled a 28-9 mark to start the 2009-10 season, with Oklahoma State, Tulsa and UNLV receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll.
The 2010 76 Classic field combined for a 161-112 record during the 2008-09 season. Joining Penn State in the 2009 NIT field were Tulsa, UNLV and Virginia Tech, with Stanford competing in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational. Five of the eight schools also won more than 20 games each, with Penn State’s 27 wins topping the list.
“Once again, an outstanding field will represent conferences from around the country for the 76 Classic,” said Clint Overby, senior director of events, ESPN Regional Television. “The 76 Classic showcases quality competition while it also provides an outstanding off-court experience for the student-athletes, coaches and staffs. Fans will have an opportunity to spend the weekend watching college basketball and enjoying all that Anaheim and Southern California have to offer.”
The Big West Conference again will serve as the host conference for the 76 Classic at the 7,500-seat Anaheim Convention Center, which has served the conference for the past 10 years as the site of its postseason tournament.
The 2009 76 Classic began Thursday with four teams ranked among the Top 25, including No. 8 West Virginia (2-0), No. 10 Butler (3-0), No. 16 (tie) Minnesota (3-0) and No. 19 (tie) Clemson (4-0). Before Thursday’s opening games, the eight schools in the 2009 field had compiled a 23-2 record.
USC of the Pac-10 Conference captured the inaugural 76 Classic title in 2007, defeating Southern Illinois of the Missouri Valley Conference 70-45 in the finale. The ACC’s Wake Forest scored an 87-74 win over Baylor of the Big 12 Conference in the 2008 title game.
Along with the 76 Classic, ESPN Regional Television manages four other eight-team exempt basketball events: the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan; the Old Spice Classic at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.; the Charleston Classic in South Carolina; and the newly created Diamond Head Classic, which will debut this December in Honolulu.
Tickets for the 2010 76 Classic are expected to go on sale next summer. For more information, visit the official Web site: http://76classic.com/.
2010 76 Classic – Seven of eight teams in postseason with five winning 20+ games. NIT champions in field
| Team | Conf. | Record | Next Game | ’08-09 | ’08-09 Postseason |
| Cal St.-Northridge | Big West | 2-3 | N30 vs. CS-Bakersfield | 17-14 | NCAA, lost 1st round |
| DePaul | Big East | 3-1 | N28 vs. Detroit | 9-24 | Did not participate |
| Oklahoma St. | Big 12 | 4-0 | N27 vs. Bradley | 23-12 | NCAA, lost 2nd round |
| Penn State | Big Ten | 4-2 | N30 at Virginia | 27-11 | NIT champions |
| Stanford | Pac-10 | 3-3 | N29 vs. Portland State | 20-14 | CBIT, lost semis |
| Tulsa | C-USA | 5-0 | N28 at Missouri State | 25-11 | NIT, lost 2nd round |
| UNLV | Mountain West | 4-0 | N28 vs. Louisville | 21-11 | NIT, lost 1st round |
| Virginia Tech | ACC | 3-0 | N27 vs. Temple | 19-15 | NIT, lost 2nd round |
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 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; 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; ESPNU Road to the Championship (Women; San Antonio); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); SONIC All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
