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April 23, 2010

ESPN Regional Television has finalized the complete eight-team field for the fourth annual 76 Classic, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center adjacent to Disneyland. The 2010 76 Classic field includes five teams that played in the 2009-10 postseason: Cal State Northridge, DePaul, Murray State (NCAA Tournament), Oklahoma State (NCAA), Stanford, Tulsa (NIT), UNLV (NCAA) and Virginia Tech (NIT).

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 will face off in the championship game Sunday, Nov. 28.

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.

Murray State (Ohio Valley Conference, 31-5), Oklahoma State (Big 12, 22-11) and UNLV (Mountain West Conference, 25-9) competed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, with the three schools combining for a 78-25 season record. Murray State won both the Ohio Valley regular- and postseason titles, and the Racers advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after upsetting Vanderbilt 66-65 in their opening game.

Tulsa (Conference USA, 23-12) and Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast, 25-9) competed in the National Invitation Tournament and combined for a 48-21 record. Virginia Tech, which tied for third in the regular-season ACC standings, advanced to the NIT quarterfinals.

Team records in 2009-10 for the remainder of the 76 Classic field: Cal State Northridge (Big West, 11-21), DePaul (Big East, 8-23) and Stanford (Pac-10, 14-18). Oliver Purnell, who coached Clemson to a 2-1 mark in the 76 Classic in 2009 with a 70-69 win over Butler, returns to the event as the head coach of DePaul for the 2010-11 season. The eight schools in the 2010 76 Classic field compiled a 159-108 (59.6 percent) mark for the 2009-10 season.

In 2009, West Virginia of the Big East Conference won the 76 Classic, scoring an 84-66 win over Portland of the West Coast Conference in the title game. West Virginia reached the NCAA Final Four this month in Indianapolis along with Butler, who dropped the national championship game to Duke, 61-59. Three other schools from the 2009 76 Classic earned NCAA berths: Clemson, Minnesota and Texas A&M.

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.

Tickets for the 2010 76 Classic are expected to go on sale this summer. For more information, visit the official Web site: http://76classic.com/.

2010 76 Classic Field

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); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); 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 Tipoff (San Juan); SONIC 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.

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Media Contacts: Tim Simmons, Media Coordinator, 303-678-8484 or [email protected]; Jenny Zimmerman, ESPN Communications, 407-566-2213 or [email protected]