ESPN Announces Teams for 2009 Old Spice Classic Field, Including No. 14 Xavier
MAAC Sports
ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced today seven of the eight teams in the field for the 2009 Old Spice Classic, to be held on Thanksgiving weekend at the Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports? Complex near Orlando, Fla.
The field for the fourth annual Old Spice Classic will include Alabama, Baylor, Creighton, Iona, Marquette, Michigan and No. 14 Xavier. The eighth team will be announced at a later date. Baylor, Marquette and Michigan received votes this week in the USA Today Poll.
Three of the seven teams announced reached the 2007-08 NCAA Tournament: Baylor, Marquette and Xavier.
“With the success of the Old Spice Classic as one of the nation’s top early season basketball tournaments, we want to continue to bring a first-class event to the student-athletes and coaches and staffs, and of course the fans,” said Pete Derzis, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ESPN Regional Television. “Another impressive field of competitors will certainly have the fans coming back for more great basketball at the great destination of Walt Disney World.”
The 2009 Old Spice Classic, a bracket-format tournament, will feature 12 games in three days, Nov. 26, 27 and 29. Sponsors include Old Spice, ESPNU and Disney’s Wide World of Sports. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) will serve as the event’s sponsoring conference for the fourth straight year.
“In just three short years, the Old Spice Classic has grown into one of the top men’s basketball events in the country,” Richard J. Ensor, Commissioner of the MAAC, said. “The MAAC is excited to be a part of this premier event, and to have Iona College represent the league in 2009. Disney’s Wide World of Sports is a world class sports facility, and the ability of our fans to attend an event at the happiest place on earth is a great benefit to the MAAC.”
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. 29.
The tournament is a weekend-long affair at the Walt Disney World Resort, and participating teams are invited to the Walt Disney World Resort Theme Parks and other event functions.
This past weekend at the Milk House, then-No. 10 Gonzaga won the 2008 Old Spice Classic with a 83-74 victory over then-No. 12 Tennessee in the championship game. Previous winners were North Carolina State in 2007 and Arkansas in 2006.
Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Old Spice Classic Web site at www.oldspiceclassic.com. For more information on Disney’s Wide World of Sports, visit www.disneysports.com.
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. ? 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; New Mexico Bowl; Papajohns.com Bowl; Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl; Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl; St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney; and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu, 2009); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; and the ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit www.espnplus.com.
Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
Opened in 1997 at Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex is a leading sports and entertainment venue for amateur and professional sports in the United States. The sprawling 220-acre state-of-the-art complex features the Milk House, a 165,000-square-foot field house which seats 5,500 for basketball; the 9,500-seat Champion Stadium ballpark; the Hess Sports Fields, which include multiple baseball, softball and soccer fields; and the Jostens Center, an 80,000 square foot multi-sport field house. In addition, the complex has 11 tennis courts, including a stadium court, and a track and field complex. The complex is home to more than 180 amateur and professional sports and entertainment events each year, including the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp, the Major League Baseball Atlanta Braves spring training, a Tampa Bay Rays regular-season series, the NBA Pre-Draft Camp, the Pop Warner Super Bowl, Chelsea Football Club events, the Special Olympics Florida Summer Games and the AAU National Championship events. Please visit www.disneysports.com for more information.