FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 16, 2007

Inaugural Anaheim Classic on Thanksgiving Weekend to Air on ESPN2 and ESPNU
Disneyland Resort in Anaheim to Host Eight Participating Teams

Anaheim, Calif. – ESPN Regional Television, Inc., announced today that the first Anaheim Classic, an eight-team, 12-game, bracketed collegiate basketball tournament, will take place Nov. 22, 23 and 25 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The inaugural field includes two NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 teams from last season, Southern California and Southern Illinois, as well as NCAA first-round participant Miami-Ohio. Complete tournament action will air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Two teams in the 2007 Anaheim Classic field participated in the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. South Alabama played in the opening round of the NIT, and Mississippi State advanced to the semifinals.

Completing the eight-team field are San Diego, Tennessee-Chattanooga and UC Irvine of the Big West Conference. Six of the eight teams posted winning records in 2007 and all eight advanced to the semifinals of their post-season conference tournaments.

“The Anaheim area is a wonderful destination for an event of this caliber and the Disneyland Resort will provide a tremendous experience for the teams participating,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president and general manager of ERT. “The many viewers of the ESPN networks and the fans who attend the tournament will enjoy some fantastic college basketball action.”

The selection process for teams includes consultation with the conferences and consideration of geographic and competitive criteria. Schools from the Big West, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Pac-10, SEC, Southern, Sun Belt and West Coast conferences will be represented in 2007. The event will feature teams from eight different conferences each year. The Big West Conference will provide and serve as the “host” of the Anaheim Classic on an annual basis.

"The Anaheim Classic will present an outstanding opportunity for our members to play against quality competition,” said Dennis Farrell, commissioner of the Big West Conference. “The event further supports Anaheim as a city of destination for college basketball.”

The tournament will be played at the 7,500-seat Anaheim Convention Center, which has hosted the Big West Conference post-season tournament for the past seven years. Four games will be played each day, with each team playing daily. The championship game on ESPN2 will feature the two undefeated teams squaring off on the final day of competition, Nov. 25.

The remaining teams will play in consolation games. Fans can purchase tickets starting Thursday, Aug. 16, through www.Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster at (714) 704-2000. Packages include 12 games for $75 and single-session tickets for $15. Travel package information can be found at www.GETTravel.com.

The Old Spice Classic, another ESPN Regional Television event, will be held on the same dates at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, near Orlando.

More information can be found at www.anaheimclassic.com.

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership

The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces in excess of a thousand 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, Western Athletic). 
ERT markets and/or owns several other sporting events, including the Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl; the Papajohns.com Bowl; the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl; the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Football Classic; the National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway; and collegiate basketball events including the Dick’s Sporting Goods Spartan Clash (Auburn Hills, Mich.); the O’Reilly Auto Parts All-College Classic (Oklahoma City, Okla.); the Old Spice Classic (Orlando, Fla.).