Butler to open with Minnesota at 76 Classic in Anaheim

76 Classic bracket in PDF Format

Butler will face Minnesota in the first round of the 2009 76 Classic basketball tournament, which will be held Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 26, 27 and 29, at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center, adjacent to Disneyland. The eight-team tournament will be broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The Butler (26-6)-Minnesota (22-11) game will be the third contest on Thursday, Nov. 26, and is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. (PT, 8:30 p.m. ET) on ESPN2. The first game of the day will pit West Virginia (23-12) against Long Beach State (15-15) at 11 a.m. (PT), and will be followed by a 1:30 p.m. contest between Texas A & M (24-10) and Clemson (23-9). The final game of the opening round will match UCLA (26-9) against Portland (19-13), starting at 7:30 p.m.

All eight teams will be back in action in the second round of the bracketed tournament, beginning at 11 a.m. (PT) on Friday, Nov. 27. The teams then will get one day off, before returning to the court for their final game on Sunday, Nov. 29. The championship contest is slated for 7 p.m. (10 p.m. ET) and will be telecast on ESPN2.

Seven of the eight teams in this year's 76 Classic reached postseason play in 2008-09. Butler, UCLA, Texas A & M, Clemson, Minnesota and West Virginia all participated in the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, while Portland competed in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. No eight-team, regular-season tournament has ever had more than seven postseason teams from the previous year.

This is the third year for the 76 Classic (originally called the Anaheim Classic). USC won the first tournament title in 2007, while Wake Forest defeated Baylor for the championship in 2008.

Tickets for the 2009 76 Classic will go on sale in early September, at www.Ticketmaster.com, or by calling (714) 704-2000. Packages include all 12 games for $90 or single-session tickets for $20.