The four regional hosts advance to the Championship Rounds at Prudential Center regardless of the regional results. The other participants will advance to play a round-robin series at Fairleigh Dickinson's Rothman Center on November 28, 29 & 30.
TICKET INFORMATION: Championship Round tickets to the Legends Classic will officially go on sale Friday, September 26 at 11:00 AM ET. Championship Round tickets may be purchased through http://www.ticketmaster.com or at the Prudential Center Box Office.Click here for a complete tournament bracket.
----- CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS -----
Semi-Final Doubleheader
(November 28th - 5:30 ET)
Mississippi St. vs. Washington St.
Pittsburgh vs Texas Tech
Championship Doubleheader
(November 29th - 5:30 ET)
Consolation Game
Championship Game
----- REGIONAL ROUNDS -----
Pittsburgh Regional Rounds
Peterson Events Center- Pittsburgh, PA
November 21st & 22nd
Akron vs. Pittsburgh
Indiana (PA) vs Pittsburgh
Lubbock Regional Rounds
United Spirit Arena- Lubbock, TX
November 20th & 22nd
(East) Central Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech
Eastern Kentucky vs. Texas Tech
Starkville Regional Rounds
Humphrey Coliseum- Starkville, MS
November 20th & 22nd
North Alabama vs. Mississippi St.
Fairleigh Dickinson vs Mississippi St.
Pullman Regional Round
Beasley Coliseum- Pullman, WA
November 18th
Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Washington St.
----- SUBREGIONAL ROUNDS -----
Akron Regional Round
Rhodes Arena- Akron, OH
November 25th Urbana vs. Akron
Richmond (KY) Regional Round
McBrayer Arena- Richmond, KY
November 25th
Thiel College vs. Eastern Kentucky
Teaneck Regional Rounds
Rothman Center- Teaneck, NJ
November 28th- Eastern Kentucky vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
November 29th- Akron vs. Eastern Kentucky
November 30th- Akron vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Pittsburgh, the reigning Big East Champions, are among the Top 5 programs in the country in overall winning percentage (.789) over the last seven years. They have a Big East-best 81-33 conference record during that stretch. The Panthers are the only Big East team to appear in each of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, making the "Sweet 16" on four occasions. Pittsburgh also has three members of their roster who played high school basketball in New Jersey.
Texas Tech has four starters returning for Head Coach Pat Knight, in his first full season at the helm of the Red Raiders.
Mississippi State has made the post-season in six of the last eight seasons. All six seasons are 20-win campaigns.
Washington State is coming off back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament under Head Coach Tony Bennett, owner of the fourth-best coaching record after two seasons in NCAA history (52-17).
The inclusion of Division II teams in the Legends Classic is a result of recent NCAA legislation increasing the number of games that teams are allowed to play and increasing the number of early season tournaments. Additionally, there is an interesting history dating back to 1982 when NAIA Chaminade upset the nation's top ranked team, Virginia, in a season opening tournament. Currently, these events can provide opportunities for teams to gain exposure which would not otherwise exist - by giving them the chance to represent their institution on a stage they would not ordinarily have access to and give their student-athletes a competitive experience unlike the rest of their schedule.
Prudential Center is the first new, state-of-the-art facility built in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area in over 25 years. It is the home of the NHL's New Jersey Devils, NCAA Division I Seton Hall men's basketball and indoor soccer's New Jersey Ironmen. Having hosted over 1.5 million in its first year, Prudential Center will continue to bring world-class entertainment to Newark with acts like the Ringling Brother and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Tina Turner, Metallica and much more.
The Legends Classic is produced by The Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm specializing in event production and management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic and the College Basketball Invitational. For more information on The Gazelle Group, please visit the website at gazellegroup.com.
Visit LegendsClassic.com for more information on the 2008 Legends Classic.
