Diamond Head Classic Bracket
ESPN Regional Television and David A.K. Matlin, executive director, Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, announced today a programming change for the 2009 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. ESPNU will televise Game 8 on Thursday, Dec. 23, at 9 p.m. HST. Game 10, slated to air Friday, Dec. 25, will not be televised.
With the change, the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team will now have at least two nationally televised games during the inaugural tournament. In all, UH will have a minimum of four games televised on the ESPN family of networks during the 2009-10 season.
“It's great that our men's basketball team will get another guaranteed game on national television because of our hosting the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic,” UH Athletics Director Jim Donovan said. “With this addition, we will be on ESPN a minimum of four times this year, a vast improvement over the past few years.”
UH head coach Bob Nash added: “The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is a boost for our basketball program and school — particularly in terms of exposure — and we're pleased to gain another valuable opportunity to showcase our team before a national audience.”
The inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, one of six men's collegiate basketball events owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, will include 12 games through three days and will be televised live on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Tournament sponsors include Hawaiian Airlines and Sheraton Hotels. The Western Athletic Conference will serve as the event's sponsoring conference.
The tournament field includes eight teams: College of Charleston, Hawai'i, Northeastern, Saint Mary's (Calif.), SMU, UNLV, USC and Western Michigan. Five of the eight teams reached the postseason last year, with USC playing in the NCAA Tournament, UNLV and Saint Mary's in the National Invitation Tournament and College of Charleston and Northeastern playing in the College Basketball Invitational.
All 12 games will be played at the Stan Sheriff Center during the Christmas holiday week, Dec. 22-23 and Dec. 25. Thursday, Dec. 24, is an off day for the teams to enjoy the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and the beaches of Oahu. The two teams that remain undefeated through the tournament will face off in a championship match on Christmas Day, Friday, Dec. 25, at 4:30 p.m. HST on ESPN2. Complete matchups are listed below.
In the first round of action, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 22, Northeastern will take on St. Mary's; Western Michigan will face USC; SMU will meet UNLV; and College of Charleston and Hawai'i will square off. All opening-day games will be televised live on ESPNU.
Tournament Schedule (Home team listed second; Hawai'i is home team in all games played)
|
Date
|
Time (HT)
|
Game
|
Network
|
|
Tue, Dec 22
|
10 a.m.
|
Northeastern vs. St. Mary's
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
Noon
|
Western Michigan vs. USC
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
5:30 p.m.
|
SMU vs. UNLV
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
7:30 p.m.
|
Charleston vs. Hawai'i
|
ESPNU
|
|
Wed, Dec 23
|
10 a.m.
|
Game 5
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
Noon
|
Game 6
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
6:30 p.m.
|
Game 7
|
ESPN2
|
|
|
9 p.m.
|
Game 8
|
ESPNU
|
|
Fri, Dec 25
|
9 a.m.
|
Game 9
|
|
|
|
11:30 a.m.
|
Game 10
|
|
|
|
2:30 p.m.
|
Game 11
|
ESPN2
|
|
|
4:30 p.m.
|
Game 12 (Championship Game)
|
ESPN2
|
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at
HawaiianAirlines.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. –
SEC,
BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC).
-UH-
