ESPN Events has unveiled the matchups for the 2018 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic to be held, Dec. 22-25.  Host Hawai'i will face UNLV in the opening round on Saturday Dec. 22. It will be the first meeting between former Western Athletic Conference rivals since a non-conference match-up in 2012.  The teams also met in the inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in 2009 with the Running Rebels defeating the Rainbow Warriors in the semifinals.
 
The tournament , which celebrates its tenth year in 2018, will feature eight teams, with 12 games played over three days. Returning NCAA Tournament teams Bucknell, Rhode Island and TCU headline the field.
 

• Bucknell clinched the Patriot League regular-season title for the seventh time in the last eight years in 2018
• Charlotte will appear in its fourth different ESPN Events early season tournament (2008 Wooden Legacy, 2010 and 2014 Charleston Classic, 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off)
• Colorado has appeared in either the NCAA Tournament or the Postseason NIT in six of the past eight years
• Hawai'i will host and participate in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic for the tenth consecutive year
• Indiana State will appear in an ESPN Events early-season tournament for the third straight year; participated in 2016 AdvoCare Invitational and 2017 Charleston Classic
• Rhode Island advanced to the Second Round of the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Tournaments
• TCU earned a No. 6 seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament
• UNLV will make its first Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic appearance since the inaugural 2009 season, when it advanced to the event's championship game

 

Date	Time (HT)	Matchup	Network
Sat, Dec 22	10 a.m.	Indiana State vs. Colorado	ESPNU
	12 p.m.	UNLV vs. Hawai'i	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Rhode Island vs. Bucknell	TBD
	7:30 p.m.	Charlotte vs. TCU	TBD
Sun, Dec 23	11:30 a.m.	Semifinal #1	ESPN2
	2 p.m.	Consolation #1	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Semifinal #2	ESPN2
	7:30 p.m.	Consolation #2	ESPNU
Tue, Dec 25	8 a.m.	7th Place Game	ESPNU
	10 a.m.	5th Place Game	ESPNU
	1:30 p.m.	3rd Place Game	ESPNU
	4 p.m.	Championship	ESPN2

Non-Bracketed Game: Indiana State at TCU (Dec. 16)
 
Additional Events
State Farm Champions Classic – Tuesday, Nov. 6
The 2018 Classic – a neutral site doubleheader – will once again feature Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State, with Michigan State facing Kansas, and Duke facing Kentucky. This year's games will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with the 2019 Classic returning to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since the Champions Classic began in 2011, all four teams have reached the NCAA Final Four at least once, with Kentucky and Duke winning national titles, in 2012 and 2015 respectively.
 
Armed Forces Classic – Friday, Nov. 9
The 2018 Armed Forces Classic, owned and operated by ESPN Events, will feature Texas and Arkansas, from Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 9. The annual event, in its seventh year, will take place on the United States mainland for the first time since its inception in 2012. The game will be televised on ESPN as part of the network's America's Heroes: A Salute to Our Veterans initiative honoring the men and women who are serving and who have served in the United States military, both at home and abroad.
 
Jimmy V Classic
The Jimmy V Women's Classic will feature reigning national champion Notre Dame facing UConn on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. ET. The Jimmy V Men's Classic doubleheader on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, will include Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma (7 p.m.), followed by West Virginia facing Florida.
 
ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a large portfolio of 32 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 14 college bowl games, 12 college basketball events, a college softball event and two college award shows, which accounts for approximately 300-plus hours of programming, reaches almost 64 million viewers and attracts over 700,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in Albuquerque, Birmingham, Boca Raton, Boise, Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Montgomery and St. Petersburg, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
ESPN Events also manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.
 
Collegiate Football
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl (Houston); AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston); Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Fla.); Bahamas Bowl (Nassau); Birmingham Bowl (Alabama); Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (Florida); Camping World Kickoff (Orlando, Fla.); Celebration Bowl (Atlanta); Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise); Frisco Bowl (Texas); Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff (Montgomery, Ala.); Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); Heart of Dallas Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MEAC/SWAC Challenge (Atlanta); Las Vegas Bowl (Nevada); New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.); The Home Depot College Football Awards (Atlanta)
 
Collegiate Basketball
AdvoCare Invitational (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Armed Forces Classic (Fort Bliss, Texas); Charleston Classic (South Carolina); College Basketball Awards Presented by Wendy's (Los Angeles); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Men's Classic presented by Corona (New York City); Jimmy V Women's Classic Presented by Corona (South Bend, Ind.); Myrtle Beach Invitational (Conway, S.C.); NIT Season Tip-Off (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off; State Farm Champions Classic (Indianapolis) and Wooden Legacy (Fullerton, Calif.)
 
Collegiate Softball
Elite Softball Invitational (Clearwater, Fla.)
For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.