Diamond Head Classic Bracket
ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN, announced the schedule of matchups for the 2009 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, to be held Dec. 22, 23 and 25 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Host Hawai'i will face the College of Charleston in a first-round matchup Tuesday, Dec. 22. In other first-round action, Northeastern will take on Saint Mary's; Western Michigan will face USC; and SMU will meet UNLV. The first four games on the opening day of action will be televised live on ESPNU.
The Rainbow Warriors, who finished 13-17 in 2008-09 and return 10 letterwinners this season, will face a stiff challenge in the Cougars. Last season, the College of Charleston finished 27-9 and reached the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational. It was the first post-season berth for the Cougars since the 2003 NIT. Charleston went 15-5 in the Southern Conference but lost in the championship of the league tournament to Chattanooga.
Charleston is one of five teams in the tournament that made the postseason in 2008-09. USC played in the NCAA Tournament, UNLV and Saint Mary's in the National Invitation Tournament and Northeastern in the College Basketball Invitational.
The Diamond Head Classic will include 12 games through three days and will be telecast on ESPN2 and ESPNU. Tournament sponsors include Hawaiian Airlines and Sheraton Hotels. The Western Athletic Conference will serve as the event's sponsoring conference.
All 12 games will be played at the Stan Sheriff Center during the Christmas holiday week, with teams enjoying an off day Thursday, Dec. 24, to watch the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) and visit the beaches of Oahu. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout the tournament will face off in a championship match Friday, Dec. 25, at 9:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. HT) on ESPN2. Complete matchups are listed below.
ESPN2 and ESPNU Tournament Schedule
(Home team listed second; Hawai'i will be home team in each of its games)
|
Date
|
Time (HT)
|
Game
|
Network
|
|
Tue, Dec 22
|
10 a.m.
|
Northeastern vs. Saint Mary's
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
Noon
|
Western Michigan vs. USC
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
5:30 p.m.
|
SMU vs. UNLV
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
7:30 p.m.
|
College of 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
|
|
|
Fri, Dec 25
|
9 a.m.
|
Game 9
|
|
|
|
11:30 a.m.
|
Game 10
|
ESPNU
|
|
|
2:30 p.m.
|
Game 11
|
ESPN2
|
|
|
4:30 p.m.
|
Game 12 (Championship Game)
|
ESPN2
|
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian is the nation's highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in 2008 in the 19th annual Airline Quality Rating study. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past five years (2004-2008) and has been an industry leader in fewest misplaced bags during that same period (#1 from 2005-2007, #2 in 2008) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian as the top domestic airline serving Hawaii.
Hawaiian will mark 80 years of continuous service for Hawaii on November 11, 2009. Hawaiian is the state's biggest and longest-serving airline, as well as the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state's primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides more than 160 daily jet flights within the Hawaiian Islands.
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).
ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (Honolulu); St. Petersburg Bowl; the MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards; collegiate basketball events: the 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic (S.C.); ESPNU Road to the Championship (Women; San Antonio); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; All-College Classic (Oklahoma City) and ESPNU BracketBusters; as well as the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.
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