Old Spice Classic Field at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
No.15 Michigan Leads Stellar Old Spice Classic Field at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
Impressive field for premier preseason college basketball tournament features six
20-win teams from 2008, including Florida State
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Nov. 23, 2009) – No. 15 Michigan headlines the 2009 Old Spice Classic, one of the top preseason college basketball tournaments in the nation, during Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 26, 27 and 29) at The Milk House at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.
Michigan is one of six teams (Florida State, Xavier, Baylor, Creighton and Marquette are the others) in the 8-team field that posted 20-win seasons a year ago and one of four teams (Xavier, FSU and Marquette) that reached the NCAA Tournament last season.
The bracketed-tournament format involves 12 games in three days. The event kicks off when the Michigan Wolverines face the Creighton Bluejays in the opening game Thursday at noon ET on ESPN2.
In other first-round games, Marquette faces Xavier; Alabama takes on Baylor; and Florida State plays Iona. All first-round games are televised live on ESPN2 except FSU-Iona, which airs live on ESPNU. Sunday’s championship game airs live at 7:30 pm on ESPN2.
The fourth annual tournament is being played on a new court, one that was used for the NCAA Women’s Final Four last season. The court, emblazoned with the Disney sports complex’s new logo, is one of the initial features of a re-imagining project that will create an immersive ESPN sports experience for athletes and fans by incorporating the signature elements of ESPN into the complex, which will be renamed ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in February 2010.
The Old Spice Classic made its debut in 2006 when Arkansas won the inaugural title with a 71-64 victory over West Virginia. In the 2007 championship game, North Carolina State edged Villanova 69-68 and Gonzaga won the 2008 crown with a 83-74 victory over Tennessee.
