August 5, 2010

ESPN Announces Matchups for Fourth Annual Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off

ESPN Regional Television announced today the first-round matchups for the 2010 Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off, to be held Nov. 18, 19 and 21 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, in the cosmopolitan Hato Rey district of San Juan. Nine of the 12 games will be televised live nationally on ESPNU and ESPN2.

The field for the fourth annual Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off will feature 2009-10 Final Four participant West Virginia, five-time national champion North Carolina, Davidson, Hofstra, Minnesota, Nebraska, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky.

In the first round of action Thursday, Nov. 18, Davidson will take on West Virginia, Nebraska will face Vanderbilt, Hofstra will meet North Carolina and Western Kentucky will square off with Minnesota.

Four of the eight participating teams played in the 2009-10 postseason.  Minnesota, Vanderbilt and West Virginia played in the NCAA Tournament, with the Mountaineers reaching the Final Four. North Carolina played in the National Invitation Tournament, advancing to the final game."

The 2010 Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off will feature 12 games in three days, Nov. 18-21. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 21, televised live on ESPN2.

In November 2009, Villanova defeated Ole Miss 79-67 in the championship game. Other former winners of the Puerto Rico Tip-off: Xavier in 2008 and University of Miami in 2007.

Fans can purchase official travel packages, which include game tickets and official team hotel accommodations, by going to www.anthonytravel.com (search Puerto Rico) or by calling 1-888-632-6951. Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Puerto Rico Tip-Off website at www.PuertoRicoTipoff.com.

2010 Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off Schedule

(Home team listed second; West Virginia will be home team in each of its games)

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, WAC).

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); Birmingham Bowl; MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Texas Bowl (Houston); 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.); Cancun Governor’s Cup; Charleston Classic (S.C.); DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters; as well as the new ESPNU Warrior Classic (Lacrosse) and the ESPN National Golf Challenge presented by Callaway. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

Media Contacts
Tim Simmons, Media Coordinator, (303) 678-8484 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Jenny Zimmerman, ESPN Communications, 407-566-2213 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it