April 27, 2011

Strong Tournament Field Headed to 2011 Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Temple, Purdue and 2011 NIT Semifinalists headline field

The annual destination event of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off has secured all eight teams for the 2011 field to be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17, 18 & 20, at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, in the cosmopolitan Hato Rey district of San Juan.

The field for the fifth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off includes Alabama, Colorado, Iona, Maryland, Purdue, Temple, Western Michigan and Wichita State. Both Purdue and Temple reached the second round of the NCAA Championship. Wichita State topped Alabama in the NIT championship game, while Colorado was a semifinalist. Iona earned a berth to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, advancing to a title game, while Western Michigan reached the second round.

The 2011 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, a bracket-format tournament, will feature 12 games over three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match Sunday, Nov. 20.

For the fifth straight year, the BIG EAST will serve as the event’s sponsoring conference.

Minnesota topped West Virginia 74-70 for the 2010 Puerto Rico Tip-Off title. Other former winners were Villanova in 2009, Xavier in 2008 and Miami (Fla.) in 2007.

The family-friendly tournament and resort destination of Puerto Rico host the teams to three days of play, practices and immersion into the Puerto Rican culture and landscape. Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Web site at www.puertoricotipoff.com.

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television, Inc. (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN.

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: Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas); BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Houston); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards. Collegiate basketball events: 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Champion’s Classic (Madison Square Garden; debuts 2011); Charleston Classic (S.C.); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City), BracketBusters. In addition to the ESPNU Warrior Classic (Lacrosse), the Hawaiian Islands Invitational (Soccer) and the ESPN National Golf Challenge. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

Media Contacts
Tim Simmons, Media Coordinator, 303-678-8484, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ;
Rachel Margolis, ESPN, 860-766-2798 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it