ESPN Regional Television announced today the first-round matchups for the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The eight-team tournament is set for Dec. 22, 23 and 25 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
Host Hawai'i will face Florida State in a first-round matchup Wednesday, Dec. 22. In other first-round action, Mississippi State will take on Washington State; San Diego will face Baylor; and Utah will meet Butler. The first four games on the opening day of action will be televised live on ESPNU and will be a part of 10 tournament game broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. The third-place and championship games will be televised on ESPN2 on Christmas Day.
The Rainbow Warriors finished 10-20 overall in 2009-10 and placed fourth in last year's inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic after going 1-2. Hawai'i will be led by first-year head coach
Gib Arnold, who welcomes back seven letterwinners and an eight-player recruiting class that has received national recognition.
UH will face a tough test in the Seminoles, who have built a winning tradition in recent years. Florida State has played in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and went 22-10 last year, including 10-6 in the ACC. The Seminoles have won 20 or more games in five of the last six seasons and have played in the postseason for a school-record five consecutive years. Florida State is one of only two teams in the ACC that has finished in the top four of the league standings in the last two seasons.
Other teams in the 2010 field that qualified for postseason play last year include NIT participant Mississippi State, NCAA Elite Eight participant Baylor and NCAA Tournament championship game participant Butler.
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 game on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is included within the UH men's basketball season-ticket package.
The inaugural Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic featured host Hawai'i (WAC), the College of Charleston (Southern), Northeastern (Colonial Athletic Association), SMU (Conference USA), St. Mary's (West Coast Conference), UNLV (Mountain West), USC (Pac-10) and Western Michigan (Mid-American). Southern California took home the trophy, stunning the No. 20 nationally ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels.
Anthony Travel is the official Travel Partner of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. For fan travel packages and information, please contact Anthony Travel at
www.AnthonyTravel.com/espn/diamond-head-classic. All-session Tickets for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic are $90 for lower level and $70 for upper level. Tickets by session are $26 and $18 for upper and lower level, respectively. General Admission tickets are $10. For more information, visit the official website:
www.hawaiianairlinesdiamondheadclassic.com.
2010 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Schedule
(Home team listed second; Hawai'i will be home team in each of its games)
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Date
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Time (HST)
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Game
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Network
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Wed, Dec 22
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10 a.m.
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Game 1: Mississippi St. vs. Washington State
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ESPNU
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|
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12 p.m.
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Game 2: San Diego vs. Baylor
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ESPNU
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|
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6 p.m.
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Game 3: Utah vs. Butler
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ESPNU
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|
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8 p.m.
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Game 4: Florida State vs. Hawai'i
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ESPNU
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Thu, Dec 23
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11:30 a.m.
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Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
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ESPNU
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|
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1:30 p.m.
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Game 6: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
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ESPNU
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|
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5 p.m.
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Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
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ESPN2
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|
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7:30 p.m.
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Game 8: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
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ESPNU
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Sat, Dec 25
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9 a.m.
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Game 9: (7th Place Game)
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|
|
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11:30 a.m.
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Game 10: (5th Place Game)
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|
|
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2:30 p.m.
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Game 11: (3rd Place Game)
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ESPN2
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|
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4:30 p.m.
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Game 12: (Championship Game)
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ESPN2
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About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian is the nation's highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in 2009 in the 20th annual Airline Quality Rating study, having earned that distinction in three of the past four years. Hawaiian has also led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past six years (2004-2009) and has been an industry leader in fewest misplaced bags during that same period (#1 from 2005-2007, #2 in 2008 and 2009) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Consumer surveys by Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline offering flights to Hawaii.
Now in its 81st year of continuous service for Hawaii, 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, Tahiti, and, in the coming months, Japan and South Korea. Hawaiian also provides more than 150 daily jet flights between 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, WAC).
-UH-
