The sixth annual Anaheim Classic, formerly the 76 Classic, has confirmed the 8 team field that will participate in this year's event. The early season tournament takes place over the Thanksgiving weekend with games on the 22nd (Thursday), 24th, and 25th.
Saint Mary's will represent the WCC in the event. Pacific is also slated to participate. Next season will be their last season before moving to the WCC. Pacific is currently a member of the event's host conference, the Big West.
For fans of the WCC this should be a good event, not just because of the two WCC ties, but for the level of competition that the Gaels will be matched up against in their normally weak non-conference schedule. Of the eight teams involved, six played their way into this past post-season. One of those six, obviously, is Saint Mary's. If you can't remember last month the Gaels were a 7 seed in the NCAA tournament but fell in their first game to Purdue.
Joining the Gaels on the marquee will be another non-power-six powerhouse, the Xavier Musketeers. Xavier, who lost at home to Gonzaga last season on December 31st, went all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. Another NCAA participant who will play in Anaheim are the Golden Bears of California. Cal barely made the field of 68 and fell to South Florida in a First Four match-up.
While California barely made the big dance, Drexel narrowly missed it by losing in the CAA Tournament Finals. The Dragons advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. The CollegeInsider.com Tournament, in which Loyola Marymount advanced to the quarterfinals, is represented in Anaheim by Drake and Rice. Georgia Tech is the last team in the tournament (that spot should be reserved for Pacific who are straight up awful but since they somehow weaseled their way into the WCC I had to mention them earlier, read my take on their move here) and well, they weren't very good last season. The Yellow Jackets finished at the bottom of the ACC with 4-12 record, 11-20 overall. Since the end of the season the leading scorer and rebounder on the team has been dismissed due to off court troubles. Georgia Tech, being in the ACC, could well bring in some high level talent before the start of the 2012-13 season.
The Anaheim Classic field has only two power six conference schools (Cal and GT), and only one top tier program (Xavier), yet it looks to be a very competitive field that should highlight some of the best mid-majors around. ESPN Regional Television, which you probably guessed is a subsidiary of ESPN, which it is, owns the Anaheim Classic. That said, expect many of these games to be carried on the ESPN family of networks.
This event is well over half a year away, but if you remember this last sentence in about that amount of time, check back because I will be doing a preview sometime in November.
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