Aug. 23, 2007
Princeton, N.J. - Tickets to the championship rounds of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic will officially go on sale through Ticketmaster.com on Friday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. CST. Missouri, Maryland, Michigan State and UCLA will serve as the four regional hosts for the CBE Classic and the winners of each regional site will advance to Kansas City, Mo., to play in the newly-constructed Sprint Center on Nov. 19-20.
Regional rounds in Columbia are scheduled for Nov. 12-13 and a finalized list of participating teams at the Missouri Regional will be available at a later date from tournament organizers. Single game tickets for the Missouri Regional will be available in mid-October, however tickets for all four games of the regional at Mizzou Arena are included in Missouri Basketball's season ticket package. To purchase season tickets for the 2007-08 season, please contact the Mizzou Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-CAT-PAWS.
In addition to the tournament excitement in Columbia and downtown Kansas City, Mizzou fans will have an added bonus, as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) will induct 12 former coaches and players into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame will be located inside the Sprint Center and the 12 inductees include legendary Mizzou sideline boss Norm Stewart. Stewart spent 32 seasons coaching the Tigers, leading the team to a 634-333 overall record and eight Big Eight Championship crowns. He also coached Mizzou to 16 NCAA Tournament appearances.
The CBE Classic was initially established in 2001 as the Guardians Classic, in partnership with the NABC. The event is now named after the College Basketball Experience, a college hoops fan interactive facility that is scheduled to open this year, as part of the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The College Basketball Experience will be the nation's only facility that celebrates, in its entirety, the sport of college basketball.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic is produced by The Gazelle Group in Princeton, N.J. The Gazelle Group is a sports marketing firm, specializing in event production/management, client representation, and sponsorship consulting. Gazelle produces numerous nationally-recognized events, such as the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. For more information on The Gazelle Group, please visit gazellegroup.com.
For more information on the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, please visit the official tournament website at CBEClassic.com.