2006 BP Top of the World Classic bracket set

Submitted by Jamie Schanback
Phone: (907) 474-6807
07/07/06

FAIRBANKS, AK--The bracket for the 2006 BP Top of the World Classic was announced Friday by Brian Hove, director of the 2006 tournament.

Tournament host Alaska Nanooks will welcome the seven Division I teams in the 2006 field, which include Centenary College, Drake University, the University of Rhode Island, Southeast Missouri State, Troy University, Utah State and Weber State. The 11th-annual tournament is slated for Nov. 16-19 at the Carlson Center.

This year’s schedule will again feature earlier start times for all games played on Sunday, with the final four games of the tournament starting two hours sooner than the Saturday contests. Games Nine, 10 and 11 will be played at one of the following times: 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The championship game will tip off at 6 p.m. Sunday.

"The 2006 BP Top of the World Classic is going to provide fans of Division I basketball some great match-ups," said Hove. "I, for one, am looking forward to seeing which team emerges from the brackets to cut the nets on Sunday. In fact, we anticipate the championship game will not only be a great contest but also fan friendly given the convenient 6 p.m. tip-off time."

Alaska, Weber State, Rhode Island and Troy make up one half of the bracket, while Utah State, Centenary, Southeast Missouri and Drake compose the second half.

The Nanooks will play in the opening game of the tournament and the first session against Weber State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, prior to Rhode Island taking on Troy at 8:30 p.m. in Game Two. Friday the second session will commence as the other four teams jump in on the action. Utah State will meet Centenary in Game Three at 6 p.m. and Southeast Missouri will go toe-to-toe with Drake in Game Four at 8:30 p.m.

The bracket is formatted so that Alaska is always guaranteed a game played during the evening session so if they lose a game, the game time for the consolation side of the bracket flips with the corresponding game on the winning side.

Saturday will consist of two two-game sessions. Regardless if Alaska wins or loses on Thursday, they will play at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday against either the winner or loser of Game Two between Rhode Island and Troy (in Game Seven if they win and Game Five if they lose). Weber will face the other team from Game Two at 12 p.m. on Saturday (if they beat Alaska they play in Game Seven at noon and if they lose they play in Game Five at noon).

If Alaska wins Games One and Seven they will play in the Championship game at 6:00 p.m. against the winner of Game 8 (Sat. 8 p.m.) then Sunday’s schedule will kickoff with Game Nine at 10 a.m. The losers of Game Five and Six will meet and play for seventh and eighth place and the winners will match-up in Game 11 at 3:30 p.m. to play for fourth and sixth place. The losers of Game Seven and Eight will play for third and fifth place at 12:30 p.m.

Utah State will be making its third appearance in the tournament field having played in the TOWC in 2000 and 2002, and finishing second on both occasions. Weber State and Centenary are also veterans at the tournament, having both participated in the 2002 TOWC, when the Nanooks rewrote the history books by becoming the first NCAA Division II team to win a Division I tournament. Drake, Rhode Island, Southeast Missouri State and Troy are all making their inaugural visits to Fairbanks for the tournament.

Alaska took fourth place in last year’s 10th-anniversary edition of the TOWC, finishing 2-1 overall. The Nanooks bounced back from a 67-55 loss to San Diego State in their first game by defeating Montana State, 65-62, and then Kennesaw State, 78-65.

BP is the title sponsor for the TOWC for the seventh consecutive year.

Further information for the 2006 BP TOWC as well as pictures, press releases, statistics and records from the previous tournaments, is available at www.GoNanooks.com under the tournaments section of the website.

Tournament packages will go on sale Monday, Sept. 25, and individual session tickets can be purchased beginning on Friday, Nov. 3. Please call the ticket office at (907) 474-5977 for more information.