Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Features Expanded Format
9/21/2004 4:08:25 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, NY -- The 2004 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic will feature an expanded 16-team format, including Syracuse, according to an announcement by The Gazelle Group. The event has squads from 16 different conferences competing at four regional sites hosted by ranked squads - California, Memphis, Mississippi State (in Birmingham, AL) and Syracuse.
Regional action, inlcuding games at the Carrier Dome, is slated to get underway on Thursday, November 11. Bucknell is paired with Princeton and Syracuse will host Northern Colorado, that evening. The winners from the four regional sites will advance to play in the championship rounds at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., on November 18-19.
The region hosted by Memphis at the FedEx Forum includes Savannah State, George Mason and Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. California's region, to be played at the Haas Pavilion, includes Cal-Riverside, St. Mary's and Belmont. The Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex, with Mississippi State as host, has Fairfield, Alabama A&M and Birmingham-Southern in the field.
The Coaches vs. Cancer program, created by the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, exists to leverage the strength, community leadership and celebrity of the country's basketball coaches to raise awareness and, in turn, reduce cancer risk through education programs while raising funds for the American Cancer Society. SU Coach Jim Boeheim has been a primary fund raiser for Coaches vs. Cancer and hosts an annual charity event, the "Basket Ball," to support the program. The Gazelle Group, producer of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, has riased over $2.2 million for coaches vs. Cancer since 1995.
