June 4, 2007
The George Mason men's basketball team will participate in the 2007 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. and the Patriots found out on Monday who their opening round opponent will be in the eight-team tournament. The Patriots will play Kansas State at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Night in a game televised on ESPN2.
Earlier on Thanksgiving Day, South Carolina will play Penn State at Noon, N.C. State will play Rider at 2 p.m. and Villanova will play Central Florida at 7 p.m. The games will be played at Disney's Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
Mason will play two more games in the tournament as the Patriots will face either Villanova or Central Florida on Friday at either 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. The 5 p.m. contest will air on ESPN2 while the 7:30 p.m. game will be on ESPNU. Saturday will be an off day with the tournament wrapping up on Sunday. Two of Sunday's games will be televised on ESPNU and two on ESPN2.
Kansas State was 23-12 last season, finishing fourth in the Big 12. The Wildcats lost to DePaul in the second round of the NIT. Villanova was 22-11 and lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Kentucky. The Wildcats tied for seventh in the Big East. Central Florida was 22-9 last year. The Knights finished second in Conference USA but did not make the postseason after losing in the opening round of the conference tournament.
South Carolina was 14-16 in 2007 as the Gamecocks finished last in the SEC Eastern Division. Penn State was 11-19 last season and the Nittany Lions were last in the Big Ten. North Carolina State was 20-16 in 2007 having reached the finals of the ACC Tournament after finishing tied for 10th in the regular season. The Wolfpack advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT before losing to West Virginia. Rider was 16-15 last year, losing to Niagara in the second round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Broncos were seventh in the MAAC.
The inaugural Old Spice Classic was played in 2006 with Arkansas defeating West Virginia in the championship game. Marist placed third.
