Report by LBSU

Pairings for November’s “76 Classic” in Anaheim will be announced today on ESPNEWS during the 11am to noon programming hour along with the pairings from four other college tournaments. Long Beach State is one of eight teams taking part in the “76 Classic” from Nov. 26-29 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Joining The Beach in the tournament will be UCLA, West Virginia, Clemson, Texas A&M, Butler, Portland and Minnesota. Each of those teams advanced to a postseason tournament last season with UCLA, West Virginia, Clemson, Texas A&M, Butler and Minnesota playing in the NCAA Tournament, while Portland was in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The tournament highlights what is expected to be a challenging non-conference season for Long Beach State. The 49ers travel to face a pair of 2009 NCAA Tournament teams, Duke and Texas, two 2009 National Invitational Tournament (NIT) teams, Notre Dame and Kentucky, and one 2009 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) team, Green Bay. The Beach also hosts 2009 NCAA Tournament team Utah State.

During the 2009-10 season, Long Beach State could play as many as 14 games against teams that advanced to a postseason tournament last year, including as many as 10 against teams that played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. LBSU opens its season November 14 in the Walter Pyramid against Alaska Anchorage.

Check back with LBPOSTsports in the afternoon if you miss the announcement, we’ll post the pairings here.