By Mark Rudi
Sports Editor
ESPN has announced the matchups for the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Hill Classic and the Broncos will take on a 2009 NCAA Tournament team in the opening round.
Western Michigan University will face the University of Southern California Dec. 22 in the opening round of the tournament in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game will be telecasted by ESPNU.
The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Hill Classic will take place Dec. 22, 23 and 25 and is hosted by the University of Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center. The other participants include Hawaii, St. Mary’s College of California, Northeastern University, Southern Methodist University, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and College of Charleston.
All games will be broadcast on either ESPNU or ESPN2. WMU will face either St. Mary’s or Northeastern in the second round on Dec. 23.
The Broncos are 1-1 all-time against USC and the two last met in 2004 in Los Angeles with the Trojans coming out on top 81-74. However, WMU beat USC 83-65 in 2003 at University Arena, but the Trojan basketball program vastly improved when Tim Floyd took over as head coach in 2005.
However, Floyd resigned on June 9 and Kevin O’Neil, who was the interim coach at the University of Arizona while Lute Olson was taking a leave of absence in 2007-08, was named head coach on June 20. The Trojans were eliminated by Michigan State University in the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
The Broncos open up the regular season Nov. 15 on the road against the University of Detroit-Mercy.
For a look at the Hawaiin Airlines Diamond Head Classic bracket, click here.
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