November 1, 2007
 
Jacket Men Open Season Friday

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings men’s basketball team tips off the 2007-2008 season on Friday at Disney’s Division II West Coast Tip Off Classic. The Jackets will play three games in three days at the tournament.

All three of the Yellowjackets’ games will be streamed on the internet free at www.msubillings.edu/athletics by clicking on the “Live Broadcasts” link on the left sidebar of the page. Live stats for all tournament games will also be available by going to www.goccaa.org/disneyclassic and clicking on the “Tournament Central” link.

The Yellowjackets will face three teams that have historically been among the best in Division II: Metro State, Cal State San Bernardino, and Kentucky Wesleyan. The tournament will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center and Disneyland Resort on Nov. 2, 3 and 4 and will feature four men’s and four women’s teams.

MSU Billings is coming off a 6-21 season. The Jackets will field a young squad in 2007-08, featuring seven freshmen and four sophomores. The 2007-08 season will be the Yellowjackets’ first season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, returning them to the NCAA West Region after a two-year stint in the Heartland Conference and South Central Region.

MSUB tips off the first men’s session at the Disney Classic on Friday, Nov. 2, against Metro State. The Roadrunners were 28-4 last year and reached the semifinals of the NCAA North Central Regional. They finished the season ranked No. 5 in the nation. Metro State, which plays in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, won national championships in 2000 and 2002 and reached the national title game in 1999 and 2004.

The Jackets meet Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, Nov. 3. The Coyotes are coming off a 26-6 season that culminated in an NCAA West Region title and a trip to the NCAA Final Four. They finished the year ranked No. 8 in the nation.  A perennial power in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, CSU San Bernardino has won seven conference crowns since 2000 along with NCAA West Region titles in 1999, 2002, and 2007.

MSU Billings closes the tourney against Kentucky Wesleyan, arguably the most successful program in Division II history, on Sunday, Nov. 4. The Panthers from the Great Lakes Valley Conference were just 13-14 overall last season, but they played in the NCAA national championship game as recently as 2003. They were national champions in 2001 and runners up in 2002 and 2003. Since 1960, Kentucky Wesleyan holds the Division II records for the most weeks ranked in the national top 10 (230), the most weeks ranked in the top 5 (149), and the most weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation (51).