The brackets and first round matchups have been released for the PK80 Presented by State Farm.
The “Motion” and “Victory” brackets for PK80 presented by State Farm – the 16-team, early-season men’s college basketball event honoring Nike co-founder and 2012 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Phil Knight celebrating his 80th birthday – have been finalized.
The two eight-team brackets will run simultaneously in the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., with the crowning of two champions. Games will be played Thursday, Nov. 23, Friday, Nov. 24 and Sunday, Nov. 26.
To view the bracket, click here. All games from Portland will be televised on ESPN networks (to be announced at a later date). PK80 was created on behalf of the schools and is owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, in conjunction with the Rose Quarter.
Ticket Information
Limited All Session and Moda Only Ticket Packages are still available exclusively at pkinvitational.com/tickets. Single-session tickets, which include seats for two games, will go on sale Friday, June 9 at 10 a.m. PT. Tickets will be available at ticketmaster.com, the Rose Quarter Box Office (M-F 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.), by calling 800.745.3000 or online atpkinvitational.com/tickets. Fans can join the presale for single-session seats by signing up now at http://pkinvitational.com/event-info/.
Field Breakdown
One of the largest regular-season multi-team events in college basketball history, PK80 sports a field featuring some of the top schools in the nation.
· The field boasts 24 National Champions, including 10 of the past 14 winners
· Participants include three 2017 NCAA Final Four teams (National Champion North Carolina, Runner-up Gonzaga and Oregon)
· Also, earning berths in the 2017 NCAA Tournament was Arkansas, Butler, Duke, Florida and Michigan State, in addition to field participants UConn, Georgetown, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Portland, Portland State, Stanford and Texas
Bracket Breakdown
The PK80 brackets are named as a tribute to Phil Knight and the iconic sports brand he created.
· “Victory”: In Greek mythology, Nike was considered the goddess of Victory
· “Motion”: The swoosh logo is not only meant to represent motion, but to also resemble the wings of the goddess Nike
The “Motion” bracket will feature Butler, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.
· The early session will showcase Duke vs. Portland State and Butler against Texas
· The evening session pairs Florida against Stanford and Gonzaga vs. Ohio State
The “Victory” bracket will showcase Arkansas, UConn, Georgetown, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon and Portland.
· North Carolina will face Portland and Arkansas will play Oklahoma in the day’s early session
· The evening games will feature Georgetown against Michigan State and UConn vs. Oregon
