Greenville, S.C. – Furman will face the Richmond Spiders in game one of the Imagination Bracket at the Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, it was announced on Tuesday morning by ESPN Events.
 
The Paladins and Spiders will tip-off at 11 a.m. at State Farm Field House in Kissimmee, Fla., with the Charlotte 49ers and Illinois State Redbirds scheduled to do battle at 1:30 p.m. Both games will air live on ESPN2. The losers of the Thanksgiving matchups will square off at 12:30 p.m. on November 28 in the third-place game on ESPN+ with the winners meeting in the championship game at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
 
The first-round matchup will be the first between the Paladins and Spiders since A-10 member Richmond left the Southern Conference following the 1975-76 season. Furman holds a 34-21 lead in the all-time series between the schools and claimed a 97-85 decision in the most recent meeting on February 12, 1976, in Greenville. Charlotte holds a 5-3 edge in the all-time series between the Paladins and 49ers while a Furman-Illinois State contest on November 28 would mark the first meeting between the schools.
 
The Imagination Bracket is one of three brackets in the 16-team Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, which also includes the Magic Bracket (BYU, Dayton, Georgetown, and Miami) and the Adventure Bracket (Bradley, Liberty, Princeton, Rhode Island, Temple, Towson, UC San Diego, and Vermont). The eight-team Adventure Bracket will take the court on November 24-26 while the Magic Bracket will play November 27-28.
 
Tickets for all three brackets are now on sale here. All tickets include two back-to-back games within the same bracket. New in 2025, all tickets will include reserved seat assignments. There will be no general admission tickets. Fans can select their seats using Ticketmaster's interactive map.
 
Furman is coming off a 25-10 season that saw the Paladins advance to the championship game of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship prior to earning an at-large bid to the NIT. The Paladins, under the leadership of ninth-year head coach Bob Richey, will return five players with starting experience, including Cooper Bowser, Ben VanderWal, Eddrin Bronson, Tom House, and Charles Johnston.
 
About ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In the 2025-26 academic year, the 35-event schedule includes three early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, two college volleyball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
 
Follow ESPN Events on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube pages.
 
About Terry's Chocolate
Terry's Chocolate is more than a chocolate, it's an experience. Tap it, unwrap it and enjoy it: this ritual has been tempting the United Kingdom since 1926 and has become popular in the U.S. market with several million balls sold each year. This unique and interactive format has made the Terry's Chocolate a must-have Christmas stocking-stuffer and the perfect token gift all year round. Terry's, time to have a blast!
 
About ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, located at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, is the home of Disney Soccer and Disney Spring Training and one of the premier sites for amateur sports in the nation. The complex hosts dozens of events each year and has accommodated 70 different sports featuring athletes from 70 different countries. Designed to provide professional, amateur and youth athletes with experiences synonymous with the names Disney and ESPN, the 220-acre facility features multiple competition venues, including 12 baseball/softball fields; a 9,500-seat stadium; a state-of-the-art indoor arena in addition to two field houses for basketball, volleyball, eSports and other indoor sports; and 17 multi-purpose outdoor fields for soccer, football and field hockey. The complex also contains a professional production center that produces content for the Disney family of networks for global distribution. For more information, visit www.disneysportsnews.com for news releases, photos and videos and www.espnwwos.com for the latest calendar of events.

Minuteman Press is the Official Sponsor of Furman Athletics press releases.
 
 
TERRY'S CHOCOLATE ESPN EVENTS INVITATIONAL
 
ADVENTURE BRACKET
November 24-26
State Farm Field House (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Kissimmee, Fla.)
 

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Event	Network
Mon, Nov. 24	11 a.m.	Rhode Island vs. Towson	ESPN2/ESPNU
	1:30 p.m.	Liberty vs. Vermont	ESPNU
	4:30 p.m.	Temple vs. UC San Diego	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Princeton vs. Bradley	ESPN+
Tue, Nov. 25	Noon	Semifinal #1	ESPN2
	2:30 p.m.	Consolation #1	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Semifinal #2	ESPN2
	7:30 p.m.	Consolation #2	ESPNU
Wed, Nov. 26	Noon	Championship Game	ESPN2
	2:30 p.m.	Third place game	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Seventh place game	ESPN+
	7:30 p.m.	Fifth place game	ESPNU

 
 
IMAGINATION BRACKET
November 27-28
State Farm Field House (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Kissimmee, Fla.)
 

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Event	Network
Thu, Nov. 27	11 a.m.	Richmond vs. Furman	ESPN2
	1:30 p.m.	Charlotte vs. Illinois State	ESPN2
Fri, Nov. 28	12:30 p.m.	Third Place Game	ESPN+
	3 p.m.	Championship Game	ESPN2

 
 
MAGIC BRACKET
November 27-28
State Farm Field House (ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Kissimmee, Fla.)
 

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Event	Network
Thu, Nov. 27	5 p.m.	BYU vs. Miami	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Georgetown vs. Dayton	ESPN2
Fri, Nov. 28	7 p.m.	Championship or Third Place Game	ESPN/ESPN2
	9:30 p.m.	Championship or Third Place Game	ESPN/ESPN2