SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco tennis program welcomes top collegiate tennis teams from the region, state and nation to the eighth Battle in the Bay Classic, hold annually at the California Tennis Club. This year's tournament is the second in which both men and women will compete, and wildcard spots for regional challenger tournaments are on the line.

TomKat Foundation, the tournament's title sponsor for the past seven years, have been a part of the growth and outreach of the event. Kat and Tom Steyer are dedicated to showcasing the importance of academics in the athletic arena.

Presenting sponsors, ValueAct Capital and the Hearst Family have also been major contributors to the Battle in the Bay Classic. They have helped expand the tournament from a local footprint, to a national event with teams coming from as far away as North Carolina, Iowa, Texas and Michigan. The Kennedy-Grossman family, McCall Design Group and Owlhouse have also played a vital role in the success of the tournament, sponsoring the event from its inception.

Featuring powerhouse squads and players, the men's field of this year's tournament includes preseason No. 3 TCU, No. 9 Cal and No. 12 Southern Cal, along with a host of other national and regionally ranked programs. In fact, every men's program traveling to San Francisco to take to the courts finds themselves in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis preseason top 75.

West Coast Conference foes No. 29 San Diego, No. 53 Pepperdine, No. 70 Pacific and No. 74 Portland are joined by regional competitors No. 21 Stanford, N. 44 UC Santa Barbara, No. 62 Cal Poly and San Diego State, alongside Midwest squad No. 65 Iowa.

Men in the draw will be eyeing a wild card position into the $100,000 Tiburon Challenger, a USTA Pro Circuit event held in the fall at Tiburon Peninsula Club.

Action from the courts of the Cal Club is slated to begin on Thursday, Sept. 22, as the 16-person women's draw gets underway. Along with vying for the tournament title, competitors will be eying an wildcard entry into the $50,000 Stockton Challenger next summer. The women's draw will include players from USF, Arizona, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Pacific.

The men see the court for the first time on Friday, with men's and women's doubles action followed by singles play, and the day culminates with a USF Alumni Event at the Cal Club. The competition continues Saturday, and the championship matches will be contested on Sunday, after the Dons host a Kids Day event in conjunction with community partner Harper for Kids.

Draws and additional information will be posted as they become available. For more, please visit usfdons.com/bbc.