PLANO, Texas, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunkist Soda has teamed up with broadcasting icon Dick Vitale to increase this college basketball season's level of awesome, baby. Through Feb. 3, consumers can go to Sunkistsoda.com to upload videos of their best Vitale impression for a chance to win a trip to a college championship game and one of five $10,000 cash prizes as part of Sunkist's "Be Dickie V" contest.

"Sunkist is looking for some real PTP'ers*," said Dick Vitale. "It's college basketball. It's trips to conference championship games. It's $50,000. It's awesome, baby!"

Following the open submissions period, the top 25 entries will be posted online. Fans can vote from Feb. 8 through Feb. 24 for their favorite impression. The top 15 finalists will bounce their way to one of five college championship games for the ultimate competition: demonstrating their best Dickie V impressions during halftime for the entire crowd. At each of the five games, one winner will be chosen by the loudest audience response to win $10,000. Sunkist will award a total of $50,000 in cash prizes to the five winners.

"Sunkist wants to bring a little bit of awesome to every situation and no one does that better than Dick Vitale," said Dave Falk, director of marketing for Sunkist Soda. "The 'Be Dickie V' promotion allows Sunkist fans to show their love of college basketball and provides a chance to win cash."

Vitale's basketball career spans nearly 50 years. Beginning as a high school basketball coach in northern New Jersey, Vitale went on to coach Rutgers, the University of Detroit and the Detroit Pistons before settling into a storied career as an announcer. For more than 30 years, Vitale has been calling college basketball games with such style that he has become synonymous with the sport. In 2008, Vitale was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Visit Sunkistsoda.com for more promotional details.

*PTP'ers = Prime Time Players

About Sunkist Soda

Sunkist Soda, a product of Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) licensed from Sunkist Growers, Inc., originally launched nationally in 1979 and quickly became the number one orange soda on the market. Today, the Sunkist Soda brand is available in multiple varieties and flavors such as Regular, Diet, Sunkist Sparkling Lemonade, Diet Sunkist Sparkling Lemonade, Sunkist Cherry Limeade, Sunkist Strawberry, Sunkist Grape, Sunkist Pineapple, Sunkist Peach, Sunkist Fruit Punch and Sunkist Float. DPS is a leading producer of flavored soft drinks, marketing 50-plus other brands across North America and the Caribbean. For more information on Sunkist Soda, visit www.sunkistsoda.com or www.drpeppersnapple.com.

SOURCE Sunkist Soda