Annual early season collegiate basketball tournament
This article is about the tournament known as the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic from 1995 to 2011 and 2K Sports Classic from 2012 to 2018. For the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic held from 2012 to 2014, see Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. For the thoroughbred race horse, see Classic Empire. For the video game Empire, see Empire (1977 video game).
Empire Classic
Formerly
Atlantic City Shootout (1995) Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (1996–2011) 2K Sports Classic (2012–2019)
The Empire Classic is an annual college basketball event played in November at the beginning of the season and televised by ESPN. Originally known as the Atlantic City Shootout and produced by the Gazelle Group, Inc., the event was first played in 1995. The following year, it became the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic as a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. In 2012, the tournament beneficiary became Wounded Warrior Project, resulting in the tournament being renamed the 2K Sports Classic. (A new annual college basketball tournament benefiting cancer research, also called the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic and hosted by the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was held from 2012 to 2014.[1]) In 2019, the 2K Sports Classic was renamed the 2K Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, commonly referred to as the "Empire Classic".
History
The first two events were doubleheader showcases held at the Atlantic City Convention Center (now Boardwalk Hall). From 1997 through 2001, the event was played as a tournament. Princeton won the first tournament in 1997, which took place at Continental Airlines Arena in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
In 1998, the event moved to Madison Square Garden in New York City, where it remained through 2019. In both 2002 and 2003, it was played as a showcase doubleheader. In 2004, it became a tournament again, with a new format as a 16-team event with teams from 16 separate conferences. Four predetermined regional round hosts played two games at home and the winners play in the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden. Syracuse won the first tournament played in this format, beating Memphis, 77–62, in 2004.
In 2007, Gardner–Webb unexpectedly won at Kentucky, 84–68, and advanced to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden, preventing one of the tournament's marquee teams from playing there. To ensure that the marquee teams would play in the semifinals in the 2008 tournament, the semifinalists were predetermined, regardless of the results of the regional rounds. Beginning in 2009, the format was revised to a 12-team field and each team was guaranteed four games in the tournament, with the semifinalists advancing to Madison Square Garden and the remaining eight teams being split into two subregional tournaments played at predetermined campus sites.
In 2014, the tournament format changed again, with eight teams from eight separate conferences invited to the tournament. Two games were held at four different regional sites selected before the tournament. The semifinals and finals were held at Madison Square Garden and the remaining four teams played in a tournament format at a predetermined on-campus site. This format persisted through 2019.
In 2021, the tournament format was dropped, and the Empire Classic took place as a showcase event at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. Four teams participated, and the event consisted of two doubleheaders played over the course of two days,[3][4]
The top two teams in the country, Gonzaga and UCLA,[17] headlined the 27th annual Empire Classic, held at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 22 and 23. Joining them were Central Michigan and Bellarmine.[18] The format reverted to a showcase event.
Villanova and Maryland will square off in the Showcase Game of the 2024 Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project on November 24, 2024 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.[5]
