Legends Classic (basketball tournament)

Legends Classic (basketball tournament)
Logo from 2019
SportCollege Basketball
Founded2007
No. of teams4 (2021–present)
8 (2007–2019)
CountryUnited States
Venue(s)Barclays Center
Most recent
champion(s)		Texas
Most titlesAuburn, Pittsburgh, and Texas (2)
TV partner(s)ESPN
Sponsor(s)Vivid Seats
Old Trapper
Official websitelegendsclassic.com

The Legends Classic is an annual, early-season, college basketball tournament which started in 2007 and takes place at the beginning of the college basketball season in November. Four teams (from four conferences) compete in the Legends Classic. The tournament has been held at various venues in the New York metropolitan area, primarily the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

History

The Legends Classic began in 2007 with the first two events being played at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. In that first year, only the four regional-round hosts were guaranteed to play four games,[1] as Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, and New Mexico State each hosted a pair of games, before advancing to the semifinals in Newark. Since the 2008–09 season, each team has been guaranteed to play four games.

In 2013, the field for the event decreased from 12 teams to 8 teams from eight separate conferences. Two games were held at four different regional sites selected before the tournament. Four teams advanced to the semifinals and finals at Barclays Center in New York City, while the remaining four teams played in a tournament format at a predetermined on-campus site.[1] After a showcase format was used in 2020, following the withdrawal of teams due to COVID-19-related issues, the size of the field was reduced to four, starting in 2021, with all games played at the same venue.

Yearly champions, runners-up, and MVPs

Year Winner Score Opponent Tournament MVP Other participants Venue
2024 Texas 67–58 Saint Joseph's Tre Johnson, Texas Texas Tech, Syracuse Barclays Center, Brooklyn
2023 Auburn 77–60 St. Bonaventure Johni Broome, Auburn Notre Dame, Oklahoma State
2022 Arizona State 87–62 Michigan Desmond Cambridge Jr., Arizona State Pittsburgh, VCU
2021 Virginia 58–40 Providence Jayden Gardner, Virginia Northwestern, Georgia Prudential Center, Newark
2020 Changed to a Showcase due to COVID-19 Evan Mobley, USC Boston College, BYU, Florida, St. John's, UConn, USC Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville
2019 Auburn 79–65 Richmond Austin Wiley, Auburn New Mexico, Wisconsin Barclays Center, Brooklyn
2018 St. John's 87–86OT VCU Shamorie Ponds, St. John's California, Temple
2017 Texas A&M 98–87 Penn State Robert Williams, Texas A&M Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh
2016 Notre Dame 70–66 Northwestern Matt Farrell, Notre Dame Colorado, Texas
2015 Marquette 78–73OT Arizona State Henry Ellenson, Marquette LSU, NC State
2014 Villanova 60–55 Michigan Dylan Ennis, Villanova VCU, Oregon
2013 Pittsburgh 88–67 Stanford Lamar Patterson, Pittsburgh Texas Tech, Houston
2012 Indiana 82–72OT Georgetown Jordan Hulls, Indiana UCLA, Georgia
2011 Vanderbilt 64–62 Oregon State John Jenkins, Vanderbilt NC State, Texas Izod Center, East Rutherford
2010 Syracuse 80–76 Georgia Tech Rick Jackson, Syracuse Michigan, UTEP Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City
2009 Florida 73–58 Rutgers Erving Walker, Florida Michigan State, UMass
2008 Pittsburgh 57–43 Washington State Sam Young, Pittsburgh Mississippi State, Texas Tech Prudential Center, Newark
2007 Texas 97–78 Tennessee D. J. Augustin, Texas New Mexico State, West Virginia

Most appearances

School
Texas
4
Pittsburgh
Michigan
3
VCU
Texas Tech
Auburn
2
Georgia
NC State
Northwestern
Syracuse

Brackets

* – Denotes overtime period

2024

The 2024 tournament took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, on November 21 & 22, 2024.[2]

Semifinals
November 21
ESPN2 		Championship
November 22
ESPNU
      
  Syracuse 66
  Texas 70
  Texas 67
  Saint Joseph's 58
  Texas Tech 77
  Saint Joseph's 78 Consolation Game
November 22
ESPNU
  Syracuse 74
  Texas Tech 79

2023

The 2023 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.[3] It took place on November 16 & 17, 2023.

Semifinals
November 16
ESPNU/ESPN2 		Championship
November 17
ESPN2
      
  Oklahoma State 64
  St. Bonaventure 66
St. Bonaventure 60
  Auburn 77
  Auburn 83
  Notre Dame 59 Consolation Game
November 17
ESPNU
Oklahoma State 64
  Notre Dame 66*

2022

The 2022 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn[4] The tournament took place from Wednesday, November 16 to Thursday, November 17, 2022.[5]

Semifinals
November 16
ESPNU/ESPN+ 		Championship
November 17
ESPN2
      
20 Michigan 90
Pittsburgh 61
20 Michigan 62
  Arizona State 87
  Arizona State 63
  VCU 59 Consolation Game
November 17
ESPN2
  Pittsburgh 67
  VCU 71

2021

The 2021 tournament was set to return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but was played at the Prudential Center in Newark.[4] The tournament took place from Monday, November 22 to Tuesday, November 23, 2021.[6] Texas and UCLA were originally set to play, but were replaced by Georgia and Providence.[7][8]

Semifinals
November 22
ESPNU/ESPN+ 		Championship
November 23
ESPN2
      
Virginia 65
Georgia 55
Virginia 58
Providence 40
Providence 77
Northwestern 72 Consolation Game
November 23
ESPN2
  Georgia 62
  Northwestern 78

2020

The field for the tournament for the year 2020 initially included four teams instead of the usual eight due to COVID-19 concerns.[9] BYU replaced Notre Dame after they pulled out of the field.[10] Then later Vanderbilt withdrew from the tournament as well and the format for the competition was changed to a showcase format.[11] The location of the tournament was also relocated to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.[12] The participants in the 2020 group included:

All games in the 2020 Tournament are televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.[13] Due to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt not participating in the tournament, the format was changed to a showcase format with the following results.[14]

Date Time (EST) Winner Opponent Score Television Top Performer/Player of the Game
December 1, 2020 2:30 pm USC BYU 79–53 ESPN2 Evan Mobley (USC), 17 points, 11 rebounds
December 2, 2020 5:00 pm BYU St. John's 74–68 ESPN2 Alex Barcello (BYU), 20 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds
December 3, 2020 7:00 pm UConn USC 61–58 ESPN Evan Mobley (USC), 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks
December 3, 2020 9:30 pm Florida Boston College 90–70 ESPN Keyontae Johnson (Florida), 24 points, 12 rebounds

MVP: Evan Mobley (USC)

All-Tournament Team: Julian Champagnie (St. John's), Alex Barcello (BYU), James Bouknight (UConn) and Keyontae Johnson (Florida).

2019 participants and bracket

[15]

Championship Round

First Round
November 25
ESPN2
ESPNEWS 		Championship
November 26
ESPN2
      
Wisconsin 52
Richmond 62
Richmond 65
18 Auburn 79
18 Auburn 84
New Mexico 59 Consolation
November 26
ESPN2
Wisconsin 50
New Mexico 59

2018 participants and bracket

Championship Round

First Round
November 19
ESPN 2
ESPN3 		Championship
November 20
ESPN2
      
St. John's 82
California 79
St. John's 87*
VCU 86
VCU 57
Temple 51 Consolation
November 20
ESPNU
California 59
Temple 76
Sub Regionals
Sub Regional Games
November 19 		Championship Game
November 20
      
Bowling Green 81
Hampton 79
Bowling Green 67
Detroit Mercy 82
Detroit Mercy 91
Loyola Maryland 63 Consolation Game
November 20
Hampton 66
Loyola Maryland 75

2017 participants and bracket

Regionals

Game 1
November 10
Fox College Sports 		Game 5
November 16
Fox Sports Oklahoma +
  Oral Roberts 48
  Pepperdine 47   Oklahoma State 91
  Oklahoma State 78
Game 2
November 13
ACC Network Extra 		Game 4
November 15
ACC Network Extra
  UC Santa Barbara 62
  Montana 83   Pittsburgh 70
  Pittsburgh 78
Game 3
November 15
Big Ten Network 		Game 7
November 24
Big Ten Network +
  Oral Roberts 48
  Montana 57   Penn State 86
  Penn State 70
Game 6
November 17
SEC Network + 		Game 8
November 24
SEC Network
  Pepperdine 65
  UC Santa Barbara 65   Texas A&M 81
  Texas A&M 84

Championship Round

Semifinals
November 20
ESPN 2
ESPN3 		Championship
November 21
ESPN2
      
16 Texas A&M 72
Oklahoma State 55
16 Texas A&M 98
Penn State 87
Penn State 85
Pittsburgh 54 Consolation
November 21
ESPNU
Oklahoma State 73
Pittsburgh 67

Sub Regionals

Sub Regional Games
November 20 		Championship Game
November 21
      
Oral Roberts 64
Montana 69
Montana 73
UC Santa Barbara 80
UC Santa Barbara 92
Pepperdine 84 Consolation Game
November 21
Oral Roberts 76
Pepperdine 80

2016 participants and bracket

Semifinals
November 21 		Championship
November 22
ESPN2
      
  Notre Dame 89
  Colorado 83
  Notre Dame 70
  Northwestern 66
22 Texas 58
  Northwestern 77 Consolation
November 22
ESPNU
  Colorado 68
22 Texas 54

2015 participants and bracket

Semifinals
November 23 		Championship
November 24
ESPN2
      
23 LSU 80
Marquette 81
Marquette 78*
Arizona State 73
NC State 76
Arizona State 79 Consolation
November 24
ESPNU
23 LSU 72
NC State 83*

2014 participants and bracket

Semifinals
November 24 		Championship
November 25
ESPN2
      
12 Villanova 77
14 VCU 53
12 Villanova 60
19 Michigan 55
19 Michigan 70
  Oregon 63 Consolation
November 25
ESPNU
14 VCU 77
  Oregon 63

2013 participants and bracket

[16]

Semifinals
November 25 		Championship
November 26
ESPNU
      
  Pittsburgh 76
  Texas Tech 53
  Pittsburgh 88
  Stanford 67
  Stanford 86
  Houston 76 Consolation
November 26
ESPN3
  Texas Tech 76
  Houston 64

2012 participants and bracket

[17]

Semifinals
November 19 		Championship
November 20
ESPN
      
  Georgia 53
1 Indiana 66
1 Indiana 82*
  Georgetown 72
  Georgetown 78
13 UCLA 70 Consolation
November 20
ESPNU
13 UCLA 60
  Georgia 56

2011 participants and bracket

[18]

Semifinals
November 19
ESPN3 		Championship
November 21
ESPN3
      
20 Vanderbilt 86
  NC State 79
20 Vanderbilt 64
  Oregon State 62
  Texas 95
  Oregon State 100* Consolation
November 21
ESPN3
  NC State 77
  Texas 74

2010 participants and bracket

[19]

Semifinals
November 26
HDNet 		Championship
November 27
HDNet
      
  Georgia Tech 71
  UTEP 61
  Georgia Tech 76
10 Syracuse 80
10 Syracuse 53
  Michigan 50 Consolation
November 27
HDNet
  UTEP 65
  Michigan 56

2009 participants and bracket

[20]

Semifinals
November 27
HDNet 		Championship
November 28
HDNet
      
  Rutgers 83
  UMass 75
  Rutgers 58
  Florida 73
2 Michigan State 74
  Florida 77 Consolation
November 20
ESPNU
  UMass 68
2 Michigan State 106

2008 participants and bracket

[21]

Semifinals
November 28
HDNet 		Championship
November 29
HDNet
      
  Washington State 63
  Mississippi State 52
  Washington State 43
  Pittsburgh 57
  Pittsburgh 80
  Texas Tech 67 Consolation
November 29
HDNet
  Mississippi State 77
  Texas Tech 73

2007 participants and bracket

[22]

Semifinals
November 23
Versus 		Championship
November 24
Versus
      
16 Texas 102
  New Mexico State 87
16 Texas 97
7 Tennessee 78
  West Virginia 72
7 Tennessee 74 Consolation
November 24
  West Virginia 75
  New Mexico State 61

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Legends Classic – Legends Classic". Gazellegroup.com. 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  2. ^ "2024 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). LegendsClassic.com. Gazelle Group. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Legends Classic Event Information".
  4. ^ a b Goodman, Jeff (May 22, 2021). "Sources also indicate to Stadium that a similar move is likely with the Legends Classic, which was set to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "2022-23 Men's College Basketball Early Season Tournaments and Exempt Multi-Team Events (MTEs)". SB Nation. April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "2021-22 Men's College Basketball Exempt Multi-Team Events". SB Nation. April 19, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  7. ^ Goodman, Jeff (May 19, 2021). "Georgia expected to replace Texas in the Legends Classic this season, source told Stadium". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  8. ^ Rothstein, Jon (May 26, 2021). "Sources: UCLA and Gonzaga again discussing Final Four rematch, Providence to replace Bruins in Legends Classic". collegehoopstoday.com. College Hoops Today. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  9. ^ Judd, Brandon (2020-10-14). "BYU basketball joins UConn, USC and Vanderbilt in Legends Classic field". Deseret News. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  10. ^ Amore, Dom. "UConn men sign on to play in reconfigured Legends Classic at Mohegan Sun". courant.com. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  11. ^ Stephenson, Tom (2020-11-29). "REPORT: Vanderbilt withdraws from Legends Classic". Anchor Of Gold. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  12. ^ Herald, Darnell Dickson Daily. "BYU men's hoops tabbed as one of four teams in Legends Classic". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  13. ^ "Schedule". Legends Classic. 2015-08-30. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  14. ^ "Schedule". Legends Classic. 2015-08-30. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  15. ^ Dobbertean, Chris (October 24, 2018). "2019–20 College Basketball Early Season Tournaments, Events, And Neutral-Site Games". Blogging the Bracket.
  16. ^ "2013 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  17. ^ "2012 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Retrieved 10 October 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  18. ^ "2011 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  19. ^ "2010 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Retrieved 10 October 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ "2009 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Retrieved 10 October 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  21. ^ "2008 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Retrieved 10 October 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  22. ^ "2007 Legends Classic Bracket" (PDF). gazellegroup. Retrieved 10 October 2012.[permanent dead link‍]