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, 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. 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
Most appearances
Brackets
* – Denotes overtime period
2024
The 2024 tournament took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, on November 21 & 22, 2024.
2023
The 2023 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It took place on November 16 & 17, 2023.
2022
The 2022 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn The tournament took place from Wednesday, November 16 to Thursday, November 17, 2022.
2021
The 2021 tournament was set to return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but was played at the Prudential Center in Newark. The tournament took place from Monday, November 22 to Tuesday, November 23, 2021. Texas and UCLA were originally set to play, but were replaced by Georgia and Providence.
2020
The field for the tournament for the year 2020 initially included four teams instead of the usual eight due to COVID-19 concerns. BYU replaced Notre Dame after they pulled out of the field. Then later Vanderbilt withdrew from the tournament as well and the format for the competition was changed to a showcase format. The location of the tournament was also relocated to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The participants in the 2020 group included:
- Boston College
- BYU
- Florida
- St. Johns
- UConn
- USC
All games in the 2020 Tournament are televised on either ESPN or ESPN2. Due to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt not participating in the tournament, the format was changed to a showcase format with the following results.
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
- Auburn
- Cal State Northridge
- Colgate
- Green Bay
- McNeese State
- New Mexico
- Richmond
- Wisconsin
Championship Round
2018 participants and bracket
- Bowling Green
- California
- Detroit Mercy
- Hampton
- Loyola (Md.)
- St. John's
- Temple
- VCU
Championship Round
Sub Regionals
2017 participants and bracket
- Montana
- Oklahoma State
- Oral Roberts
- Penn State
- Pepperdine
- Pittsburgh
- Texas A&M
- UC Santa Barbara
Regionals
Championship Round
Sub Regionals
2016 participants and bracket
- Bryant
- Colorado
- Eastern Washington
- Louisiana–Monroe
- Northwestern
- Notre Dame
- Seattle
- Texas
2015 participants and bracket
- Arizona State
- Belmont
- IUPUI
- Kennesaw State
- LSU
- Marquette
- NC State
- South Alabama
2014 participants and bracket
- Bucknell
- Detroit
- Maryland Eastern Shore
- Michigan
- Oregon
- Toledo
- Villanova
- VCU
2013 participants and bracket
- Houston
- Howard
- Lehigh
- Pittsburgh
- South Dakota State
- Stanford
- Texas Southern
- Texas Tech
2012 participants and bracket
2011 participants and bracket
- Boston University
- Bucknell
- Cleveland State
- Hofstra
- Morehead State
- North Carolina State
- Oregon State
- Princeton
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- West Alabama
2010 participants and bracket
- Albany
- Bowling Green
- Detroit
- Gardner-Webb
- Georgia Tech
- Michigan
- Niagara
- Mercer
- Syracuse
- UTEP
- Western Carolina
- William & Mary
2009 participants and bracket
- Arkansas-Fort Smith
- Cornell
- Drexel
- Michigan State
- Georgia Southern
- Florida
- Rutgers
- Toledo
- Valparaiso
- Vermont
- Troy
- UMass
2008 participants and bracket
- Akron
- Eastern Kentucky
- East Central (Ok.)
- Fairleigh Dickinson
- Indiana (Pa.)
- Mississippi State
- North Alabama
- Pittsburgh
- Texas Tech
- Thiel
- Urbana
- Washington State
2007 participants and bracket
- Arkansas-Monticello
- La Verne
- LeMoyne–Owen
- New Mexico State
- Prairie View A&M
- Schreiner
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- Tennessee
- Texas
- University of California, Davis
- West Virginia
See also
- Barclays Center Classic
References
External links
- Legends Classic official site
- Basketball Legends
