Legends Classic (basketball tournament)

Legends Classic (basketball tournament)

Logo from 2019
Sport	College Basketball
Founded	2007
No. of teams	4 (2021–present) 8 (2007–2019)
Country	United States
Venue(s)	Barclays Center
Most recent champion(s)	Texas
Most titles	Auburn, Pittsburgh, and Texas (2)
Broadcaster(s)	ESPN
Sponsor(s)	Vivid Seats Old Trapper
Official website	legendsclassic.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:

• Boston College
• BYU
• Florida
• St. Johns
• UConn
• USC

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

• Auburn
• Cal State Northridge
• Colgate
• Green Bay
• McNeese State
• New Mexico
• Richmond
• Wisconsin

^[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

• Bowling Green
• California
• Detroit Mercy
• Hampton
• Loyola (Md.)
• St. John's
• Temple
• VCU

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

• Montana
• Oklahoma State
• Oral Roberts
• Penn State
• Pepperdine
• Pittsburgh
• Texas A&M
• UC Santa Barbara

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

• Bryant
• Colorado
• Eastern Washington
• Louisiana–Monroe
• Northwestern
• Notre Dame
• Seattle
• Texas

	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

• Arizona State
• Belmont
• IUPUI
• Kennesaw State
• LSU
• Marquette
• NC State
• South Alabama

	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

• Bucknell
• Detroit
• Maryland Eastern Shore
• Michigan
• Oregon
• Toledo
• Villanova
• VCU

	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

• Houston
• Howard
• Lehigh
• Pittsburgh
• South Dakota State
• Stanford
• Texas Southern
• Texas Tech

^[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

• Duquesne
• Georgetown
• Georgia
• Indiana
• James Madison
• Liberty
• North Dakota State
• Sam Houston State
• Southern Miss
• University of California, Irvine
• UCLA
• Youngstown State

^[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

• Boston University
• Bucknell
• Cleveland State
• Hofstra
• Morehead State
• North Carolina State
• Oregon State
• Princeton
• Rhode Island
• Texas
• Vanderbilt
• West Alabama

^[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

• Albany
• Bowling Green
• Detroit
• Gardner-Webb
• Georgia Tech
• Michigan
• Niagara
• Mercer
• Syracuse
• UTEP
• Western Carolina
• William & Mary

^[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

• Arkansas-Fort Smith
• Cornell
• Drexel
• Michigan State
• Georgia Southern
• Florida
• Rutgers
• Toledo
• Valparaiso
• Vermont
• Troy
• UMass

^[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

• Akron
• Eastern Kentucky
• East Central (Ok.)
• Fairleigh Dickinson
• Indiana (Pa.)
• Mississippi State
• North Alabama
• Pittsburgh
• Texas Tech
• Thiel
• Urbana
• Washington State

^[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

• 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

^[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

• Barclays Center Classic

References

1. "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. 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 ]}

External links

• Legends Classic official site
• Basketball Legends