The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members include the flagship public universities of 12 states, three additional public land-grant universities, and one private research university. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I in sports competitions. In football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A.
The NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, sometimes referred to as Women's March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 women's college basketball teams from the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to determine the national championship.
The Maui Invitational is an annual early-season college basketball tournament that takes place Thanksgiving week, normally in Lahaina, Hawaii, at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui. It is hosted by Chaminade University of Honolulu, an NCAA Division II school. Seven or eight NCAA Division I men's basketball teams are invited to Maui to complete in the field, with Chaminade competing every other year. The Maui Invitational has been played since 1984 and is carried by ESPN. As of 2024, the title sponsor of the tournament is Novavax. Previous sponsors include Maui Jim, EA Sports, Camping World, and Allstate.
The NIT Season Tip-Off is an annual college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year, toward the beginning of the season. The first two rounds are held at campus sites, while the semifinals and the finals are held during the week of Thanksgiving in Brooklyn, NY. 2020's tournament was to be held at Amway Center in Orlando, FL, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the NCAA to cancel it. The tournament, which is a part of the regular season for all participating colleges, began in 1985 as the Preseason NIT, so-called in order to distinguish it from the post-season NIT. In 2005, the NCAA purchased the Men's Preseason and Postseason NIT and renamed the November tournament the NIT Season Tip-Off. The tournament remains one of the most well-known preseason tournaments in NCAA Division I men's basketball, along with the Maui Invitational.
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. In 2019, the 2K Sports Classic was renamed the 2K Empire Classic Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project, commonly referred to as the "Empire Classic".
The U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam is an NCAA college basketball tournament that takes place annually in late November. The men's tournament typically takes place the week before Thanksgiving, with the women's tournament occurring during Thanksgiving week. It is held at the Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. Missouri State is the defending men's champion. NC State and Texas are the defending women's champions in the Island and Reef divisions, respectively.
The Vegas Showdown formerly known as the Wooden Legacy is an annual early-season men's college basketball competition that began in 2013. It was formerly named in honor of basketball coach John Wooden, whose UCLA Bruins teams won 10 national championships over the 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975.
The Las Vegas Invitational was an 8 team college basketball tournament held during Thanksgiving of NCAA Division I men's college basketball season annually since 2003. The Tournament was originally held in the gymnasium of Valley High School, until moving to the new Orleans Arena in 2006.
The Cancun Challenge is a college basketball tournament organized by Triple Crown Sports which currently features eight NCAA Division I men's basketball teams and ten women's basketball teams. The formats of the men's and women's tournaments have varied from year to year. The men's tournament currently splits the eight teams into two divisions of four and consists of games played in the United States at participants' campus sites followed by a bracketed tournament played in Cancún, Mexico. The women's tournament splits the ten teams into one division of six and one division of four and each features round-robin play in Cancún with no bracket, and therefore no champion. The two divisions in each tournament are the Riviera Division and the Mayan Division.
The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic was an annual college basketball tournament event benefiting cancer research held from 2012 to 2014. The event was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and televised by truTV. The tournament replaced the previous Coaches vs. Cancer Classic tournament of 1995–2011, which was renamed the 2K Sports Classic in 2012 when it became a charitable event for the Wounded Warrior Project.
The 2013–14 Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Pittsburgh during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was Pittsburgh's inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, having moved from the Big East Conference. Pitt had been in the Big East since 1982. They finished the season 26–10, 11–7 in ACC play to finish in fifth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the ACC tournament where they lost to Virginia. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Colorado in the second round before losing in the third round to Florida.
The Barclays Center Classic is an annual early season college basketball tournament that was inaugurated in 2012. Each of the eight schools plays four games, with the bracketed portion of the tournament concluding at the tournament's namesake Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 2015–16 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Volunteers were led by first-year head coach Rick Barnes. The team played its home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 15–19, 6–12 in SEC play to finish in 12th place. They defeated Auburn and Vanderbilt to advance to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament where they lost to LSU.
The 2018 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament began on March 16, 2018, and concluded with the national championship game on Sunday, April 1. The Final Four was played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. This is the third time that the women's Final Four was played in Ohio after previously being held in Cincinnati in 1997 and Cleveland in 2007 and the first time that the women's Final Four was played in Columbus. For only the fourth time in the tournament’s 37-year history, all four of the number one seeds made it to the Final Four.
The 2019 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 64 teams to determine the national champion for the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 38th annual edition of the tournament began on March 22, and concluded with the championship game on April 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, with the University of South Florida serving as host. The tournament field was announced on March 18.
The 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The 40th edition of the tournament began on March 16, 2022, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at Target Center in Minneapolis, where the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the UConn Huskies 64–49 to win their second NCAA title, and handing UConn its first loss in the championship game. This tournament marked the introduction of the "First Four" round and an expansion of the field of participants from 64 teams to 68, mirroring the men's tournament since 2011.
The Jamaica Classic is an early-season college basketball tournament that takes place in November of each year at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Each year, Jamaica Classic participants play games at campus sites in the United States, some before and some after the Montego Bay games. At Montego Bay, those which host the campus-site games play in the "Montego Bay Division" of the Classic, while those which visit the hosts for campus-site games play separately in the "Rose Hall Division." A separate championship is awarded for each division, and a most valuable player is selected in each division.
The 2017NIRSA national soccer championship was the 24th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at Reach 11 Sports Complex, in Phoenix, Arizona from Thursday, November 16 to Saturday, November 18, 2017.
The 2023 NIRSA national soccer championship was the 29th NIRSA National Soccer Championships, the annual national championships for United States-based, collegiate club soccer teams organized by NIRSA. It took place at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex, in Round Rock, Texas from Thursday, November 16 to Saturday, November 18, 2023.
The 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament will be the 43rd edition of the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, a postseason tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The College Cup will be played on December 6 and December 9 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina and televised on ESPNU.
