Hall of Fame Classic (basketball tournament)

The Hall of Fame Classic (formerly known as the Guardians Classic, CBE Classic, and CBE Hall of Fame Classic) created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) is an annual season-opening college basketball tournament founded in 2001. The tournament is currently held in mid-November at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, which also contains the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Before the 2007 tournament, the final rounds were held at Municipal Auditorium, except for one year at Kemper Arena in 2001.

Tournament format

From the inaugural tournament in 2001 until 2019, twelve teams participated in the tournament. In this format; the first two rounds were played at campus sites on two different days hosted by regional hosts, regional hosts automatically advanced to the championship rounds which are played at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Championship rounds took place one week after the initial round. Teams not hosting advanced to sub regional rounds where they played three games. From 2020 until 2023 and again since 2025, four teams participate in a traditional four team tournament with a Championship and Consolation game.^[1] The 2024 Hall of Fame Classic was a showcase doubleheader, instead of a traditional four team tournament.^[2]

History

Championship game results

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up
2001	Missouri	78–77	Iowa
2002	Creighton	80–75	Notre Dame
2003	South Carolina	67–61	Richmond
2004	Creighton	65–64 (OT)	Ohio State
2005	Texas	68–59	Iowa
2006	Marquette	73–62	Duke
2007	UCLA	68–63	Michigan State
2008	Syracuse	89–81 (OT)	Kansas
2009	Texas	78–62	Pittsburgh
2010	Duke	82–68	Kansas State
2011	Missouri	92–53	Cal
2012	Kansas	73–59	St. Louis
2013	Wichita State	75–62	BYU
2014	Maryland	72–63	Iowa State
2015	North Carolina	80–70	Kansas State
2016	Kansas	65–54	Georgia
2017	Baylor	65–59	Creighton
2018	Texas Tech	70–52	Nebraska
2019	Butler	69–68	Stanford
2020	TCU	56–52	Liberty
2021	Arkansas	73–67	Cincinnati
2022	San Francisco	67–63	Wichita State
2023	Colorado State	69–48	Creighton
2024	Showcase Format
2025	Nebraska	86–85	Kansas State

Consolation game results

Year	Third place	Points	Fourth Place	Points
2001	Alabama	81	Memphis	70
2002	Furman	70	IUPUI	62
2003	Missouri State	72	San Francisco	52
2004	Houston	57	Missouri	55
2005	Kentucky	80	West Virginia	66
2006	Air Force	67	Texas Tech	53
2007	Missouri	84	Maryland	70
2008	Florida	86	Washington	84
2009	Wichita State	74	Iowa	57
2010	Gonzaga	66	Marquette	63
2011	Georgia	61	Notre Dame	57
2012	Texas A&M	55	Washington State	54
2013	Texas	77	DePaul	59
2014	Alabama	76	Arizona State	71
2015	Northwestern	67	Missouri	62
2016	UAB	81	George Washington	74
2017	UCLA	72	Wisconsin	70
2018	USC	99	Missouri State	80
2019	Oklahoma	77	Missouri	66
2020	South Carolina	69	Tulsa	58
2021	Illinois	72	Kansas State	64
2022	Grand Canyon	69	Northern Iowa	67
2023	Loyola Chicago	71	Boston College	68
2024	Showcase Format
2025	New Mexico	80	Mississippi State	78

Brackets

* – Denotes overtime period

2025

Semifinals November 20 Peacock/NBC Sports NOW			Championship November 21 Peacock/NBC Sports NOW

	Nebraska	84

	New Mexico	72
				Nebraska	86

				Kansas State	85
	Kansas State	98

	Mississippi State	77	Consolation November 21 Peacock/NBC Sports NOW


				New Mexico	80

				Mississippi State	78

2024

	November 22 BTN

	Iowa	69
	Utah State	77

	November 22 Peacock

	Wichita State	88
	Saint Louis	63

2023

Semifinals November 22 CBSSN			Championship November 23 CBSSN

	Boston College	74

	Colorado State	86
				Colorado State	69

			8	Creighton	48
8	Creighton	88

	Loyola Chicago	65	Consolation November 23 CBSSN


				Boston College	68

				Loyola Chicago	71

2022

Semifinals November 21 CBSSN			Championship November 22 CBSSN

	San Francisco	75

	Northern Iowa	69
				San Francisco	67

				Wichita State	63
	Grand Canyon	43

	Wichita State	55	Consolation November 22 CBSSN


				Northern Iowa	67

				Grand Canyon	69

2021

Semifinals November 22 ESPNews			Championship November 23 ESPN2

	Cincinnati	71

14	Illinois	51
				Cincinnati	67

			13	Arkansas	73
13	Arkansas	72

	Kansas State	64	Consolation November 23 ESPNews


			14	Illinois	72

				Kansas State	64

2020

Semifinals November 28		Championship November 29

Liberty	78

South Carolina	62
		Liberty	52

		TCU	56
TCU	70

Tulsa	65	Consolation November 29


		South Carolina	69

		Tulsa	58

All matches aired on ESPN Networks

2019

Host Rounds

Game 1 November 16 FS1			Game 2 November 22 FS1

				Butler	68
	Butler	80		Morehead State	50
	Wofford	61

Game 1 November 18 SECN+			Game 2 November 20 SECN+

				Missouri	70
	Missouri	75		Morehead State	52
	Wofford	56

Game 1 November 19 P12N			Game 2 November 22 P12N

				Stanford	81
	Stanford	76		William & Mary	50
	Maryland Eastern Shore	55

Game 1 November 18 Fox Sports Oklahoma			Game 2 November 21 Fox Sports Oklahoma

				Oklahoma	91
	Oklahoma	75		Maryland Eastern Shore	64
	William & Mary	70

Championship Round

Semifinals November 25 ESPNU ESPNU/ESPN2			Championship November 26 ESPN2

	Butler	63

	Missouri	52
				Butler	68

				Stanford	67
	Stanford	73

	Oklahoma	54	Consolation November 26 ESPNews


				Missouri	66

				Oklahoma	77

Subhost Rounds

	Wofford Subhost November 12

	Wofford	79

	William & Mary	80

	Morehead State Subhost November 16

	Morehead State	76

	Maryland Eastern Shore	53

	Maryland Eastern Shore Subhost November 26

	Maryland Eastern Shore	42

	Wofford	67

	William & Mary Subhost November 26

	William & Mary	95

	Morehead State	84

2018

Host Rounds

Game 1 November 6 Pac-12 Network			Game 2 November 14 Pac-12 Network

				Stetson	59
	Robert Morris	62		USC	95
	USC	83

Game 1 November 6 BTN+			Game 2 November 11 ESPNU

				Southeastern Louisiana	35
	Mississippi Valley State	37		Nebraska	87
	Nebraska	106

Game 1 November 9 Fox Sports Southwest+			Game 2 November 13 Fox Sports Southwest

				Southeastern Louisiana	40
	Mississippi Valley State	52		Texas Tech	59
	Texas Tech	84

Game 1 November 9 ESPN3			Game 2 November 11 KOZL

				Stetson	70
	Robert Morris	60		Missouri State	83
	Missouri State	74

Championship Round

Semifinals November 19 ESPNU ESPNU/ESPN2			Championship November 20 ESPN2

	Texas Tech	78

	USC	63
				Texas Tech	70

				Nebraska	52
	Nebraska	85

	Missouri State	62	Consolation November 20 ESPN3


				USC	99

				Missouri State	80

Subhost Rounds

	Southeastern Louisiana Subhost November 17

	Stetson	57

	Southeastern Louisiana	69

	Robert Morris Subhost November 17

	Mississippi Valley State	59

	Robert Morris	68

	Stetson Subhost November 19

	Stetson	72

	Robert Morris	81

	Mississippi Valley State Subhost November 12

	Southeastern Louisiana	59

	Mississippi Valley State	69

2017

Host Rounds

Game 1 November 10 Fox Sports Southwest			Game 2 November 17 Fox College Sports

				Alcorn State	61
	Central Arkansas	66	25	Baylor	78
24	Baylor	107

Game 1 November 10 Big Ten Network +			Game 2 November 12 Big Ten Network

				Yale	61
	South Carolina State	50		Wisconsin	89
	Wisconsin	85

Game 1 November 10 Fox Sports Midwest			Game 2 November 12 Fox Sports 1

				Alcorn State	72
	Yale	76		Creighton	109
	Creighton	92

Game 1 November 15 Pac-12 Network			Game 2 November 17 Pac-12 Network

				South Carolina State	68
	Central Arkansas	101	23	UCLA	96
23	UCLA	106*

Championship Round

Semifinals November 20 ESPNU ESPN2			Championship November 21 ESPN2

	Creighton	100

23	UCLA	89
				Creighton	59

			22	Baylor	65
22	Baylor	70

	Wisconsin	65	Consolation November 21 ESPN3


			23	UCLA	72

				Wisconsin	70

Subhost Rounds

Game 1 November 14			Game 2 November 19

				Alcorn State	76
	South Carolina State	54		Central Arkansas	102
	Yale	86

Game 1 November 21			Game 2 November 22

				Yale	87
	Central Arkansas	73		Alcorn State	73
	South Carolina State	64

2016

Championship Round

Semifinals November 21			Championship November 22

George Washington		73

Georgia		81
				Georgia	54

			5	Kansas	65
5	Kansas	83

	UAB	63	Consolation


			George Washington		74

			UAB		81

Subhost Rounds

	UNC Asheville Subhost November 20

	Siena	80

	UNC Asheville	92

	Furman Subhost November 22

	UNC Asheville	64

	Furman	58

	Siena Subhost November

	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	43

	Siena	66

2015

Championship Round

Semifinals November 23			Championship Game November 24

Kansas State		66

Missouri		42
				Kansas State	70

			9	North Carolina	80
9	North Carolina	80

	Northwestern	69	Consolation


			Missouri		62

			Northwestern		67

Subhost Rounds

	Wofford Subhost November 21

	Maryland Eastern Shore	63

	Wofford	73

	Columbia Subhost November 24

	Wofford	59

	Columbia	70

	MD Eastern Shore Subhost November 24

	Fairfield	113

	Maryland Eastern Shore	74

	Fairfield Subhost November 27

	Columbia	81

	Fairfield	82^OT

2014

Semifinals November			Championship November

Arizona State		73

Maryland		78
				Maryland	72

			13	Iowa State	63
	Alabama	74

13	Iowa State	84	Consolation


			Arizona State		71

			Alabama		76

Future fields

2025

Kansas State, Mississippi State and Nebraska, will headline the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic, with the fourth team was New Mexico announced.^[3]

References

↑ "Hall of Fame Classic History". NABC. NABC.
↑ "2024 Hall of Fame Classic Matchups Announced". NABC. National Association of Basketball Coaches. August 5, 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
↑ Rothstein, Jon. "Kansas State, Mississippi State, Nebraska to headline 2025 Hall-of-Fame Classic in Kansas City, fourth team is TBD". CollegeHoopsToday.com. College Hoops Today.

External links

Official website

[1] "Hall of Fame Classic History". NABC. NABC.

[2] "2024 Hall of Fame Classic Matchups Announced". NABC. National Association of Basketball Coaches. August 5, 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.

[3] Rothstein, Jon. "Kansas State, Mississippi State, Nebraska to headline 2025 Hall-of-Fame Classic in Kansas City, fourth team is TBD". CollegeHoopsToday.com. College Hoops Today.

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