Dixie Classic (basketball tournament)

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The Dixie Classic was an annual college basketball tournament played from 1949-1961 in Reynolds Coliseum. The field consisted of the "Big Four" North Carolina schools: N.C. State (the host), Wake Forest, Duke, and UNC and four teams from across the country.

N.C. State head coach Everett Case originated the idea of the Classic. His assistant, Carl "Butter" Anderson provided the name. The tournament was played over a three day period every December, just before Christmas on N.C. State's home court.

The Classic consisted of three rounds. In the first round the four North Carolina schools would each play a visiting team. The winners of the first round game would advance in the winner's bracket and the losers would advance in the losers bracket. Each day would have four games played until the third and final day when a champion would be crowned.

The tournament came to an end after a point-shaving scandal in 1961 involving players from both N.C. State and UNC. [1] [2] [3]