Great Alaska Shootout

The Great Alaska Shootout (originally known as the Sea Wolf Classic) is an annual college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that features colleges from all over the United States. The University of Alaska Anchorage hosts the tournament every Thanksgiving. Tournament games are played at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Prior to the Sullivan Arena opening in 1983, games were played at Buckner Fieldhouse. The men's tournament, held annually since 1978, includes eight teams while the women's tournament, held annually since 1980, has four participants.

Under NCAA rules teams are normally limited to 28 regular season games, however games in "exempted events", traditionally played early in the season, are not counted against that limit. The most recent policy from the NCAA in this regard allows all teams to play in one exempted event per season. Those teams who choose to take advantage of that opportunity may play up to thirty-one games per season, including games played in those exempted events but excluding postseason tournament games. A previous incarnation of this rule allowed for all games played outside the United States mainland to be exempt from the (then) twenty-seven game limit. This version of the rule was partially responsible for the genesis of tournaments such as the Great Alaska Shootout.

The men's tournament field has included at least one team which would qualify for the NCAA Division I tournament later in the season during each of its 33 editions. The 1985 field included an event record six teams that would go on to be invited to the NCAA Tournament. Five times the tournament field has included the defending NCAA Champion, most recently in 1996 when the University of Kentucky took part in the tournament.

The 2011 Shootout will showcase host University of Alaska Anchorage, UC Irvine, Central Michigan, Dartmouth, Murray State, New Mexico State, San Francisco and Southern Mississippi on the men's side, and Alaska Anchorage, Miami (Fla.), South Florida and Central Michigan on the women's side.

Contents

Past Tournament Champions, Runners Up, and MVPs

Men's Tournament

Year Winner Score Opponent Tournament MVP
1978 North Carolina State 72-66 Louisville Clyde Austin, North Carolina State
1979 Kentucky 57-50 Iona Jeff Ruland, Iona
1980 North Carolina 64-58 Arkansas Scott Hastings, Arkansas
1981 Southwestern Louisiana 81-64 Marquette Steve Burtt, Iona
1982 Louisville 80-70 Vanderbilt Lancaster Gordon, Louisville
1983 North Carolina State 65-60 Arkansas Joe Kleine, Arkansas
1984 UAB 50-46 Kansas Steve Mitchell, UAB
1985 North Carolina 65-60 UNLV Brad Daugherty, North Carolina
1986 Iowa 103-80 Northeastern Roy Marble, Iowa
1987 Arizona 80-69 Syracuse Sean Elliott, Arizona
1988 Seton Hall 92-81 Kansas Chris Mills, Kentucky
1989 Michigan State 73-68 Kansas State Steve Smith, Michigan State
1990 UCLA 89-74 Virginia Don MacLean, UCLA
1991 Massachusetts 68-56 New Orleans Jim McCoy, Massachusetts
1992 New Mexico State 95-94 Illinois Sam Crawford, New Mexico State
1993 Purdue 88-73 Portland Glenn Robinson, Purdue
1994 Minnesota 79-74 Brigham Young Townsend Orr, Minnesota
1995 Duke 88-81 Iowa Ray Allen, Connecticut
1996 Kentucky 92-65 College of Charleston Ron Mercer, Kentucky
1997 North Carolina 73-69 Purdue Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
1998 Cincinnati 77-75 Duke William Avery, Duke
1999 Kansas 84-70 Georgia Tech Drew Gooden, Kansas
2000 Syracuse 84-62 Missouri Preston Shumpert, Syracuse
2001 Marquette 72-63 Gonzaga Dwyane Wade, Marquette
2002 College of Charleston 71-69 Villanova Troy Wheless, College of Charleston
2003 Purdue 78-68 Duke Kenneth Lowe, Purdue
2004 Washington 79-76 Alabama Nate Robinson, Washington
2005 Marquette 92-89
(OT)		 South Carolina Steve Novak, Marquette
2006 California 78-70 Loyola Marymount Ryan Anderson, California
2007 Butler 81-71 Texas Tech Mike Green, Butler
2008 San Diego State 76-47 Hampton Kyle Spain, San Diego State
2009 Washington State 93-56 San Diego Klay Thompson, Washington State
2010 St. John's 67-58 Arizona State Justin Brownlee, St Johns
2011 Murray State 90-81
(2OT)		 Southern Mississippi Isaiah Canaan, Murray State

Women's Tournament

Year Winner Score Opponent Tournament MVP
1980 Iowa 73-52 Alaska Anchorage Cindy Haugejorde, Iowa
1981 San Diego State 50-41 Houston Diena Pels, San Diego State
1982 Minnesota 70-66 Indiana Laura Coenen, Minnesota
1983 Old Dominion 76-53 Wichita State Lorri Bauman, Drake
1984 Texas 82-60 UNLV Annette Smith, Texas
1985 Louisiana Tech 88-69 Penn State Dawn Royster, North Carolina
1986 Northeast Louisiana 70-68 Southern Cal Lisa Ingram, Northeast Louisiana
1987 New Orleans 84-61 Memphis State Kunshinge Sorrell, Mississippi State
1988 South Carolina 98-97
(OT)		 UNLV Martha Parker, South Carolina
1989 Stephen F. Austin 96-81 Old Dominion Connie Cole, Stephen F. Austin
1990 Alaska Anchorage 88-87 South Alabama Diane Dobrich, Alaska Anchorage
1991 Northern Illinois 63-60 Louisville Lisa Foss, Northern Illinois
1992 Penn State 83-62 Missouri-Kansas City Susan Robinson, Penn State
1993 Hawaii N/A1 SMU Valerie Agee, Hawaii
19942 Rhode Island N/A1 Northeast Louisiana Dayna Smith, Rhode Island
19942 Clemson 79-62 UCLA Tara Saunooke, Clemson
1995 South Carolina 83-71 Arizona State Shannon Johnson, South Carolina
1996 Georgia 72-55 Oregon Tracy Henderson, Georgia
1997 Tennessee 87-66 Wisconsin Chamique Holdsclaw, Tennessee
1998 No Tournament
1999 Kansas 78-68 Louisville Lynn Pride, Kansas
2000 Ohio State 95-60 Rhode Island Jaime Lewis, Ohio State
2001 Iowa 90-73 Gonzaga Lindsey Meder, Iowa
2002 Nevada 68-56 Indiana Laura Ingham, Nevada
2003 Alaska Anchorage 61-58 Clemson Kamie Jo Massey, Alaska Anchorage
2004 Stanford 67-47 Louisiana-Lafayette Candice Wiggins, Stanford
2005 Central Connecticut State 69-65
(OT)		 Arizona Gabriella Guegbelet, Central Connecticut State
2006 Alaska Anchorage 78-70 UC Riverside Rebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage
2007 Alaska Anchorage 52-50 Santa Clara Rebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage
2008 Alaska Anchorage 58-57 Syracuse Rebecca Kielpinski, Alaska Anchorage
2009 Alaska Anchorage 49-48 Cincinnati Nicci Miller, Alaska Anchorage
2010 Kent State 53-47 Alaska Anchorage Jamilah Humes, Kent State
2011 Miami 92-72 South Florida Shenise Johnson, Miami

1Tournament was played in a round robin format.
2The tournament was moved to earlier in the season beginning in the 1994-95 season; hence the first 1994 tournament corresponds to the 1993-94 season and the second tournament to the 1994-95 season.

External links

Fairbanks
Anchorage
Southeast