College Basketball Experience Classic

The College Basketball Experience Classic (formerly known as the Guardians Classic) is an annual season-opening college basketball tournament founded in 2001. The tournament is currently sponsored by Progressive (previously the event was sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts) and is held in mid-November. Sixteen invited teams, representing 16 different athletic conferences, are divided into groups of four (the 2008 tournament featured only 14 teams). The initial two rounds are played at regional sites on back to back days and are hosted by a participating team. In general, regional hosts are expected to advance to the finals, and generally do so. Each regional site winner then moves on to the championship round in Kansas City, Missouri, with the games played at Sprint Center. The championship round takes place one week after the initial round. In 2006, the event was renamed the College Basketball Experience Classic (CBE) after the college basketball fan interactive facility. Before the 2007 tournament, the final rounds were held at Municipal Auditorium, except for one year at Kemper Arena in 2001. The 2011 Regional Hosts are:Cal, Georgia, Missouri, and Notre Dame.[1]

The event is organized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and produced by the Gazelle Group.

Contents

Championship game results

Year Champion Points Runner-up Points
2001 Missouri 78 Iowa 77
2002 Creighton 80 Notre Dame 75
2003 South Carolina 67 Richmond 61
2004 Creighton 65 Ohio State 63*
2005 Texas 68 Iowa 59
2006 Marquette 73 Duke 62
2007 UCLA 68 Michigan State 63
2008 Syracuse 89 Kansas 81*
2009 Texas 78 Pittsburgh 62
2010 Duke 82 Kansas State 68
2011 Missouri 92 California 53

*Overtime

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

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.gazellegroup.com/events/cbe/news/2011/cbe_110818.htm