The Cancun Challenge () is a college basketball tournament organized by Triple Crown Sports which currently features six 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 2025 tournament consists of teams playing in a set schedule of games at participants' campus sites and Cancún, Mexico with no bracket, and therefore no champion.
The Mexico portion of the event has been held at multiple venues in and around Cancún. The inaugural 2005 tournament was relocated from the Moon Palace Resort to the Aventura Spa Palace Resort in Playa del Carmen shortly before it was scheduled to occur due to damage sustained at the original location from Hurricane Wilma.Women's Hoops' Caribbean Classic to Relocate – Baylor University Athletics The tournament was held at one of these two sites each year up until 2014, when it would be moved to the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, where it has been held since. CBS Sports Network televises the men's Riviera Division games. All Mexico games in the men's Mayan Division along with all women's games are streamed on FloHoops.
Previous men's champions include Vanderbilt (2008), Kentucky (2009), Missouri (2010), Illinois (2011), Wichita State (2012), Wisconsin (2013), Northern Iowa (2014), Maryland (2015), Purdue (2016), LA Tech (2017), Bradley (2018), West Virginia (2019), Clemson (2020), Saint Louis (2021) and Auburn (2022). Previous women's participating teams include marquee programs such as Arizona State, Baylor, Duke, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Maryland, Oklahoma, Purdue, Seton Hall, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington, among others.
Brackets * – Denotes overtime period
2025 The 2025 Cancún Challenge features teams playing in a set schedule of games.
Men's + 2025 Men's Cancún ChallengeDate Away Home Site CityNovember 19, 2025 UC Irvine 72 79 Utah Valley UCCU Center Orem, UTNovember 21, 2025 Georgia State 58 105 South Dakota State First Bank and Trust Arena Brookings, SDSamford 72 81 New Mexico State Pan American Center Las Cruces, NMNovember 25, 2025 Samford 78 63 Georgia State Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancun, MexicoUtah Valley 75 52 South Dakota StateNew Mexico State 57 42 UC IrvineNovember 26, 2025 Georgia State 58 77 New Mexico State Samford 45 89 Utah Valley South Dakota State 52 64 UC Irvine Source
Women's + 2025 Women's Cancún ChallengeDate Away Home Site CityNovember 27, 2025 No. 12 North Carolina 83 48 South Dakota State Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, Mexico Columbia 92 95 Kansas State No. 25 NC State 79 67 Green Bay Southern Miss 72 77 UAB Richmond 52 88 No. 8 TCUNovember 28, 2025 Kansas State 73 85 No. 12 North Carolina South Dakota State 67 80 Columbia No. 25 NC State 110 56 Southern Miss UAB 61 82 No. 8 TCU Green Bay 59 76 RichmondNovember 29, 2025 South Dakota State 82 70 Kansas State No. 12 North Carolina 80 63 Columbia Source
2024
Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Mayan Division TeamRecordSan Diego State2–1Wisconsin2–1Providence1–2VCU1–2
Riviera Division TeamRecordIowa2–0BYU1–1Idaho State1–1Rice1–1Vermont1–1Rhode Island0–2
2023 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordCreighton2–0Georgia Tech1–1James Madison1–1Michigan State1–1Montana State1–1New Mexico0–2
Mayan Division TeamRecordMaryland2–1Washington State2–1Green Bay1–2UMass0–3
2022 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
2021 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's
All games streamed on FloHoops.com
Mayan Division TeamRecordBaylor2–01–1Arizona State1–21–2 Riviera Division TeamRecordUCF1–0USC1-1Seton Hall1–11–10–2Iowa0–0
2020 Space Coast Classic Due to COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 Cancún Challenge was not held, instead a 4 team tournament was branded as the Space Coast Challenge, games were played at Titan Field House in Melbourne, FL.
2019 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecord2–0North Carolina2–0New Mexico1–1West Virginia1–1Missouri0–20–2
Mayan Division TeamRecordFlorida Gulf Coast3–0South Dakota State2–1Notre Dame1–2South Florida0–3
2018
Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordNC State2–0Georgia Tech2–0Idaho State1–1Michigan State1–1Kennesaw State0–2George Washington0–2 Mayan Division TeamRecordSyracuse3–0DePaul2–1Kansas State1–2Princeton0–3
2017
Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordTennessee3–0Indiana State1–1Marquette1–1Oklahoma State1–11–2Montana0–2
Mayan Division TeamRecordMississippi State3–0Green Bay2–1Arizona State1–2Columbia0–3
2016
Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordUCLA2–0Idaho State1–1Iowa1–1James Madison1–1Toledo1–1Davidson0–2 Mayan Division TeamRecordStanford3–0Purdue2–1Wichita State1–2Northeastern0–3
2015 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordSeton Hall2–0Georgia Tech1–1NC State1–1Northern Iowa1–1UAB1–10–2
Mayan Division TeamRecordDuke3–0Idaho2–1Iowa State1–20–3
2014 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordWashington3–0Florida State2–11–2Hartford0–3
Mayan Division TeamRecordPrinceton3–0Wake Forest2–1Montana1–2Charlotte0–3
2013 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
Women's Riviera Division TeamRecordArizona State3–0North Carolina2–1Illinois1–20–3
Mayan Division TeamRecordIowa3–0USC2–1Boston College1–2UNC Wilmington0–3
2012 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
2011 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
2010 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
2009 Men's Riviera Division
Mayan Division
2008 Men's Riviera Division
References
External links