The 2022 The Basketball Classic (TBC) was a single-elimination men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA tournament or the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The tournament began on March 15 with the championship game played on April 1. The tournament was won by the Fresno State Bulldogs. All games were streamed on ESPN+.

Structure Tournament organizers originally announced that there would be 32 teams in the field; however, when the list of participating teams was released, only 21 were present. Three of the 21 teams subsequently withdrew prior to competing, leaving the actual field size for the tournament at 18. Due to the fluidity of the field, rather than adhering to the traditional bracket, a model previously used by the National Invitation Tournament was leveraged in which matchups were set only one round at a time. Later-round host sites were determined, at least in part, by earlier-round game attendance figures.

Five matchups in the tournament were designated as "Legend Games", honoring Zelmo Beaty, Travis Grant, Marques Haynes, Cleo Hill and Willis Reed, all of whom played college basketball at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In addition to advancing in the tournament, the winning teams received a trophy honoring the legend for whom the particular game was named. Due to scheduling issues, the designated Cleo Hill game was unable to be held.

Participating teams

The following eighteen teams accepted invitations to the tournament and competed. Team records are as of the end of the regular season and prior to the beginning of the tournament. TeamConferenceOverallRecordAppalachian StateSun Belt Coastal CarolinaSun Belt Detroit MercyHorizon Eastern WashingtonBig Sky Florida Gulf CoastAtlantic Sun Fresno StateMountain West Kent StateMid-AmericanMaryland Eastern ShoreMid-Eastern Athletic Morgan StateMid-Eastern AthleticNew OrleansSouthland PortlandWest Coast South AlabamaSun Belt USC UpstateBig South Southeastern LouisianaSouthland Southern UtahBig Sky UTEPUSA Western IllinoisThe Summit Youngstown StateHorizon

The following three teams accepted invitations to the tournament, but withdrew prior to competing. Team records are as of the end of the regular season and prior to the beginning of the tournament. TeamConferenceOverallRecordUMBCAmerica East MerrimackNortheast WoffordSouthern

The following seven programs declined invitations: Arkansas State, Liberty, Oakland, Sam Houston State, Samford, Utah Valley, Weber State.

Schedule DateTimeMatchupScoreAttendanceReferenceFirst RoundMarch 156:30 p.m.USC Upstate at Appalachian State 80–74 2,146 March 167:00 p.m.Detroit Mercy at Florida Gulf Coast79–95505 Zelmo Beaty GameMaryland Eastern Shore at Coastal Carolina42–66923 8:00 p.m.Travis Grant GameSoutheastern Louisiana at South Alabama68–70885 Marques Haynes GameMorgan State at Youngstown State65–701,045 9:00 p.m.Willis Reed GameKent State at Southern Utah79–831,316 March 1710:00 p.m.Eastern Washington at Fresno State74–831,166 March 193:00 p.m.Western Illinois at UTEP54–803,500 10:00 p.m.New Orleans at Portland73–94659 Second RoundMarch 217:00 p.m.Florida Gulf Coast at Coastal Carolina68–84825 8:00 p.m.USC Upstate at South Alabama79–83699 March 229:00 p.m.Southern Utah at UTEP82–693,510 QuarterfinalsMarch 2310:00 p.m.Youngstown State at Fresno State71–801,754 March 266:00 p.m.Portland at Southern Utah66–771,504 SemifinalsMarch 28 8:00 p.m. Coastal Carolina at South Alabama69–68 OT 1,039 10:00 p.m. Southern Utah at Fresno State48–673,006 FinalApril 1 6:00 p.m.Fresno State at Coastal Carolina85–741,407 Game times in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). All games broadcast on ESPN+. The following games were announced but never played. DateTimeMatchupScoreAttendanceReferenceFirst RoundMarch 166:30 p.m.Merrimack at UMBC Second RoundMarch 192:00 p.m.Cleo Hill GameYoungstown State at Wofford Game times in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). All games broadcast on ESPN+.

Bracket The Basketball Classic field was announced after the field for the NIT was released on March 13.

With an 18-team bracket, organizers chose to match one second-round winner against Portland, with three other second-round winners advancing directly to the semifinals.

Note: Bracket is for visual purposes only. In lieu of a traditional bracket, the field and matchups were determined following the completion of the preceding round.

Home teams listed second.

Awards The following were the most valuable players selected for each of the Legend Games: Zelmo Beaty Game – Rudi Williams, Coastal Carolina Travis Grant Game – Javon Franklin, South Alabama Marques Haynes Game – Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown State Cleo Hill Game – Canceled Willis Reed Game – Dre Marin, Southern Utah

Editorials & Opinions Joel Whetzel: "Disappointing, to be sure ... simply a microcosm of how this tournament has gone since conference tournaments ended. The shame is the tournament could serve a great purpose if things were to go correctly."

Notes

References

External links The Basketball Classic official website