The Hall of Fame Classic (formerly known as the Guardians Classic, CBE Classic, and CBE Hall of Fame Classic) created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) is an annual season-opening college basketball tournament founded in 2001. The tournament is currently held in mid-November at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, which also contains the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Before the 2007 tournament, the final rounds were held at Municipal Auditorium, except for one year at Kemper Arena in 2001.
Tournament format From the inaugural tournament in 2001 until 2019, twelve teams participated in the tournament. In this format; the first two rounds were played at campus sites on two different days hosted by regional hosts, regional hosts automatically advanced to the championship rounds which are played at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Championship rounds took place one week after the initial round. Teams not hosting advanced to sub regional rounds where they played three games. From 2020 until 2023 and again since 2025, four teams participate in a traditional four team tournament with a Championship and Consolation game. The 2024 and 2026 Hall of Fame Classics were showcase doubleheaders, instead of traditional four team tournaments.
History Year Championship game Consolation game Champion Score Runner-up Third place Score Fourth place2001 Missouri 78–77 Iowa Alabama 81–70 2002 Creighton 80–75 Notre Dame 70–62 IUPUI2003 South Carolina 67–61 Richmond 72–52 2004 Creighton 65–64 (OT) Ohio State 57–55 2005 Texas 68–59 Iowa Kentucky 80–66 West Virginia2006 Marquette 73–62 Duke 67–53 Texas Tech2007 UCLA 68–63 Michigan State Missouri 84–70 Maryland2008 Syracuse 89–81 (OT) Kansas Florida 86–84 Washington2009 Texas 78–62 Pittsburgh Wichita State 74–57 Iowa2010 Duke 82–68 Kansas State Gonzaga 66–63 Marquette2011 Missouri 92–53 Cal Georgia 61–57 Notre Dame2012 Kansas 73–59 St. Louis Texas A&M 55–54 Washington State2013 Wichita State 75–62 BYU Texas 77–59 DePaul2014 Maryland 72–63 Iowa State Alabama 76–71 Arizona State2015 North Carolina 80–70 Kansas State Northwestern 67–62 Missouri2016 Kansas 65–54 Georgia UAB 81–74 George Washington2017 Baylor 65–59 Creighton UCLA 72–70 Wisconsin2018 Texas Tech 70–52 Nebraska USC 99–80 Missouri State2019 Butler 69–68 Stanford Oklahoma 77–66 Missouri2020 TCU 56–52 Liberty South Carolina 69–58 Tulsa2021 Arkansas 73–67 Cincinnati Illinois 72–64 Kansas State2022 San Francisco 67–63 Wichita State Grand Canyon 69–67 Northern Iowa2023 Colorado State 69–48 Creighton Loyola Chicago 71–68 Boston College2024 Showcase Format2025 Nebraska 86–85 Kansas State New Mexico 80–78 Mississippi State2026 Showcase Format
Brackets * – Denotes overtime period 2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020 All matches aired on ESPN Networks
2019 Host Rounds
Championship Round
Subhost Rounds
2018 Host Rounds
Championship Round
Subhost Rounds
2017 Host Rounds
Championship Round
Subhost Rounds
2016 Championship Round
Subhost Rounds
2015 Championship Round
Subhost Rounds
2014
Future fields 2025 Kansas State, Mississippi State and Nebraska, will headline the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic, with the fourth team was New Mexico announced.
References
External links