Event logo.
The Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic (now known as the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer) is an annual college basketball tournament played in November at the beginning of the season. The tournament was first formed in 1995 as a collaboration between the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the American Cancer Society, with help from The Gazelle Group, Inc., in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. In the current format, 16 teams from 16 separate conferences are invited to the tournament. First and second Round games are held at regional sites selected before the tournament. The semi-finals and finals are held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
History[]
The first Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic was held in December 1995 at the Atlantic City Convention Center and consisted of only four teams playing two separate games with no championship game. In 1997, the tournament expanded to feature a championship game between the two winners and a consolation game between the losers. The venue was moved to Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and was moved again in 1998 to its current location at Madison Square Garden. In 2002, the championship game was dropped and four more teams were added to bring the total to eight teams, playing only one game each. In 2004, the tournament expanded to its present format, featuring 16 teams in four different regions. The winners of the two first round games in each region meet to determine who would go to the semi-finals, and the two losers of the first round games meet in a consolation game.
Past Championship Games[]
- 1995 - No championship game
- 1996 - No championship game
- 1997 - Princeton 38, North Carolina State 36
- 1998 - Temple 59, Wake Forest 48
- 1999 - Stanford 72, Iowa 58
- 2000 - Kansas 82, St. John's 74
- 2001 - Arizona 75, Florida 71
- 2002 - No championship game
- 2003 - No championship game
- 2004 - Syracuse 77, Memphis 62
- 2005 - Florida 75, Syracuse 70
- 2006 - Maryland 62, Michigan State 60
- 2007 - Memphis 81, Connecticut 70
- 2008 - Duke 71, Michigan 57
- 2009 - Syracuse 87, North Carolina 71
- 2010 - Pittsburgh 68, Texas 66
Most appearances[]
| School | Appearances |
|---|---|
| Memphis | |
| Syracuse | |
| Texas | |
| Marquette | |
| Maryland | |
| St. John's | |
| Temple | |
| Wake Forest | |
| Alabama | |
| Alabama A&M | |
| Florida | |
| George Mason | |
| Georgia | |
| Illinois | |
| Michigan | |
| Pittsburgh | |
| Princeton |
2007 Participants[]
- Alabama A&M
- Buffalo
- Central Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Denver
- East Central (OK)
- Gardner-Webb
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Memphis
- Morgan State
- Ohio Valley
- Oklahoma
- Richmond
- San Francisco
- Tennessee-Martin
2008 Participants[]
- Duke
- Michigan
- Southern Illinois
- UCLA
- Presbyterian
- Houston
- Georgia Southern
- California University of Pennsylvania
- Massachusetts
- Arkansas-Monticello
- Prairie View A&M
- Weber State
- Miami University
- Michigan Tech
- IUPUI
- Northeastern
2009 Participants[]
- Syracuse
- Albany
- Robert Morris
- North Carolina
- Florida International
- North Carolina Central
- Ohio State
- Alcorn State
- James Madison
- California
- Murray State
- Detroit
Template:Anchor2010 Participants and Bracket[1][]
- Pittsburgh
- Maryland
- Texas
- Illinois
- Illinois-Chicago
- Toledo
- Charleston
- Louisiana Tech
- Rhode Island
- UC Irvine
- Navy
- Seattle
| Semi-finals | Finals | |||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 79 | ||||||
| Maryland | 70 | |||||||
| 5 | Pittsburgh | 68 | ||||||
| Texas | 66 | |||||||
| 13 | Illinois | 84 | ||||||
| Texas | 90* | |||||||
| 3rd Place Game | |||||
| 13 | Illinois | 80 | |||
| Maryland | 76 | ||||
* – Denotes overtime period