BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament

The BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament is a Washington, DC-based basketball tournament that has been held annually since 1995, when it was known as the Franklin National Bank Classic. It is staged at the Verizon Center, on or around the first weekend in December. Organized in large part by author and journalist John Feinstein, the tournament raises funds for the Children's Charities Foundation, a fund-raising organization that financially supports Washington-area charities.

Format

Originally, the event lasted two days and featured four teams, highlighted by local mainstays Maryland and George Washington, accompanied by two nationally-recognized programs, such as Kansas and Stanford. The first day would consist of a doubleheader pitting each of the local teams against each of the national teams. The following afternoon, a championship game would be held between the two opening round winners. A consolation game between the two teams who lost in the opening round was introduced in 1995.

In 2005, the tournament format was altered due to an inability to attract nationally-renowned programs, partially because teams would have two less home games. The event ballooned into a single-evening weeknight event with a tripleheader, as American, Howard, George Mason, and Navy all participated. The 2006 version had another tripleheader, Maryland vs. Notre Dame, George Washington vs. Virginia Tech & George Mason vs. Bucknell.

For 2007, local teams the University of Maryland, George Washington University, and George Mason University played Virginia Commonwealth University, Auburn University, and East Carolina University respectively. Many basketball fans in the DC area would like to see Georgetown University included so the big four DC area teams could play one another. However, Georgetown is not invited to participate, owing to past scheduling issues raised by Maryland coach Gary Williams.

The event has been broadcast both nationally on ABC and locally on Washington D.C.'s WDCA. The 2005 and 2006 editions were shown on CSN Mid-Atlantic, while the 2007 edition was shown on MASN.

Tournament Results

*American (AMER), Howard (HOW) , Navy (NAVY), and George Mason (GMU) also participated in the 2005 BB&T Classic Tournament.
**Bucknell (BUCK), Notre Dame (ND), George Mason (GMU), and Virginia Tech (VT) participated in the 2006 tournament and GW kept the crown, since they were the last team that received it.

Games

References

Links

* [http://www.bbandtclassic.com/ Official site]