The Legends Classic is an annual, early-season, college basketball tournament which started in 2007 and takes place at the beginning of the college basketball season in November. Four teams (from four conferences) compete in the Legends Classic. The tournament has been held at various venues in the New York metropolitan area, primarily the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
History The Legends Classic began in 2007 with the first two events being played at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. In that first year, only the four regional-round hosts were guaranteed to play four games, as Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia, and New Mexico State each hosted a pair of games, before advancing to the semifinals in Newark. Since the 2008–09 season, each team has been guaranteed to play four games.
In 2013, the field for the event decreased from 12 teams to 8 teams from eight separate conferences. Two games were held at four different regional sites selected before the tournament. Four teams advanced to the semifinals and finals at Barclays Center in New York City, while the remaining four teams played in a tournament format at a predetermined on-campus site. After a showcase format was used in 2020, following the withdrawal of teams due to COVID-19-related issues, the size of the field was reduced to four, starting in 2021, with all games played at the same venue.
In 2025, the tournament moved to a one-game showcase format, featuring Pittsburgh and UCF, with the two teams hosting Quinnipiac at their respective home arenas for campus-site games. Additionally, the tournament moved to Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.
Yearly champions, runners-up, and MVPs YearWinnerScoreOpponentTournament MVPOther participantsVenue2025UCF77–67PittsburghRiley Kugel, UCFQuinnipiac (campus site games)Ocean Center, Daytona Beach2024Texas67–58Saint Joseph'sTre Johnson, TexasTexas Tech, SyracuseBarclays Center, Brooklyn2023Auburn77–60St. BonaventureJohni Broome, AuburnNotre Dame, Oklahoma State2022Arizona State87–62Michigan Desmond Cambridge Jr., Arizona StatePittsburgh, VCU2021Virginia58–40Providence Jayden Gardner, VirginiaNorthwestern, GeorgiaPrudential Center, Newark2020 Changed to a Showcase due to COVID-19Evan Mobley, USCBoston College, BYU, Florida, St. John's, UConn, USCMohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville2019Auburn79–65RichmondAustin Wiley, AuburnNew Mexico, WisconsinBarclays Center, Brooklyn2018St. John's87–86OTVCUShamorie Ponds, St. John'sCalifornia, Temple2017Texas A&M98–87Penn StateRobert Williams, Texas A&MOklahoma State, Pittsburgh2016Notre Dame70–66NorthwesternMatt Farrell, Notre DameColorado, Texas2015Marquette78–73OTArizona StateHenry Ellenson, MarquetteLSU, NC State2014Villanova60–55Michigan Dylan Ennis, VillanovaVCU, Oregon2013Pittsburgh88–67Stanford Lamar Patterson, PittsburghTexas Tech, Houston2012Indiana82–72OTGeorgetown Jordan Hulls, IndianaUCLA, Georgia2011Vanderbilt64–62Oregon StateJohn Jenkins, VanderbiltNC State, TexasIzod Center, East Rutherford2010Syracuse80–76Georgia TechRick Jackson, SyracuseMichigan, UTEPBoardwalk Hall, Atlantic City2009Florida73–58Erving Walker, FloridaMichigan State, UMass2008Pittsburgh57–43Washington StateSam Young, PittsburghMississippi State, Texas TechPrudential Center, Newark2007Texas97–78TennesseeD. J. Augustin, Texas, West Virginia
Most appearances School Pittsburgh 5 Texas 4 Michigan VCU Texas Tech Auburn Georgia NC State Northwestern Syracuse
Brackets * – Denotes overtime period
2025 The 2025 tournament took place at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach on November 20, 2025. Campus-site matchups took place on November 23, 2025 and November 25, 2025 at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh and at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, respectively.
Tournament Game
Campus-site games Home teams listed second.
2024 The 2024 tournament took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, on November 21 & 22, 2024.
2023 The 2023 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It took place on November 16 & 17, 2023.
2022 The 2022 tournament took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn The tournament took place from Wednesday, November 16 to Thursday, November 17, 2022.
2021 The 2021 tournament was set to return to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but was played at the Prudential Center in Newark. The tournament took place from Monday, November 22 to Tuesday, November 23, 2021. Texas and UCLA were originally set to play, but were replaced by Georgia and Providence.
2020 The field for the tournament for the year 2020 initially included four teams instead of the usual eight due to COVID-19 concerns. BYU replaced Notre Dame after they pulled out of the field. Then later Vanderbilt withdrew from the tournament as well and the format for the competition was changed to a showcase format. The location of the tournament was also relocated to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The participants in the 2020 group included: Boston College BYU Florida St. Johns UConn USC
All games in the 2020 Tournament are televised on either ESPN or ESPN2. Due to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt not participating in the tournament, the format was changed to a showcase format with the following results. +DateTime (EST)WinnerOpponentScoreTelevisionTop Performer/Player of the GameDecember 1, 20202:30 pmUSCBYU79–53ESPN2Evan Mobley (USC), 17 points, 11 reboundsDecember 2, 20205:00 pmBYUSt. John's74–68ESPN2Alex Barcello (BYU), 20 points, 5 assists, 3 reboundsDecember 3, 20207:00 pmUConnUSC61–58ESPNEvan Mobley (USC), 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocksDecember 3, 20209:30 pmFloridaBoston College90–70ESPNKeyontae Johnson (Florida), 24 points, 12 rebounds MVP: Evan Mobley (USC)
All-Tournament Team: Julian Champagnie (St. John's), Alex Barcello (BYU), James Bouknight (UConn) and Keyontae Johnson (Florida).
2019 participants and bracket Auburn Cal State Northridge Colgate Green Bay McNeese State New Mexico Richmond Wisconsin
Championship Round
2018 participants and bracket Bowling Green California Detroit Mercy Hampton Loyola (Md.) St. John's Temple VCU
Championship Round
Sub Regionals
2017 participants and bracket Montana Oklahoma State Oral Roberts Penn State Pepperdine Pittsburgh Texas A&M UC Santa Barbara
Regionals
Championship Round
Sub Regionals
2016 participants and bracket Bryant Colorado Eastern Washington Louisiana–Monroe Northwestern Notre Dame Seattle Texas
2015 participants and bracket Arizona State Belmont IUPUI Kennesaw State LSU Marquette NC State South Alabama
2014 participants and bracket Bucknell Detroit Maryland Eastern Shore Michigan Oregon Toledo Villanova VCU
2013 participants and bracket Houston Howard Lehigh Pittsburgh South Dakota State Stanford Texas Southern Texas Tech
2012 participants and bracket
Duquesne Georgetown Georgia Indiana James Madison Liberty North Dakota State Sam Houston State Southern Miss University of California, Irvine UCLA Youngstown State
2011 participants and bracket Boston University Bucknell Cleveland State Hofstra Morehead State North Carolina State Oregon State Princeton Rhode Island Texas Vanderbilt West Alabama
2010 participants and bracket Albany Bowling Green Detroit Gardner-Webb Georgia Tech Michigan Niagara Mercer Syracuse UTEP Western Carolina William & Mary
2009 participants and bracket Arkansas-Fort Smith Cornell Drexel Michigan State Georgia Southern Florida Rutgers Toledo Valparaiso Vermont Troy UMass
2008 participants and bracket Akron Eastern Kentucky East Central (Ok.) Fairleigh Dickinson Indiana (Pa.) Mississippi State North Alabama Pittsburgh Texas Tech Thiel Urbana Washington State
2007 participants and bracket Arkansas-Monticello La Verne LeMoyne–Owen New Mexico State Prairie View A&M Schreiner University of California, Santa Cruz Tennessee Texas University of California, Davis West Virginia
See also Barclays Center Classic
References
External links Legends Classic official site Basketball Legends