BB&T Classic

The BB&T Classic, originally the Franklin National Bank Classic, was a Washington, D.C.-based college basketball event held annually from 1995 to 2017. It raised funds for the Children's Charities Foundation, a fund-raising organization that financially supports Washington, D.C.-area charities, and was staged on or around the first weekend in December. Its name changed in 1999 after BB&T acquired Franklin National Bank that year.[1]

Played as a tournament with championship and consolation games from 1995 to 2004, the BB&T Classic was a non-tournament showcase event from 2005 to 2017. A decreasing ability to attract marquee teams and declining fan interest and television coverage led to its demise after its 2017 edition.

Founding

Former ambassador and vice-presidential press secretary Peter Teeley[1] and Washington, D.C.-area sportswriter and author John Feinstein[2] organized the Classic in 1995, hoping to raise US$500,000 for the Children's Charities Foundation in the Classic's first year.[1] Abe Pollin, owner of USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, agreed to host the Classic there, with an initial commitment of three years.[1] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the BB&T Classic was a legitimate tournament with national attention that attracted powerhouse teams.[2]

Venue

The BB&T Classic originally took place at USAir Arena, later known as USAirways Arena, in Landover, Maryland. After the MCI Center, later known as the Verizon Center and then as Capital One Arena, opened in downtown Washington, D.C., in 1997, the Classic moved there. The event remained there for the rest of its existence.

Format

Tournament, 1995–2004

Originally, the event lasted two days and featured four teams, highlighted by local mainstays Maryland and George Washington, accompanied by two nationally recognized programs. The first day consisted of a doubleheader pitting each of the local teams against one of the national teams. The following afternoon, a championship game was held between the two opening-round winners. A consolation game between the two teams who lost in the opening round also took place.

Showcase event, 2005–2017

In 2005, the BB&T Classic's format was altered due to a declining ability to attract nationally renowned programs, partly because under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules participating teams had to give up two home games in their schedule in order to participate in the tournament. The Classic transformed in 2005 from a tournament into a tripleheader showcase played as a single-evening weeknight event. In 2008 and 2009, it was played as a doubleheader. It returned to the tripleheader format in 2010, but from 2011 through 2014 it was a doubleheader. In 2015, the format again changed, with the Classic consisting of a single game. In 2016 and 2017, the Classic returned to a doubleheader format.

Television coverage

In its early years, the event was broadcast both nationally on ABC and locally on Washington, D.C.'s WDCA. After the Classic changed from a tournament to a showcase event, broadcast television interest in covering it waned, and coverage migrated to cable television. The 2005 and 2006 editions were shown on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic; in later years the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) televised the BB&T Classic. In 2014, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN3 each carried one game. The CBS Sports Network televised the lone game played in 2015. In both 2016 and 2017 Fox Sports 1 televised the Georgetown game, while the CBS Sports Network carried the George Washington game in 2016 and MASN televised it in 2017.

Demise

In 2006, the NCAA changed its scheduling rules, allowing colleges to play up to four games in an "exempt" tournament (an in-season tournament whose games counted as only one game in a team′s 27-game schedule) every season, rather than in only two "exempt" tournaments every four years.[2] This made "exempt" tournaments far more popular for major college basketball programs and led to a proliferation of such tournaments.[2] "Non-exempt" events like the BB&T Classic had difficulty attracting major teams in the new scheduling environment because participating schools not only had to give up a home game (and the revenue it generated) to take part in the Classic,[2] but also could not play as many games as overall as they could if they played in an exempt tournament. By 2011, with few marquee teams participating, attendance had dwindled dramatically at the Classic, raising doubts about its ability to survive.[2]

The hope of Feinstein and others that the BB&T Classic would serve as showcase for competition among major Washington, D.C.-area college basketball programs was never realized, partly due to cool relations between the local teams and Feinstein's own public criticism of Georgetown for not taking part.[1] The only area team other than George Washington and Maryland to take part in a BB&T Classic tournament was George Mason in 2004 (the tournament format's final year); after that, the Patriots made four showcase-event appearances between 2005 and 2013 before their participation came to and end. Navy made four showcase appearances, all between 2005 and 2010, while American played only in two showcase years and Howard in only one. The closest the BB&T Classic ever came to fulfilling Feinstein's vision of showcasing Washington-area teams was in 2005, the first showcase year, when an all-local lineup of American, George Mason, George Washington, Howard, Maryland, and Navy took part.

Interest in play by the tournament's two stalwarts, Maryland and George Washington, eventually waned. Maryland played in the first 19 BB&T Classic events, but made its last appearance in 2013 – Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon citing a lack of national television coverage, ever-shrinking crowds, and the loss of a home game as reasons for his team to end its relationship with the Classic[1] – leaving George Washington as the only team to play in all 20 BB&T Classics through 2014.[3] By 2014, Feinstein's association with the Classic had come to an end, and with him no longer involved relations between the Classic and Georgetown warmed; that year Georgetown made its first appearance, allowing the Classic to continue to field two major local teams, and the Hoyas took part in the final four editions of the BB&T Classic. However, George Washington did not participate in 2015, leaving Georgetown as the only local participant in what turned out to be a single-game version of the Classic that year.[4] George Washington returned to the Classic in 2016 but then announced that 2017 was its final year of participation.

The final edition of the BB&T Classic took place on December 3, 2017, with a doubleheader in which George Washington defeated Temple and Georgetown beat Coppin State at Capital One Arena before a crowd of only 6,335 for the two games combined.[1] The Classic was quietly discontinued, with little apparent notice of its demise by the press or fans.[1] During its 23-season run, it raised over US$10 million for the Children's Charities Foundation.[1]

Results

Tournament results

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	Consolation Winner	4th Place	Tournament MVP
1995	Massachusetts	Florida	Maryland	George Washington	Marcus Camby, Massachusetts
1996	Maryland	George Washington	California	Mississippi State	Keith Booth, Maryland
1997	George Washington	Maryland	Kansas	Pennsylvania	Shawnta Rogers, George Washington
1998	Maryland	DePaul	Stanford	George Washington	Steve Francis, Maryland
1999	George Washington	Maryland	Illinois	Seton Hall	SirValiant Brown, George Washington
2000	Maryland	George Washington	St. John's	Michigan	SirValiant Brown, George Washington
2001	Maryland	Connecticut	George Washington	Princeton	Lonny Baxter, Maryland
2002	Notre Dame	Texas	Maryland	George Washington	T. J. Ford, Texas
2003	Gonzaga	George Washington	West Virginia	Maryland	Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga
2004	George Washington	Maryland	Michigan State	George Mason	TJ Thompson, George Washington

[5]

Game scores

Date	Game One	Game Two	Game Three	Date	Consolation	Championship
12/2/1995	Massachusetts 50 Maryland 47	Florida 75 George Washington 66	None	12/3/1995	Maryland 98 George Washington 81	Massachusetts 80 Florida 58
12/8/1996	Maryland 80 California 64	George Washington 57 Mississippi State 36	None	12/9/1996	California 78 Mississippi State 45	Maryland 74 George Washington 68
12/7/1997	Maryland 86 Kansas 83	George Washington 66 Pennsylvania 62	None	12/8/1997	Kansas 89 Pennsylvania 71	George Washington 70 Maryland 66
12/6/1998	Maryland 62 Stanford 60	DePaul 87 George Washington 79	None	12/7/1998	Stanford 70 George Washington 56	Maryland 92 DePaul 75
12/4/1999	George Washington 72 Seton Hall 63	Maryland 69 Illinois 67	None	12/5/1999	Illinois 72 Seton Hall 61	George Washington 74 Maryland 69
12/2/2000	Maryland 82 Michigan 51	George Washington 85 St. John's 75	None	12/3/2000	St John's 97 Michigan 83	Maryland 71 George Washington 63
12/2/2001	Connecticut 84 George Washington 76	Maryland 61 Princeton 53	None	12/3/2001	George Washington 60 Princeton 57	Maryland 77 Connecticut 65
12/7/2002	Texas 100 George Washington 92	Notre Dame 79 Maryland 67	None	12/8/2002	Maryland 93 George Washington 82	Notre Dame 98 Texas 92
12/6/2003	George Washington 70 West Virginia 64	Gonzaga 82 Maryland 68	None	12/7/2003	West Virginia 78 Maryland 77^OT	Gonzaga 96 George Washington 91
12/4/2004	George Washington 96 Michigan State 83	Maryland 78 George Mason 54	None	12/5/2004	Michigan State 66 George Mason 60	George Washington 101 Maryland 92
12/5/2005	Navy 82 Howard 73	George Mason 75 American 35	George Washington 78 Maryland 70	None
12/3/2006	Bucknell 60 George Mason 57	George Washington 63 Virginia Tech 62	Notre Dame 81 Maryland 74
12/2/2007	Auburn 74 George Washington 70	East Carolina 68 George Mason 65	VCU 85 Maryland 76
12/7/2008	Virginia Tech 79 Navy 70	Maryland 76 George Washington 53	None
12/6/2009	George Washington 81 Navy 69	Villanova 95 Maryland 86	None
12/5/2010	Florida 67 American 48[6]	Navy 64 George Washington 57[7]	Temple 64 Maryland 61[8]
12/4/2011	Maryland 78 Notre Dame 71	VCU 75 George Washington 60	None
12/2/2012	Maryland 69 George Mason 62	George Washington 67 Manhattan 55	None
12/8/2013	Oklahoma 81 George Mason 66	George Washington 77 Maryland 75	None
12/7/2014	Georgetown 78 Towson 46	George Washington 78 Charlotte 70	None
12/12/2015	Georgetown 87 UNC Wilmington 82	None	None
12/4/2016	Georgetown 77 Elon 74	Florida State 67 George Washington 48	None
12/3/2017	George Washington 71 Temple 67	Georgetown 76 Coppin State 60	None

Results by school

School	Appearance Years	Tournament Record	Tournament Championships	Showcase Record	Overall Record
American	2005, 2010	—	—	0–2	0–2
Auburn	2007	—	—	1–0	1–0
Bucknell	2006	—	—	1–0	1–0
California	1996	1–1	none	—	1–1
Charlotte	2014	—	—	0–1	0–1
Connecticut	2001	1–1	none	—	1–1
Coppin State	2017	—	—	0–1	0–1
DePaul	1998	1–1	none	—	1–1
East Carolina	2007	—	—	1–0	1–0
Elon	2016	—	—	0–1	0–1
Florida	1995, 2010	1–1	none	1–0	2–1
Florida State	2016	—	—	1–0	1–0
George Mason	2004–2007, 2012, 2013	0–2	none	1–4	1–6
George Washington	1995–2014, 2016, 2017	10–10	1997, 1999, 2004	7–5	17–15
Georgetown	2014–2017	—	—	4–0	4–0
Gonzaga	2003	2–0	2003	—	2–0
Howard	2005	—	—	0–1	0–1
Illinois	1999	1–1	none	—	1–1
Kansas	1997	1–1	none	—	1–1
Manhattan	2012	—	—	0–1	0–1
Maryland	1995–2013	13–7	1996, 1998, 2000, 2001	3–6	16–13
Massachusetts	1995	2–0	1995	—	2–0
Michigan	2000	0–2	—	—	0–2
Michigan State	2004	1–1	none	—	1–1
Mississippi State	1996	0–2	none	—	0–2
Navy	2005, 2008–2010	—	—	2–2	2–2
UNC Wilmington	2015	—	—	0–1	0–1
Notre Dame	2002, 2006, 2011	2–0	2002	1–1	3–1
Oklahoma	2013	—	—	1–0	1–0
Pennsylvania	1997	0–2	none	—	0–2
Princeton	2001	0–2	none	—	0–2
Seton Hall	1999	0–2	none	—	0–2
St. John's	2000	1–1	none	—	1–1
Stanford	1998	1–1	none	—	1–1
Temple	2010, 2017	—	—	1–1	1–1
Texas	2002	1–1	none	—	1–1
Towson	2014	—	—	0–1	0–1
VCU	2007, 2011	—	—	1–1	1–1
Villanova	2009	—	—	1–0	1–0
Virginia Tech	2006, 2008	—	—	1–1	1–1
West Virginia	2003	1–1	none	—	1–1

References

Anonymous, "The Demise Of The BB&T Classic," hoyasaxa.com, December 11, 2018 Retrieved August 1, 2018
"Gellman, Brett, "How To Save the BB&T Classic," dcist.com, December 15, 2011 Retrieved August 1, 2019". Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
Feinstein, John, "Maryland, Georgetown basketball should follow example of Philadelphia’s Big Five," washingtonpost.com, December 4, 2014. Archived March 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
2015 BB&T Classic web site
"Past Winners of the BB&T Classic". Children's Charities Foundation. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
"Gators Use Hot Shooting from Seniors to Defeat Eagles, 67-48". GatorZone.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2010-12-13.
"Navy Uses Strong Defense to Top George Washington, 64-57". NavySports.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-19. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
"Maryland Falls To Temple, 64-61". UMTerps.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05.

External links

Official site

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[anonymous20181211-1] Anonymous, "The Demise Of The BB&T Classic," hoyasaxa.com, December 11, 2018 Retrieved August 1, 2018

[gellman20111215-2] "Gellman, Brett, "How To Save the BB&T Classic," dcist.com, December 15, 2011 Retrieved August 1, 2019". Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.

[3] Feinstein, John, "Maryland, Georgetown basketball should follow example of Philadelphia’s Big Five," washingtonpost.com, December 4, 2014. Archived March 11, 2016, at the Wayback Machine

[4] 2015 BB&T Classic web site

[5] "Past Winners of the BB&T Classic". Children's Charities Foundation. Retrieved 28 October 2011.

[6] "Gators Use Hot Shooting from Seniors to Defeat Eagles, 67-48". GatorZone.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2010-12-13.

[7] "Navy Uses Strong Defense to Top George Washington, 64-57". NavySports.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-19. Retrieved 2011-10-29.

[8] "Maryland Falls To Temple, 64-61". UMTerps.com. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05.

Maryland Terrapins men's basketball
Venues	"The Gymnasium" (1922–1931) Ritchie Coliseum (1931–1955) Cole Field House (1955–2002) Comcast/Xfinity Center (2002–present)
Rivalries	Duke
Culture & lore	Midnight Madness Testudo BB&T Classic Tournament
People	Head coaches Honored jerseys Statistical leaders
Seasons	1904–05 1905–10 1910–11 1911–13 1913–14 1914–18 1918–19 1919–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

George Washington Colonials men's basketball
Venues	Fort Myer Ceremonial Hall (?–1974) Charles E. Smith Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	George Mason
Culture & lore	History Significant games
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1906–07 1907–08 1908–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21

Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
Venues	Washington Light Infantry Armory (1906–1907) Convention Hall (1907–1908) Odd Fellows Hall (1908–1911) Arcade Rink (1911–1914, 1927–1928) Ryan Gymnasium (1914–1927) Clendenen Gymnasium (1928–1929) Tech Gymnasium (1929–1940, 1942–1943) Riverside Stadium (1940–1942) Brookland Gymnasium (1945–1946) Uline Arena (1946–1947, 1949–1951) D.C. Armory (1947–1949) McDonough Gymnasium (1951–present) Capital Centre (1981–1997) Capital One Arena (1997–present)
Rivalries	St. John's UConn
Culture & lore	History Hoya Saxa Jack the Bulldog There Goes Old Georgetown 1989 Princeton game Above the Rim
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics