Emerald Coast Classic

Emerald Coast Classic
	Emerald Coast Classic
Sport	College basketball
Founded	2014
No. of teams	8
Country	United States
Venue(s)	The Arena at Northwest Florida State College
Official website	Emerald Coast Classic

The Emerald Coast Classic is an 8 team college basketball tournament held during Thanksgiving of NCAA Division I men's basketball season, with the inaugural tournament beginning in 2014. The two final round games are played on the campus of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida. The tournament will be presented by Global Sports.^[1] First and second-round games are played at on-campus sites, with the third round and championship round scheduled Thanksgiving weekend at Northwest Florida State College.^[2]

Tournament history

Tournament champions

Men's

Year	Teams
2014	Ole Miss	North Carolina Central
2015	Iowa State	Chattanooga
2016	Virginia	Texas–Rio Grande Valley
2017	TCU	Tennessee Tech
2018	Cincinnati	Nicholls State
2019	Florida State	Chattanooga
2020	No Tournament
2021	LSU	Samford
2022	TCU	Omaha
2023	Ohio State	Western Michigan
2024	No Tournament
2025

Women's

Year	Teams
2024

Brackets

* – Denotes overtime period

2024

Women's

The Emerald Coast Classic will be a women's college basketball tournament only for the 2024-25 season with four teams comprised in two brackets.^[3]

Bay Bracket

Bay Bracket Semifinals November 25		Bay Bracket Championship November 26

	Clemson

	UAB



	Alabama

	Alabama State	Bay Bracket Consolation November 26

Beach Bracket

Beach Bracket Semifinals November 25		Beach Bracket Championship November 26

	Syracuse

	Missouri



	Wichita State

	Creighton	Beach Bracket Consolation November 26

2023

Men's

The tournament took place from November 24 - 25, 2023.^[4]

First Round November 17

22	Alabama	98

	Mercer	67

	First Round November 19

	Ohio State	73

	Western Michigan	56

	First Round November 17

	Oregon	92

	Tennessee State	67

	First Round November 18

	Santa Clara	65

	Southeastern Louisiana	63

Championship round

Second Round November 24 CBSSN			Championship Round November 25 CBSSN

17	Alabama	81

	Ohio State	92
			Ohio State		86

			Santa Clara		56
Oregon		82

Santa Clara		88	Consolation November 25


			17	Alabama	99

				Oregon	91

Second Round November 24		Championship Round November 25

Western Michigan	68

Southeastern Louisiana	67
		Western Michigan	72

		Mercer	66
Tennessee State	59

Mercer	60	Consolation Game November 25


		Southeastern Louisiana	77

		Tennessee State	91

2022

Men's

The tournament took place on November 25 - 26, 2022.^[5]

First Round

	First Round November 18

	California	66

	Southern	74

	First Round November 21

	Clemson	72

	Loyola (MD)	41

	First Round November 21

	No. 25 Iowa	100

	Omaha	64

	First Round November 17

	No. 15 TCU	95

	Louisiana–Monroe	60

Championship round

Second Round November 25 CBSSN			Championship Round November 26 CBSSN

	California	48

	TCU	59
				TCU	79

			25	Iowa	66
	Clemson	71

25	Iowa	74	Consolation November 26


				California	59

				Clemson	67

Second Round November 25		Championship Round November 26

Southern	76

Loyola (MD)	58
			Southern	78

			Omaha	88
Louisiana–Monroe	56

Omaha	63	Consolation Game November 26


			Loyola (MD)	65

			Louisiana-Monroe	64

2021

Men's

LSU, Oregon State, Penn State and Wake Forest headline the field for the 2021 Emerald Coast Classic.^[6]

First-round games played at on-campus sites. Second- and championship-round games played on the campus of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida.^[7]^[8]

First Round

	First Round November 18

	St. Francis Brooklyn	59

	Penn State	74

	First Round November 18

	McNeese State	46

	LSU	85

	First Round November 18

	Samford	78

	Oregon State	77

	First Round November 20

	North Carolina A&T	63

	Wake Forest	87

Championship round

Second Round November 26 CBSSN			Championship Round November 27 CBSSN

	Penn State	63

	LSU	68*
				LSU	75

				Wake Forest	61
	Oregon State	77

	Wake Forest	80	Consolation November 27


				Penn State	60

				Oregon State	45

Second Round November 26		Championship Round November 27

McNeese State	71

St. Francis Brooklyn	59
			McNeese State	75

			Samford	83
Samford	77

North Carolina A&T	75	Consolation Game November 27


			St. Francis Brooklyn	67

			North Carolina A&T	73

2019

Men's

^[9]

Championship round

Third Round November 28 CBSSN			Championship Round November 29 CBSSN

	Florida State	60

17	Tennessee	57
			Florida State		63

			Purdue		60
	Purdue	59

20	VCU	56	3rd Place Game CBSSN


			17	Tennessee	72

			20	VCU	69

Third Round November 28 CBSSN		Championship Round November 29 CBSSN

Chicago State	62

Jacksonville State	71
		Jacksonville State	60

		Chattanooga	63
Alabama State	56

Chattanooga	74	3rd Place Game CBSSN


		Chicago State	54

		Alabama State	67

2018

Men's

First and Second Round

First and second-round games were played at campus sites November 10–20, 2018 with the third round and championship round scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, November 23 and 25.^[10]

November 13			November 19

				Western Michigan	52
	North Carolina Central	51		Cincinnati	78
	Cincinnati	73

November 17			November 20

				North Carolina Central	63
	Southern	65		George Mason	78
	George Mason	69

November 10			November 16

				Nicholls State	54
	Southern	53		Baylor	81
	Baylor	80

November 10			November 20

				Nicholls State	55
	Western Michigan	64		Ole Miss	75
	Ole Miss	90

Championship round

Third Round November 23 CBSSN		Championship Round November 24 CBSSN

George Mason	55

Cincinnati	71
		Cincinnati	71

		Ole Miss	57
Baylor	70

Ole Miss	78	3rd place game November 24


		George Mason	61

		Baylor	72

Third Round November 23		Championship Round November 24

Nicholls State	77

NC Central	63
		Nicholls State	62

		Western Michigan	61*
Southern	70

Western Michigan	85	3rd place game November 24


		NC Central	83

		Southern	71

2017

Men's

First and Second Round

First and second-round games were played at on-campus sites November 12–21, 2017 with the third round and championship round scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, November 24 and 25.^[11]

November 18 BTN			November 20 BTN

				Jackson State	45
	Maryland Eastern Shore	43		Maryland	76
	Maryland	96

November 13 Fox Sports Southwest			November 20 Fox Sports Southwest

				Omaha	66
	Tennessee Tech	63		TCU	99
	TCU	100

November 14			November 21

				Tennessee Tech	104
	Omaha	71		New Mexico	96
	New Mexico	103

November 18			November 20

				Maryland Eastern Shore	48
	Jackson State	58		St. Bonaventure	96
	St. Bonaventure	72

Championship round

Third Round November 24 CBSSN		Championship Round November 25 CBSSN

New Mexico	67

TCU	69
		TCU	89

		St. Bonaventure	79
St. Bonaventure	63

Maryland	61	3rd place game November 25


		New Mexico	65

		Maryland	80

Third Round November 25		Championship Round November 26

Tennessee Tech	86

Omaha	85
		Tennessee Tech	90

		Maryland Eastern Shore	60
Maryland Eastern Shore	66

Jackson State	63	3rd place game November 25


		Omaha	73

		Jackson State	75

2016

Men's

First and Second Round

First and second-round games were played at on-campus sites November 13–22, 2016 with the third round and championship round scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, November 25 and 26.^[12]

November 13			November 20

				UT Rio Grande Valley	67
	Savannah State	84		Iowa	95
	Iowa	116

November 13			November 20

				Savannah State	86
	UTRGV	75		Memphis	99
	Memphis	95

November 15			November 22

				Grambling State	34
	St. Francis Brooklyn	32		Virginia	90
	Virginia	95

November 19			November 21

				St. Francis Brooklyn	48
	Grambling State	54		Providence	64
	Providence	71

Championship round

Third Round November 25 CBSSN			Championship Round November 26 CBSSN

8	Virginia	74

	Iowa	41
			8	Virginia	63

				Providence	52
Providence		60

Memphis		51	3rd place game November 26


			Iowa		92

			Memphis		100

Third Round November 25		Championship Round November 26

Savannah State	91

St. Francis Brooklyn	97
		St. Francis Brooklyn	61

		UT Rio Grande Valley	71
Grambling State	93

UT Rio Grande Valley	101*	3rd place game November 26


		Savannah State	104

		Grambling State	110

2015

Men's

First and Second Round

^[13]

November 14			November 18

				Jacksonville State	62
	Alabama State	85		Virginia Tech	71
	Virginia Tech	82

November 14			November 18

				Chattanooga	63
	Chicago State	64		Iowa State	83
	Iowa State	106

November 14			November 18

				Jacksonville State	55
	Alabama State	70		UAB	61
	UAB	72

November 21 Springfield, Illinois			November 18 Springfield, Illinois

				Chicago State	79
	Chattanooga	81		Illinois	82
	Illinois	77

Championship round

Third Round November 27 CBSSN^[14]		Championship Round November 28 CBSSN

Iowa State	99

Virginia Tech	77
			Iowa State	84

			Illinois	73
UAB	58

Illinois	72	3rd place game November 28


			Virginia Tech	82*

			UAB	77

Third Round November 27		Championship Round November 28

Alabama State	58

Chattanooga	95
		Chattanooga	62

		Jacksonville State	52
Chicago State	65

Jacksonville State	68	3rd place game November 28


		Alabama State	66

		Chicago State	64

2014

Men's

First and Second Round

First and second-round games were played at on-campus sites November 20–25, 2014 with the third round and championship round scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend, November 28 and 29.^[15]

November 20			November 23

				Northern Arizona	74
	Southern	38		Ole Miss	80
	Ole Miss	69

November 22			November 25

				Northern Arizona	53
	Southern	48		Middle Tennessee	65
	Middle Tennessee	66

November 23			November 25

				Eastern Illinois	53
	North Carolina Central	45		Creighton	75
	Creighton	65

November 23			November 25

				North Carolina Central	70
	Eastern Illinois	49		Cincinnati	79
	Cincinnati	54

Championship round

Third Round November 28 Emerald Coast TV^[16]			Semifinals November 29 CBSSN^[17]

Middle Tennessee		51

Cincinnati		69
			Cincinnati		54

			Ole Miss		66
23	Creighton	68

	Ole Miss	75	3rd place game November 29 Emerald Coast TV


				Middle Tennessee	47

			23	Creighton	57

Third Round November 28 Emerald Coast TV		Championship Round November 29 Emerald Coast TV

Eastern Illinois	40

North Carolina Central	65
		North Carolina Central	40

		Northern Arizona	36
Southern	63

Northern Arizona	70*	3rd place game November 29 Emerald Coast TV


		Eastern Illinois	54

		Southern	43

Future Fields

2025 Men's ^[18]

DePaul
Georgia Tech
LSU
4th Team TBA

References

^ Walker, Brandon (17 April 2014). "NWF State's arena to host D I men's tournament". nwfdailynews.com. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^ "Northwest Florida State set to host 2014 Emerald Coast Classic Basketball Tourney featuring Creighton, Ole Miss and other top NCAA teams". Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^ "OPENING ROUND GAMES DISCLOSED FOR INAUGURAL EMERALD COAST CLASSIC WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT". Emerald Coast Classic. Global Sports Management. June 18, 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
^ "ALABAMA, OHIO STATE, OREGON, SANTA CLARA HEADLINE EMERALD COAST CLASSIC FIELD". emeraldcoastclassic.com. April 22, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
^ "2022-23 Men's College Basketball Early Season Tournaments and Exempt Multi-Team Events (MTEs)". SB Nation. April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
^ "LSU, Oregon State, Penn State, Wake Forest in Emerald Coast Classic". Emerald Coast Classic. Global Sports Management.
^ "2021 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Emerald Coast Classic. Global Sports Management. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Tigers Bracket Set For 2021 Emerald Coast Classic". LSUSports.net. LSU Athletics. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
^ Blake Lovell. "Tennessee to take part in 2019 Emerald Coast Classic". southeasthoops.com. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
^ "2018 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Emerald Coast Classic. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
^ "2017 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Emerald Coast Classic. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
^ "2016 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Emerald Coast Classic. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
^ "2015 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
^ Norlander, Matt. "CBS Sports unveils College Basketball Schedule for 2015-16". CBS Sports. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
^ "2014 Emerald Coast Classic Schedule". Retrieved 28 May 2014.
^ "Emerald Coast TV to stream Emerald Coast Classic". Emerald Coast Classic. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
^ Rob Anderson (10 September 2014). "Tweet Number 509744142931738624". Twitter. Retrieved 12 September 2014. CBS Sports Network announces it will televise the championship game of the Emerald Coast Classic. Field is Creighton, Cincy, Ole Miss, MTSU.
^ "Georgia Tech, LSU, DePaul to headline 2025 Emerald Coast Classic". CollegeHoopsToday.net. College Hoops Today.

External links