Duke, along with Texas, Georgetown, and Cal will be the participating teams for the 2019 2K Classic. How strong will the programs be a year from now?
The 2K Empire Classic has consistently been one of the better four-team non-conference tournaments in the off-season. A big reason is the location of Madison Square Garden in New York City, considered to be one of the best basketball environments out there.
It’s allowed the event to always have talented programs to join the field, along with primetime coverage from the ESPN networks. The past winners of the 2K Classic have been able to boast quality wins for their respective resumes, while the losers lament on missed opportunities.
Last season, Providence won the event over Saint Louis to propel themselves to the NCAA Tournament, while Washington going 0-2 hurt their chances at their own quest for a bid.
For this upcoming season, it’s a field filled with teams looking to go back to the Big Dance. Iowa, UConn, and Oregon each return a good amount of talent and should contend for a shot at making the NCAA Tournament. The same goes for the fourth team Syracuse, who will hope to avoid another play-in game this time around.
But before we look at this upcoming season, the 2K Classic has announced the four teams who’ll play in the 2019 event. And this one has some true heavyweight basketball programs.
Sources: Duke, Georgetown, Texas, and Cal will headline the 2019 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 5, 2018
Anytime an event can bring in the Duke Blue Devils, it’s a huge win for both exposure and TV ratings. It’s a mutually beneficial situation, as Coach K and the program have been wanting to play in New York, evident by their recent series with St. John’s.
Even though Duke’s talented freshmen won’t likely be around this time next year, there’s a very good chance that they’ll bring in enough talent to be a top-10 preseason team again.
The same very well could be said for Texas, depending on who returns. The Longhorns won’t have veterans Dylan Osetkowski and Kerwin Roach Jr., but have a talented five-player recruiting class along with outstanding guards Matt Coleman and Andrew Jones. If these incoming freshmen are the real deal, Shaka Smart’s team will be even more formidable in the near future.
Based on the last two non-conference schedules, the 2K Classic in 2019 alone will be the toughest that Georgetown has faced. It’s understandable when considering that the program has been rebuilding under Patrick Ewing but the Hoyas will have a solid roster of players in time to compete against better opponents.
Cal is also rebuilding, after winning just eight total games last season. But the Golden Bears have several four-star recruits coming in the next couple of seasons and should be more than a PAC-12 doormat, although they’ll be a heavy underdog compared to the other teams in the 2K Classic.
From a fans perspective, a Duke-Texas matchup would be great to watch in the championship game, as they’re currently the top projected teams at this point. But Georgetown – and even Cal will be better 400 days from now. The 2K Classic might not be at the same level as the Maui Invitational but it’s nonetheless going to be a great watch in the non-conference for the 2019-20 campaign.