NCAA Basketball: 2018 Hall of Fame Classic preview and predictions
By Bryan Mauro
The 2018 Hall of Fame Classic features several quality programs. Which of them is the most likely to take home the trophy?
Stars of our generation on the hardwood need to be remembered for generations to come. Over the weekend many fans and media members will convene on Kansas City, Missouri for the College Basketball Hall of Fame induction. After honoring the legends from yesterday, fans can treat themselves to the stars of today. Every year the Hall of Fame puts on a basketball tournament.
The tournament bracket features four teams and each team is guaranteed two games. In the past, the four-team brackets have been competitive. The past tournaments have featured some of the game’s best teams. Since this tournament is in Kansas City, there is almost always a Big 12 conference school that participates in the bracketed portion of the event.
The tournament also has a campus portion of the event. Each of the four bracketed teams receives two home games against lower mid-major schools. Those schools then play each other on their campuses while the bracketed teams are playing in Kansas City. A blue blood basketball program has won this tournament 3 out of the last 4 years. The last four champions are Baylor, Kansas, North Carolina, and Maryland.
This tournament is going to mark the first times that coaching staffs can use technology on the sidelines. One of the tournaments sponsors ShotTracker has been given the approval by the NCAA to allow the coaches to use an iPad containing their tracking technology. If this technology proves useful the NCAA may make a rule change for the future. The rule change would be a long time coming and would require a vote to be approved. It will be interesting to see how the coaches and players respond to the new technology.
While this year’s field does not contain a blue blood program. It does contain programs who are on the up, a Big 12 school and another local school to appease the rooting interest of the local fans. This year’s bracket is Missouri State vs Nebraska and Texas Tech vs USC. The tournament starts Friday night and all the games are going to be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks.