The 13th annual Legends Classic will feature four NCAA Basketball teams that haven’t been in this tournament before. How will this event play out in New York City?
The 13th annual Legends Classic will begin on Monday, November 25 as a two-day event. Wisconsin plays Richmond at 7 p.m. EST and Auburn vs. New Mexico is to follow. It’s a four-team, everyone plays two games type Tournament. The NCAA Basketball event will be at the Barclays Center in New York City for the 8th straight year. Newark was the host city in the first two years. Then it was Atlantic City for another two, East Rutherford for one before moving to New York City.
The Legends Classic has always been a four-team Tournament. The most appearances by any school are Texas, Pittsburgh and Detroit all with three. The Panthers are the only team to win the Legends Classic twice. The Longhorns were the first Champion when they took down Tennessee in 2007 and D.J. Augustin was the Legends Classic MVP. Last season saw St. John’s defeat VCU in overtime. Shamorie Ponds was the MVP.
All four teams will be making their Legends Classic debut. Auburn was a final four team last season as they shocked a handful of blue blood programs in March. Wisconsin made it back to the NCAA Tournament after snapping a 17-year streak. Richmond and New Mexico could be sneaky contenders in their conferences. The favorite in the Atlantic 10 is obviously VCU and the Mountain West favorite is Utah State. But the Spiders are returning a lot of experience and the Lobos have four-former top-100 transfers.
The last three Legends Classic winners went on to the NCAA Tournament. In 2015, all four participants missed the big dance. I don’t see that happening this season. Auburn is in very good shape to get back. If Wisconsin plays as they did against Marquette, they should be back. New Mexico and Richmond will need to do some damage in their conferences in-order to go dancing in March. Either way, the Legends Classic will have four teams looking to be very competitive.