BB&T Classic

The BB&T Classic is a Washington, D.C.-based basketball event that has been held annually since 1995, when it was known as the Franklin National Bank Classic. It is staged at the Verizon Center on or around the first weekend in December. The event raises funds for the Children's Charities Foundation, a fund-raising organization that financially supports Washington, D.C.-area charities.

Played as a tournament with championship and consolation games from 1995 to 2004, the BB&T Classic has been a non-tournament event since 2005.

Format

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 would consist of a doubleheader pitting each of the local teams against each of the national teams. The following afternoon, a championship game would be held between the two opening-round winners. A consolation game between the two teams who lost in the opening round also took place.

In 2005, the BB&T Classic's format was altered due to its inability to attract nationally renowned programs, partly because participating teams had two fewer home games. The event transformed from a tournament into a tripleheader 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, the Classic again became a doubleheader.

The event has been broadcast both nationally on ABC and locally on Washington D.C.'s WDCA. The 2005 and 2006 editions were shown on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic; in recent years the BB&T Classic has been televised on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). In 2014, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN3 each carried one game.

Maryland played in the first 19 BB&T Classic events, but has opted not to since 2014, leaving George Washington as the only team to play in all 20 BB&T Classics through 2014.^[1] However, George Washington did not participate in 2015, leaving Georgetown as the only local team in the 2015 field.^[2] George Washington returned to the Classic in 2016.

Tournament results^[3]

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

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	Maryland92 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[4]	Navy 64 George Washington 57[5]	Temple 64 Maryland 61[6]
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 vs. Elon	George Washington vs. Florida State	None

References

1. Feinstein, John, "Maryland, Georgetown basketball should follow example of Philadelphia’s Big Five," washingtonpost.com, December 4, 2014.
2. 2015 BB&T Classic web site
3. "Past Winners of the BB&T Classic". Children's Charities Foundation. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
4. "Gators Use Hot Shooting from Seniors to Defeat Eagles, 67-48". GatorZone.com.
5. "Navy Uses Strong Defense to Top George Washington, 64-57". NavySports.com.
6. "Maryland Falls To Temple, 64-61". UMTerps.com.

External links

• Official site