The Basketball Tournament 2020

The Basketball Tournament 2020 will be the seventh edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament. The tournament, involving 24 teams, will start on July 4 and continue through the championship match on July 14, with all games held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The winner of the final will receive a $1 million prize.

The Basketball Tournament
2020
Tournament information
DatesJuly 4–July 14, 2020
Tournament
format(s)
Single elimination
Host(s)Columbus, OH
Participants24
PurseChampionship: US$1,000,000 winner-take-all

Format

The tournament was to begin with a field of 64 teams, organized into eight regions of 8 teams, all of which are seeded. While each regional in the 2019 edition was hosted by a competing team, and the winner of each regional received a prize equal to 25% of that region's ticket proceeds,[1] the tournament organizers have not yet announced whether this procedure will continue in 2020. The open entry period runs from March 15 to June 15.[2]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced on June 11 that the start of the event would be moved up to July 4 in a modified form, with the entire tournament taking place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, and downsized to 24 teams with a $1,000,000 purse. It will mark the first televised basketball event held in the United States since the onset of the pandemic and suspension of all U.S. professional sports in mid-March, as the NBA plans to resume its 2019-20 season on July 31 (with all games hosted by the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida).[3] There will be extensive quarantine and testing protocols in place, including the immediate disqualification of any team that has a player test positive. Games will be broadcast via ESPN networks (with ESPN having also announced a renewal of its media rights to the tournament), and closed to the public. State governor Mike DeWine considered the event "another step forward in our state's efforts to responsibly restart Ohio".[4]

Alumni teams

Multiple teams in the tournament are expected to be comprised mostly or exclusively of alumni of a particular school, program, or a group of closely related schools. As early as October 2019, Florida State had announced plans to enter a team, and St. Bonaventure and Virginia Tech had also announced the same by the end of 2019. [5] In January 2020, Purdue also announced plans to enter a team.[6] By February 28, 2020, Alabama, , @paperchaser_nsr Illinois, Marshall, Maryland, Oklahoma State, and Virginia had also announced plans to enter TBT 2020.[7] The status of defending champion Carmen's Crew (Ohio State) was initially uncertain, but that team has since officially entered TBT 2020.[8] Other alumni teams confirmed include Syracuse,[9] West Virginia,[10] and Wichita State.[11] Additionally, Luke Hancock announced that he was exploring entering a Louisville alumni team.[5]

The Ohio State, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Wichita State alumni teams have been officially confirmed as entrants. All other team names and regional locations are tentative and subject to change. Only teams that have announced definitive entry plans are listed.

Region Seed Team School/program Origins of name
Columbus Carmen's Crew Ohio State Buckeyes School song "Carmen Ohio"
Columbus House of 'Paign Illinois Fighting Illini Champaign, Illinois—the Illinois campus is divided between that city and neighboring Urbana
Columbus Boeheim's Army Syracuse Orange Current Orange head coach Jim Boeheim
Columbus TBA Maryland Terrapins
Columbus Pack Line U Virginia Cavaliers Pack-line defense, the scheme Virginia has used under current head coach Tony Bennett
Columbus Herd That Marshall Thundering Herd Short version of school nickname
Columbus Best Virginia West Virginia Mountaineers
Columbus AfterShocks Wichita State Shockers
Columbus Fear the Spear Florida State Seminoles Visual element in several Seminoles logos; a spear is driven into the field during pregame for all FSU home football games
Columbus Men of Mackey Purdue Boilermakers Mackey Arena, Purdue's home arena
Columbus Brown & White St. Bonaventure Bonnies School colors
Columbus Maroon & Orange Virginia Tech Hokies School colors
Columbus TBA Alabama Crimson Tide
Columbus TBA Oklahoma State Cowboys

    References
    1. "TBT Announces Regional, Championship Sites for 2019" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. January 29, 2019. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
    2. "TBT Announces Nine Host Sites for 2020" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. February 18, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    3. "Sources: NBA approves return plan by 29-1 vote". ESPN.com. 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
    4. "TBT to be played in Columbus, air live on ESPN". ESPN.com. 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
    5. "Early Storylines to Watch as We Approach TBT 2020" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. December 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    6. "Purdue Alumni Team to Explore Applying for TBT 2020" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. January 19, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    7. "TBT Announces Nine Host Sites for 2020" (Press release). The Basketball Tournament. February 28, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    8. "Columbus Regional". The Basketball Tournament. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    9. "Syracuse Regional". The Basketball Tournament. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    10. "West Virginia Regional". The Basketball Tournament. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
    11. "Wichita Regional". The Basketball Tournament. Retrieved March 5, 2020.


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