All-College Basketball Classic

All-College Basketball Classic
SportBasketball
Founded1935
FounderOklahoma Publishing Company; later the Oklahoma City All-Sports Association
First season1935
Ceased2016
No. of teams4
Country United States
TV partner(s)ESPN2

The All-College Basketball Classic was a college basketball event that was played during the winter holidays in Oklahoma City from 1935 to 2016. The final events were held at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The All-College followed a tournament format until 2000, it was replaced by non-conference games featuring the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys. The All-College Basketball Classic preceded the NCAA, NIT, NAIA, and NBA tournaments.

The All-College Tournament was originally conceived by Henry P. Iba, the coach at Oklahoma A&M, and Bus Ham, sports editor of The Oklahoman. The original purpose of the tournament was to increase interest in high school basketball in Oklahoma, and thereby to improve the quality of the college teams in the state. The first tournament included 16 teams from Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, and was played at Classen High School; Oklahoma A&M won the first title game over Tulsa, 40–17. Two years later the tournament had grown to 32 teams.[1] When the publisher of The Oklahoman made known its intention to end its sponsorship, the Oklahoma City All Sports Association was formed in 1957 to take over the tournament.[2]

The size, sponsorship, and success of the tournament varied over the years, and it shrank to four teams in 1981.[3] In 1999 it had what one report called "one of its worst fields ever" with three small college programs along with Oklahoma.[4] The last traditionally-formatted tournament was played in 2000, with Oklahoma beating SMU 79–78 in the title game. Beginning in 2001, the event switched to a showcase format, with a pre-determined schedule and no title game.[5] In 2013 the event included women's basketball for the first time, presenting a doubleheader featuring the Oklahoma State men's and women's teams each playing a game against an out-of-state foe.[6]

Tournament champions

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Year Winner Score Opponent Source
1936–37 Oklahoma A&M 40–17 Tulsa [7]
1937 Oklahoma A&M 26–22 Southwestern (KS) [7]
1938 Central Missouri State 33–25 Texas [8]
1939 Oklahoma A&M 37–34 Texas Tech [7]
1940 Pittsburg State 39–38 Texas
1941 West Texas State 37–31 Oklahoma A&M [7][9]
1942 TCU 37–25 Arkansas
1943 Oklahoma 31–27 Norman NAS [10]
1944 Oklahoma A&M 43–34 Arkansas [7]
1945 Oklahoma A&M 65–46 Baylor [7][11]
1946 Oklahoma A&M 42–39 Kansas [7]
1947 Oklahoma A&M 32–31 Texas [7]
1948 Oklahoma A&M 39–36 Baylor [7][11]
1949
1950 Oklahoma A&M 54–41 Arkansas [7]
1951
1952 Oklahoma A&M 51–49 Idaho [7]
1953 Oklahoma A&M 67–56 Santa Clara [7]
1954 San Francisco 73–57 George Washington
1955 Tulsa 65–58 Oklahoma City
1956 Seattle 70–69 Oklahoma City
1957 San Francisco
1958 Oklahoma City 75–59 Duquesne
1959 Utah State 75–59 Oklahoma City
1960 Wichita 76–74 Baylor [11][12]
1961 Bowling Green 47–45 Houston [13]
1962 Loyola Chicago 93–82 Wyoming
1963 Wichita 80–47 Oklahoma City [12]
1964 DePaul 67–60 Oklahoma City
1965 Oklahoma City 99–90 VPI
1966 Montana State 82–81 Oklahoma City
1967 Oklahoma City 91–88 BYU
1968 LSU 94–91 Duquesne
1969 Niagara 87–75 Oklahoma City
1970 Utah State 97–81 LSU
1971 Eastern Kentucky 83–78 Oklahoma City
1972 Long Beach State 101–89 BYU
1973 USC 96–75 Oral Roberts
1974 Centenary 91–80 Oklahoma City
1975 Long Island 80–78 Centenary
1976 VMI 69–58 Oklahoma City
1977 San Francisco 102–90 Arizona State
1978 New Mexico State 63–58 Weber State
1979 Oklahoma 80–70 Louisiana Tech [10]
1980 Oklahoma State 94–83 Idaho [7]
1981 Lamar 63–51 Rhode Island
1982 Oklahoma State 76–64 Oklahoma City [7]
1983 Oklahoma 87–62 Arkansas–Little Rock [10]
1984 Oklahoma 84–72 Louisiana Tech [10]
1985 Oklahoma 92–69 SMU [10]
1986 TCU 95–82 Oklahoma [10]
1987 Oklahoma 107–56 Illinois State [10]
1988 Oklahoma 124–95 Texas [10]
1989 Oklahoma 99–78 Tulsa [10]
1990 Oklahoma 112–99 Tulsa [10]
1991 Oklahoma 78–73 TCU [10]
1992 Oklahoma 95–76 Texas [10]
1993 Oklahoma 95–76 Tulsa [10]
1994 Oklahoma 76–61 Tulsa [10]
1995 Florida 76–72 Oklahoma [10]
1996 Tulsa 78–75 Oklahoma [10]
1997 Oklahoma 79–61 Alabama [10]
1998 Oklahoma 83–72 Oral Roberts [10]
1999 Oklahoma 64–51 Arkansas State [10]
2000 Oklahoma 79–78 SMU [10]

References

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  1. ^ Volney Meece, "Iba, Ham Saw Good for Preps in All College", The Oklahoman, December 24, 1985.
  2. ^ Jim Stafford, "Made in Oklahoma: The Oklahoma City All Sports Association", The Oklahoman, May 31, 2005.
  3. ^ Darrell Morrow, "Basketball Tourney Aids OKC Economy" Archived 2016-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, The Journal Record, December 18, 1992. ("Originally, it was a 32-team affair and it was played in high schools throughout Oklahoma City, then it was reduced to 16 teams and then it was reduced to eight. It was eight teams when we took over in 1957. In 1981, it became a four-team tournament because of the difficulty with the schools being restricted to playing a limited number of games.")
  4. ^ Berry Tramel, "City hoops tournament to change All-College organizers want to lure big teams", The Oklahoman, September 8, 2000.
  5. ^ Berry Tramel, "All-College Tournament enters new dimension", The Oklahoman, December 31, 2000.
  6. ^ John Helsley, "Oklahoma State basketball: All-College Classic to feature OSU-Louisiana Tech men, OSU-South Florida women", The Oklahoman, August 4, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "2023–24 OSU Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Oklahoma State University athletics. November 7, 2023. p. 134. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "2023–24 Central Missouri Mules men's basketball record book" (PDF). University of Central Missouri athletics. October 5, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "2023–24 WTAMU Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). West Texas A&M athletics. November 1, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "2023–24 Oklahoma Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Soonersports.com. November 6, 2023. p. 113. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "2023–24 Baylor Bears Men's Basketball Media Almanac" (PDF). Baylor University athletics. November 16, 2023. pp. 136–7. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "2023–24 Wichita State Shockers Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). Wichita State University athletics. November 1, 2023. p. 110. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  13. ^ "2023–24 Bowling Green Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Bowling Green athletics. June 1, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
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