Wooden Legacy

Wooden Legacy

Sport	College Basketball
Founded	2013
No. of teams	8 (2013–2019) 4 (2020–present)
Most recent champion(s)	USC Trojans
Sponsor(s)	Paycom
Official website	wooden legacy

The Paycom Wooden Legacy is an annual early-season men's college basketball competition that began in 2013. It is named in honor of basketball coach John Wooden, whose UCLA Bruins teams won 10 national championships over the 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975.

History and format[]

The Wooden Legacy was formed in 2013 by a merger between the Wooden Classic and DirecTV Classic.^[1] From 2013 through 2019, eight teams competed in the Wooden Legacy in a three-day, 12-game bracketed tournament,^[2] with the games televised on the ESPN Networks (ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3). From 2013 to 2016, the first two rounds were played at Titan Gym on the campus of Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, California, and the final day of competition took place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.^[3] From 2017 to 2019, all games were played at Titan Gym.^[4]

Beginning in 2020, plans called for the Wooden Legacy to have a two-day, four-team format,^[5] with all games played at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim.^[5] The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.^[6] The four-team, two-day tournament format instead debuted in 2021,^[7] with the semifinals and championship game televised by ESPN2 and the third-place game by ESPNU.^[8]

Brackets[]

* – Denotes overtime period

2021[]

^[9]

	Semifinals November 25					Championship November 26
	24	USC	70
		Saint Joseph's	55
						24	USC	58
							San Diego State	43
		Georgetown	56
		San Diego State	73			Third-place Game November 26
							Saint Joseph’s	77
							Georgetown	74

2020[]

Originally, Georgetown, Kansas, UCLA, and Virginia committed to play in the 2020 Wooden Legacy.^[10] In August 2020, the Pac-12 Conference announced the cancellation of all sports events for its member schools until January 1, 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening UCLA's participation; despite this, UCLA never withdrew from the Wooden Legacy.^[11] In the first round, Georgetown was expected to face Kansas and UCLA to play Virginia. In September 2020, ESPN announced plans to move the college basketball nonconference events it planned to run in November and December 2020, including the Wooden Legacy, to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, in an effort to keep players and staffs safer during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[12] The announcement prompted Georgetown and Virginia to withdraw from the tournament, and Seton Hall and Boise State replaced them.^[10] Ultimately, however, ESPN canceled all the 2020 tournaments, including the Wooden Legacy, in late October 2020.^[6]

2019[]

^{[13][14] [15]}

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 20					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 29					First Round Thursday, November 28					Semifinals Friday, November 29					Championship Sunday, December 1
												Providence	65
												Long Beach State	66
							Providence	55									Long Beach State	75
							College of Charleston	63									Wake Forest	88
												Wake Forest	65
												College of Charleston	56
		College of Charleston	56																			Wake Forest	66
		UCF	77																	14	Arizona	73
												UCF	67
												Penn	68
						UCF	78									Penn	82
	7th Place Game						Pepperdine	65								14	Arizona	92			3rd Place Game
		Providence	80								14	Arizona	93									Long Beach State	79
		Pepperdine	77									Pepperdine	91									Penn	95

2018[]

^{[16] [17]}

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 25					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 23					First Round Thursday, November 22					Semifinals Friday, November 23					Championship Sunday, November 25
											La Salle		49
											Miami (FL)		85
						La Salle		74								Miami (FL)		78
						Northwestern		91								Fresno State		76
											Northwestern		59
											Fresno State		78
	Northwestern		79																	Miami (FL)		81
	Utah		57																Seton Hall		83
											Seton Hall		82
											Grand Canyon		75
					Grand Canyon		66								Seton Hall		64
	7th Place Game					Utah		75								Hawai'i		54			3rd Place Game
	La Salle		70								Hawai'i		90								Miami (FL)		79
	Grand Canyon		82								Utah		79								Hawai'i		64

Campus Site Games[]

	November 16
	Binghamton		52
	Northwestern		84

2017[]

^{[18] [19]}

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 26					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 24					First Round Thursday, November 23					Semifinals Friday, November 24					Championship Sunday, November 26
											21	Saint Mary's	89
												Harvard	71
							Harvard	77								21	Saint Mary's	79
							Saint Joseph's	71									Washington State	84
												Saint Joseph's	71
												Washington State	75
		Harvard	61																			Washington State	93
		Cal State Fullerton	70																		San Diego State	86
												Georgia	64
												Cal State Fullerton	57
						Cal State Fullerton	68									Georgia	68
	7th Place Game						Sacramento State	63									San Diego State	75			3rd Place Game
		Saint Joseph's	74									San Diego State	89								21	Saint Mary's	81
		Sacramento State	69									Sacramento State	52									Georgia	83*

Campus Site Games[]

	Game 1 December 4
		Sacramento State	54
		Saint Mary's	70

2016[]

• ^{[20] [21]}

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 27					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 25					First Round Thursday, November 24					Semifinals Friday, November 25					Championship Sunday, November 27
												Texas A&M	95
												Cal State Northridge	73
							Cal State Northridge	89									Texas A&M	68
							New Mexico	105									Virginia Tech	65
												New Mexico	72
												Virginia Tech	92
		New Mexico	57																			Texas A&M	67
		Dayton	64																	14	UCLA	74
												Dayton	78
												Nebraska	80
						Dayton	84									Nebraska	71
	7th Place Game						Portland	74								14	UCLA	82			3rd Place Game
		Cal State Northridge	78									Portland	77									Virginia Tech	66
		Portland	96								14	UCLA	99									Nebraska	53

2015[]

^{[22] [23]}

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 29					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 27					First Round Thursday, November 26					Semifinals Friday, November 27					Championship Sunday, November 29
												Boise State	71
												UC Irvine	64
							UC Irvine	80									Boise State	67
							Boston College	67								3	Michigan State	77
												Boston College	68
											3	Michigan State	99
		UC Irvine	56																		3	Michigan State	77
		Evansville	75																		Providence	73
												Evansville	64
												Providence	74
						Evansville	69									Providence	69
	7th Place Game						Santa Clara	57								11	Arizona	65			3rd Place Game
		Boston College	45									Santa Clara	73									Boise State	59
		Santa Clara	62								11	Arizona	75								11	Arizona	68

2014[]

^[24]

	5th Place Game Sunday, November 30					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 28					First Round Thursday, November 27					Semifinals Friday, November 28					Championship Sunday, November 30
											Princeton		56
											UTEP		62
						Princeton		65								UTEP		77
						San Diego		75								Xavier		73
											San Diego		71
											Xavier		82
	San Diego		66																	UTEP		65
	Western Michigan		68																Washington		68
											Long Beach State		73
											Western Michigan		55
					Western Michigan		79								Long Beach State		70
	7th Place Game					San Jose State		60								Washington		80			3rd Place Game
	Princeton		69								San Jose State		56								Xavier		70
	San Jose State		54								Washington		78								Long Beach State		73

2013[]

^[25]

	5th Place Game Sunday, , December 1					Consolation 2nd Round Friday, November 29					First Round Thursday, November 28					Semifinals Friday, November 29					Championship Sunday, December 1
												Miami (FL)	63
												George Washington	71*
							Miami (FL)	48									George Washington	60
							Cal State Fullerton	46								25	Marquette	76
											25	Marquette	86
												Cal State Fullerton	66
		Miami (FL)	60																		25	Marquette	59
		Arizona State	57																		San Diego State	67
												College of Charleston	52
												San Diego State	72
						College of Charleston	58									San Diego State	86
	7th Place Game						Arizona State	80								20	Creighton	80			3rd Place Game
		Cal State Fullerton	48								20	Creighton	88									George Washington	60
		College of Charleston	61									Arizona State	60								20	Creighton	53

References[]

External links[]

• Official Site