Tickets for the 9th annual Emerald Coast Classic college basketball tournament, presented by Global Sports, are on sale on the official tournament website www.emeraldcoastclassic.com. Tickets start at $20 per session with each session having two games.
The Emerald Coast Classic will be played Thanksgiving weekend Nov. 24-25 at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
Alabama will face Ohio State in a semifinal round game at 6 p.m. central time on Friday, Nov. 24, while Oregon will play Santa Clara at 8:30 p.m. The third-place game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 25 with the championship game scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip off on that Saturday.
Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press basketball poll, posting a 31-6 record while winning both the SEC regular-season and postseason tournament titles. Under the guidance of coach Nate Oats, Alabama was the top overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, while advancing to its ninth Sweet 16 Tournament appearance in school history.
Oregon advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2023 NIT en route to a 21-16 record. The Ducks have won 20 or more games in each of Dana Altman’s 13 seasons as head coach, advancing to the 2017 NCAA Final Four.
Ohio State went 16-19 in 2022-23 and was ranked No. 52 in the final NET rankings.
Santa Clara had a 23-10 record last year — the most regular season wins at the school since the 1968-69 season —while advancing to the NIT.
Other games at Northwest Florida State College on Friday Nov. 24 have Mercer playing Tennessee State at 11 a.m., while Southeastern Louisiana meets Western Michigan at 1:30 p.m. These teams will play their second game Nov. 25 with tip offs at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
“We’re excited about the rich tradition of this year’s tournament field,” said tournament director Maury Hanks, chief executive officer of Global Sports. “We continue to strive to bring the best college basketball teams possible to the Emerald Coast of Florida.”
Global Sports has produced 52 multi-team college basketball tournaments since 2007.
