Game matchups for the eighth annual Emerald Coast Classic have been announced.
Eight basketball teams will compete Nov. 25-26 in the tournament, which will be held at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.
Iowa will face Clemson in a semifinal round game at 6 p.m. central time on Friday, Nov. 25, while TCU will play Cal at 8:30 p.m. The third-place game will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 26 with the championship game scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip off on that Saturday.
Both Iowa and TCU played in the 2022 NCAA Tournament with the Horned Frogs beating Seton Hall, 69-42, in the first round. TCU fell to top-seeded Arizona, 85-80, in overtime in the second round.
Iowa captured the 2022 Big Ten Conference Tournament championship, tied for fourth in the conference standings and won 26 overall games, the second most wins in a season in program history.
The Horned Frogs’ second NCAA Tournament bid under coach Jamie Dixon was their fourth postseason appearance in the five seasons that postseason was held, the best in program history.
TCU has all five starters returning from its 2021-22 team which finished 21-13, its fourth 20-win season in six years under Dixon with a program-record five wins over AP Top 25 teams. TCU surged late with consecutive victories over top-10 opponents in Texas Tech and Kansas to secure a NCAA Tournament berth.
Returning starting forwards Hunter Tyson and PJ Hall will key the fortunes for Clemson, which won five of its last six games to close out the 2021-22 campaign. Brad Brownell is the winningest coach in Clemson history, earning 218 victories in 12 years while guiding the Tigers to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, 2018 Sweet 16, 2011 NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances.
Other games Friday, Nov. 25, have Southern playing Loyola Maryland at 11 a.m., while Louisiana Monroe meets Omaha at 1:30 p.m. These teams will play their second game Nov. 26 with tipoffs at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Keith Richard enters his 13th year as head coach at Louisiana Monroe, which competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones return as graduate students to lead a veteran Loyola Maryland, where Tavaras Hardy enters his fifth year as head coach. Andrews averaged 13.7 points and 4.1 rebounds, while Jones led the Patriot League with 4.6 assists per game.
Omaha, which plays in the Summit League, also played in the 2017 Emerald Coast Classic.
Chris Crutchfield will begin his first year as head coach at his alma mater – Omaha – after spending the past year as an assistant coach at Oregon.
On campus first-round games start Nov. 17 with TCU hosting Louisiana Monroe. Cal hosts Southern on Nov. 18 and Omaha travels to Iowa and Loyola Maryland visits Clemson on Nov. 21. Tickets will go on sale later this summer. For more tournament information visit www.emeraldcoastclassic.com.
