NICEVILLE, FLA. — Game matchups for the ninth annual Emerald Coast Classic were announced by Global Sports Tuesday.
Eight teams will compete Nov. 24-25 in the tournament which will be held 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.
Other games at Northwest Florida State College on Friday Nov. 24 have Mercerplaying 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.
On campus first-round games will be played Nov. 17 with Alabama hosting Mercer, while Tennessee State visits Oregon. Southeastern Louisiana travels to Santa Clara Nov. 18. Ohio State will host Western Michigan Nov. 19.
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 post-season tournament titles.
Oregon advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2023 NIT en route to a 21-16 record.
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.
Mercer head coach Greg Gary will welcome back forward Jalyn McCreary, who earned All-Southern Conference honors, along with guard Jah Quinones, named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team.
Southeastern Louisiana, under coach David Kiefer, posted an 18-14 record last season, including a 12-6 mark in the Southland Conference.
Head Coach Brian Collins guided Tennessee State to an 18-14 mark, including a 10-8 finish in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022-23.
Dwayne Stephens will enter his second year as head coach of Western Michiganwhich has guard Seth Hubbard, named to the Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team, heading the list of returning starters.
Global Sports has produced 52 multi-team college basketball tournaments since 2007.
Tickets will go on sale for the tournament later this summer.
For more information visit the tournament website www.emeraldcoastclassic.com
