Aug. 18, 2005
Coach Steve Alford’s Iowa Hawkeyes hope to spend a few days in November in Kansas City and if they get there, it’s likely they will be joined by some of the biggest names in men’s college basketball for 2005-06.
Iowa, Kentucky, Texas and West Virginia – four teams that advanced to the 2005 NCAA Tournament and figure to be in the mix of reaching the NCAA’s post-season party again in 2006 – will host regional rounds of the 2005 Guardians Classic, Nov. 12-16, on the campuses of the four schools.
Should they post a pair of victories on their home courts, the four will advance to the championship rounds of the 2005 Guardians Classic scheduled for Nov. 21-22 in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.
The Hawkeyes’ bracket includes an opening round game on Nov. 14 against Maryland-Eastern Shore inside award-winning Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The winner of that game will square off against the winner of Colgate and Utah Valley State the following night for the right to advance to Kansas City.
The winner of the Iowa bracket will square off against the winner of Kentucky’s bracket, a group that also includes South Dakota State, Lipscomb and Northern Colorado in addition to the Wildcats.
Texas’s bracket includes the Longhorns, Southern, Samford and Sacramento State while West Virginia’s set includes the host school, Louisiana Monroe, Fairleigh Dickinson and Wofford.
All four host schools will likely open the 2005-06 season ranked among the nation’s top 15 programs. They’ll be aiming to follow in the footsteps of Creighton, winners of last year’s Guardians Classic by virtue of a 65-63 victory over Ohio State.
The field includes several outstanding student-athletes including 2005 Wooden Award nominees Jeff Horner (Iowa), Daniel Gibson (Texas), Kevin Pittsnogle (West Virginia), Rajon Rondo (Kentucky) and P.J. Tucker (Texas).
This is the second appearance in the Guardians Classic for the Hawkeyes. Iowa advanced to the championship game in 2001 where it lost to Missouri, 78-77, on a last-second free throw.
The Guardians Classic was created to promote the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ “Guardians of the Game” program which emphasizes four core values: advocacy, leadership, service and education.
Tickets for the championship round can be purchased beginning Saturday at 10 a.m. (Iowa time) at the following locations:
Online by clicking HERE to visit the official world wide web site of the Guardians Classic.
Online by visiting ticketmaster.com.
In-person at Municipal Auditorium or by calling the facility at (816) 513-5000.
Tickets for the regional games to be played in Iowa City will go on sale later this month at the UI Athletic Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and at hawkeyesports.com, the official world wide web site of the Iowa Hawkeyes.