| Color1: | white |
| Color2: |
|
| Blue Collar U | |
| Leagues: | The Basketball Tournament |
| Founded: | 2021 |
| History: | Blue Collar U (2021–present) |
| Colors: | Blue and white |
| Gm: | Bryan Hodgson |
| Coach: | Adam Bauman |
| Assistants: | Tom Fox, Wes Schier |
| Championships: | 1 (2022) |
| Website: | Team page |
Blue Collar U is an American basketball team that participates in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team consists of professional basketball players, most of whom played college basketball for the Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team. The team began participating in TBT in 2021, reaching the semi-finals. Blue Collar U won its first TBT championship in its second year of participation in 2022, winning the $1 million grand prize.
In TBT 2021, Blue Collar U played in the Columbus regional and was seeded 6th out of a field of 16 teams.
| July 24 | First round | Columbus, Ohio | style=background-color:lightgreen | 88–82 | The Nerd Team | [1] |
| July 25 | Second round | style=background-color:lightgreen | 93–83 | Zip 'Em Up | [2] | |
| July 27 | Regional semi-finals | style=background-color:lightgreen | 78–61 | Category 5 | [3] | |
| July 31 | Regional finals | Dayton, Ohio | style=background-color:lightgreen | 84–81 | The Money Team | [4] |
| August 1 | Semi-finals | style=background-color:pink | 62–78 | Team 23 | [5] |
In TBT 2022, Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 2nd out of a field of 8 teams. Players wore the names of the victims of the 2022 Buffalo shooting on the backs of their jerseys in place of their own names.[6] [7] They won the Syracuse regional with victories over NG Saints, an alumni team for Neumann Goretti High School in Philadelphia, Friday Beers, and The Nerd Team, an alumni team of Ivy League and other highly prestigious schools. After defeating Heartfire in the quarterfinals, Blue Collar U won a true road game against Red Scare, an alumni team of Dayton Flyers men's basketball. They defeated Americana for Autism in the finals to win the $1 million grand prize.[8] [9]
| Date | Round | Location | Score | Opponent | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 22 | First round | Syracuse, New York | style=background-color:lightgreen | 91–64 | NG Saints | [10] |
| July 23 | Second round | style=background-color:lightgreen | 78–75 | Friday Beers | [11] | |
| July 25 | Third round | style=background-color:lightgreen | 83–62 | The Nerd Team | [12] | |
| July 29 | Quarter-finals | Dayton, Ohio | style=background-color:lightgreen | 74–66 | Heartfire | [13] |
| July 30 | Semi-finals | style=background-color:lightgreen | 74–69 | Red Scare | [14] | |
| August 2 | Finals | style=background-color:lightgreen | 89–67 | Americana for Autism | [15] |
In TBT 2023, Blue Collar U played in the Syracuse regional and was seeded 1st out of a field of 8 teams.[16] In the first round, Blue Collar U defeated Big 5, an alumni team composed mostly of Philadelphia Big 5 schools with the largest comeback in the history of the Elam Ending.[17] After defeating Virginia Dream in the second round, they lost in the regional finals to Boeheim's Army, a team of primarily Syracuse Orange Basketball alumni.
| July 24 | First round | Syracuse, New York | style=background-color:lightgreen | 78–77 | Big 5 | [18] |
| July 26 | Second round | style=background-color:lightgreen | 107–86 | Virginia Dream | [19] | |
| July 28 | Regional finals | style=background-color:pink | 54–69 | Boeheim's Army | [20] |
| 2021 | Nick Perkins | All-Tournament Team | [21] |
| 2022 | Nick Perkins | All-Tournament Team | [22] |
| Wes Clark | All-Tournament Team | ||
| Adam Bauman | All-Tournament Team (coach) | ||
| C. J. Massinburg | All-Tournament Team & MVP | [23] |