| The Basketball Tournament | |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Start Date: | June 29 |
| End Date: | August 3, 2018 |
| Tournament Format: | Single elimination |
| Host: |
|
| Participants: | 72 |
| Stat1 Label: | Games played |
| Stat1: | 71 |
| Purse: | US$2,000,000 winner-take-all |
| Champions: | Overseas Elite |
| Runner-Up1: | Eberlein Drive |
| Mvp: | D. J. Kennedy |
| Top Scorer: | Jimmer Fredette (155 pts)[1] |
| Previous: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
The Basketball Tournament 2018 was the fifth edition of The Basketball Tournament, a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament broadcast by the ESPN family of networks. The tournament involved 72 teams; it started on June 29 and continued through August 3, 2018.[2] The winner of the final, Overseas Elite, received a two million dollar prize.[3]
The tournament started with a field of 72 teams, organized into four regions of 18 teams, all of which were seeded. The 18 teams in each region consisted of: nine teams selected based on fan popularity per the tournament's website, four teams selected via at-large bids, four teams accepted via buy-in of a $5000 fee, and the returning regional winner from the 2017 tournament.[2]
| Region | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast | Boeheim's Army | |
| Midwest | Scarlet & Gray | |
| South | Overseas Elite | |
| West | Team Challenge ALS |
The Puma Hoops Dunk Contest was held during the Super 16 round, on July 27, with six contestants. There were four celebrity judges: Dominique Wilkins, Terry Rozier, God Shammgod, and Instagram personality @dunk. The contest winner was Marcus Lewis of Illinois BC, with Derek Cooke of Team Fredette as the runner-up; they were awarded prizes of $40,000 and $10,000, respectively.[4] [5]
The Basketball Tournament 2018 took place in eight locations.[6] [7] Orange dots mark the locations of the two regional pods, red dots mark regional locations, the blue dot marks the Super 16 and quarterfinal location, and the green dot marks the semifinal and finals location.
Multiple teams in the tournament were comprised mostly or exclusively of alumni of a particular school. These teams are listed below.
| Region | Seed | Team | School | Origins of name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 1 | Boeheim's Army | Syracuse Orange | Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim |
| 3 | Golden Eagles | Marquette Golden Eagles | ||
| 5 | Gaelnation | Iona Gaels | ||
| 6 | Jack Attack | Georgetown Hoyas | Jack the Bulldog | |
| 7 | Team Arkansas | Arkansas Razorbacks | ||
| 9 | Saints Alive | Siena Saints | ||
| 11 | Hall In | Seton Hall Pirates | ||
| 14 | Johnnies | St. John's Red Storm | Common nickname | |
| Midwest | 1 | Scarlet & Gray | Ohio State Buckeyes | Team colors |
| 3 | Hilton Magic Legends | Iowa State Cyclones | Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State's home arena | |
| 5 | Always a Brave | Bradley Braves | ||
| 7 | Zoo Crew | Pittsburgh Panthers | Pitt's Oakland Zoo student section | |
| 8 | Bearcat Jam | Cincinnati Bearcats | ||
| 9 | Matadors | Texas Tech Red Raiders | School teams originally known as Matadors | |
| South | 2 | Ram Nation | VCU Rams | |
| 3 | Memphis State | Memphis Tigers | Pre-1994 name of the University of Memphis | |
| 5 | Wake Nation | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | ||
| 7 | Blue Zoo | Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | ||
| 8 | Monarch Nation | Old Dominion Monarchs | ||
| 9 | Hilltop Dawgs | UMBC Retrievers | Name derived from location | |
| 10 | Purple & Black | Kansas State Wildcats | Team colors | |
| West | 2 | Team Colorado | Colorado Buffaloes | |
| 3 | Gael Force | Saint Mary's Gaels | ||
| 4 | Sons of Westwood | UCLA Bruins | One of UCLA's fight songs, from the campus location in Westwood | |
| 5 | Forks Up | Arizona State Sun Devils | Pitchfork in mascot | |
| 6 | Few Good Men | Gonzaga Bulldogs | Gonzaga head coach Mark Few | |
| 11 | Team Utah | Utah Utes | ||
| 14 | Air Force Bomb Squad | Air Force Falcons |
Games televised on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU, with game replays available on ESPN3.
| Round | Dates | Region | Location | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-in | July 13 | West | Seeds 15–18 | |
| South | Richmond, Virginia | |||
| July 20 | Northeast | Brooklyn | ||
| Midwest | Columbus, Ohio | |||
| Regional | June 29–30 | West | Hoopfest Pod | |
| July 14–15 | Los Angeles, California | |||
| South | Richmond, Virginia | |||
| June 30–July 1 | Northeast | Big East Pod | ||
| July 21–22 | Brooklyn, New York | |||
| Midwest | Columbus, Ohio | |||
| Super 16 | July 26–28 | bgcolor=lightgray | Atlanta | |
| Quarterfinals | July 29 | bgcolor=lightgray | ||
| Semifinals | August 2 | bgcolor=lightgray | Baltimore | |
| Finals | August 3 | bgcolor=lightgray |
| Pos | Player | Team | PPG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | bgcolor=yellow | D. J. Kennedy (MVP) | 14.3 | ||
| G | 12.8 | ||||
| G | 21.7 | ||||
| G | Team Fredette | 31.0 | |||
| F | 18.0 | ||||
| bgcolor=lightgray | GM | Matt Mitchell &<br>Jacob Hirschmann | — |
