UConn Men’s Basketball to Play in 2018 2K Sports Classic

On Tuesday, Jon Rothstein reported that UConn would be involved in the 2018 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York, joining Iowa, Oregon and Syracuse in a four-team event in November. The first-round pairings have yet to be announced.

The Huskies have played a regular season game every year at Madison Square Garden since 2015-16. With the Jimmy V Classic against Syracuse this year combined with the 2K Sports Classic in 2018, UConn will continue to make its presence felt in New York City despite the conference tournament not being played in midtown Manhattan since the break up of the old Big East.

The field offers UConn the potential to face the Orange for the fourth consecutive season after playing in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2015, at Madison Square Garden in the Tire Pros Classic in 2016 and the Jimmy V Classic in 2017. The two teams took a two year break after Syracuse left the Big East in 2013.

In addition to the draw of igniting the Syracuse rivalry, having Oregon and Iowa in the field offers nationally-recognized programs who regularly make the NCAA Tournament. With the state of the American Athletic Conference, getting these games in for strength of schedule and national reputation purposes is very important for the Huskies come Selection Sunday.