The 2023 U Sports Men's Final 8 Basketball Tournament was the 60th edition of the U Sports men's basketball championship, a postseason tournament to determine the national champion of the 2022 U Sports men's basketball season. The tournament started on March 10 and ended with the bronze-medal and championship games being played on November 12 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[2][3]
 | |
| Season | 2022-23 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Finals site | Scotiabank Centre Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Champions | Carleton Ravens (17th title) |
| Runner-up | St. Francis Xavier X-Men |
| Winning coach | Taffe Charles (3rd title) |
| Tournament MVP | Aiden Warnholtz (Carleton) |
| Attendance | 40,092 |
| Television | CBC[1] |
The defending champion Carleton Ravens entered the tournament ranked third, following a loss in the Ontario provincial championship game to the Ottawa Gee-Gees. However, the Ravens overcame three teams in this tournament, including Ottawa in the semi-finals, and the St. Francis Xavier X-Men in the first ever double-overtime final, to claim their 17th national title.[4]
The game set a record for the highest number of points scored by a single team in the championship game (men or women)—109—and the highest number of combined points in the title game (men or women)—213.[4]
Both the Carleton men’s and women’s teams won the national titles in basketball this season, something no school had accomplished since 1985, when the Victoria Vikes were double champions. It was Carleton's fourth straight crown, 11th of the last 12, and 17th of the last 20. They remain the winningest top division school in Canada or the United States.
Venue
editThe tournament was held at the Scotiabank Centre for the fourth time in seven years, and was the 33rd time the tournament was played in Halifax.[5]
The tournament was hosted by St. Francis Xavier University, the second time the school hosted the championship, after previously doing so in 1968.[6] St. Francis Xavier was originally awarded the hosting rights for the 2021 championship, but that tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[7][8]
Participating teams
edit| Seed | Team | Qualified | Record | Last | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria Vikes | Canada West Champion | 17–3 | 1997 | 8 |
| 2 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | OUA Champion | 17–5 | None | 0 |
| 3 | Carleton Ravens | OUA Finalist | 18–4 | 2022 | 16 |
| 4 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | AUS Champion (Host) | 17–3 | 2001 | 3 |
| 5 | Queen's Gaels | OUA Semifinalist (At-large berth) | 17–5 | None | 0 |
| 6 | UQAM Citadins | RSEQ Champion | 10–6 | None | 0 |
| 7 | Winnipeg Wesmen | Canada West Finalist | 15–5 | None | 0 |
| 8 | UPEI Panthers | AUS Finalist | 15–5 | None | 0 |
Championship bracket
edit| First Round: March 10 | Semi-Finals: March 11 | Gold Medal Game: March 12 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Victoria Vikes | 93 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | UPEI Panthers | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Victoria Vikes | 64 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | 107 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Queen's Gaels | 98 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | St. Francis Xavier X-Men | 104 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Carleton Ravens | 109 (2OT) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | 91 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Winnipeg Wesmen | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | 75 | Bronze Medal Game: March 12 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Carleton Ravens | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Carleton Ravens | 73 | 1 | Victoria Vikes | 58 | |||||||||
| 6 | UQAM Citadins | 71 | 2 | Ottawa Gee-Gees | 78 | |||||||||
Consolation bracket
edit| Semi-Finals: March 11 | Fifth Place Game: March 12 | ||||||||
| 5 | Queen's Gaels | 93 | |||||||
| 8 | UPEI Panthers | 68 | |||||||
| 5 | Queen’s Gaels | 85 | |||||||
| 6 | UQAM Citadins | 89 | |||||||
| 6 | UQAM Citadins | 90 (2OT) | |||||||
| 7 | Winnipeg Wesmen | 85 | |||||||
References
edit- ^ "CBC Sports to broadcast U Sports national championships for next 4 years". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. September 20, 2021.
- ^ "U Sports Calendar". usports.ca. U Sports. May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ a b "Atlantic University Sport releases 2022-23 winter sports schedules". Atlantic University Sport. May 19, 2022.
- ^ a b "Ravens work overtime, soar to record 17th W.P. McGee Trophy with epic win over X-Men". usports.ca. U Sports. March 12, 2023.
- ^ "CIS men's basketball: ArcelorMittal Dofasco Final 8 to return to Halifax in 2017 and 2018". U Sports. November 2, 2015.
- ^ "Men's Final 8 History". usports.ca. U Sports. 29 May 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "U Sports announces hosts for 2019-2021 Men's and Women's Basketball and 2019-2020 Men's and Women's Ice Hockey National Championships". U Sports. February 1, 2018.
- ^ "U Sports unable to offer national championships in winter 2021". usports.ca. U Sports. October 15, 2020.
- ^ "Playing Regulations: Men's Basketball" (PDF). U Sports. September 2022.
- ^ "Victoria named top seed for the first time since 2006, Queen's takes final spot". U Sports. March 5, 2023.