Dukes to Play in Holiday Hoops Classic

The JMU Dukes have been selected to play in the 2013 Governor’s Holiday Hoops Classic. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell helped put together the event which will match-up 8 teams from the state in two double-headers. The games will take place in the Richmond Coliseum in December of 2012 and 2013. The first year will feature George Mason vs Richmond and Virginia vs ODU. The following year VCU will play VA Tech and our Dukes will face off against Hampton.

This obviously isn’t going to generate the sort of buzz that the announcement of JMU playing WVU at FedEx. It’s pretty exciting in its own right though and a great event for college hoops fans. There is a lot of good basketball being played in the Commonwealth and not just by the big boys from the ACC school. Despite what some might tell you, the “little guys” (in name only) have been setting the pace recently. Kudos to the Governor for creating an event that finally gets the Hokies and Hoos on the court with some CAA counterparts.

And it’s great that JMU gets to participate. Hampton might not have the profile of an ACC school, but the Pirates have played in the NCAA tournament 4 times in the past decade. In case you need reminding, JMU hasn’t made the tourney since 1994. As Dukes fans we’re in no position to complain about the match-up. Downplay the draw if you’d like, but doing so is exactly the same sort of thing we all bitch about when big schools overlook the Dukes.

This is really a terrific event and I’m glad the Governor got behind it. It’s going to be great to see all these school’s fans come together as the teams battle it out for bragging rights. There’s no telling how this thing will evolve, but I imagine that if fans get behind it, it could turn into something like the Big Five. Of course this would be a version played in a beautiful state in front of friendly and sane people, instead of one played in Philly. Same basic idea though.