Chicago Invitational Challenge

The Chicago Invitational Challenge was an annual early-season NCAA Division I college basketball tournament held around Thanksgiving week. The first offering was during the 2006–07 season with the last occurring during the 2011–12 season.

Chicago Invitational Challenge

Sport	College Basketball
Founded	2006; 19 years ago (2006)
Ceased	2011; 14 years ago (2011)
No. of teams	8
Country	United States
Venue(s)	Sears Centre Arena Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Last champion(s)	Wisconsin Badgers (2011)

For the format of the tournament, the first two games were hosted at on-campus venues, with the semifinal and final rounds being contested as two distinct four-team brackets (designated as Upper and Lower, with both a championship and consolation game held for each) at a central ___location. Throughout the duration of the challenge (excluding 2009) the semifinal and final rounds were held at the Sears Centre Arena (currently named NOW® Arena^[1]) in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. In 2009 the village of Hoffman Estates acquired the Sears Centre Arena^[2] through a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure process; because of this, that iteration was moved to UIC Pavilion (currently named Credit Union 1 Arena^[3]) in Chicago, Illinois.

The tournament was owned and operated by Basketball Tournaments, Inc.

Tournament History

Champions

Year	Teams
2006	Illinois
2007	Xavier
2009	Northwestern
2010	Richmond
2011	Wisconsin

Brackets

* – Denotes overtime period

2011

Eleventh ranked Wisconsin won the final edition of the tournament 73–56 victory over BYU.^[4]

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
							Bradley	66
		Bradley	68				Wofford	70
		UMKC	58

	First Round					Second Round
						11	Wisconsin	77
	14	Wisconsin	69				UMKC	31
		Wofford	33

	First Round					Second Round
							BYU	90
		BYU	92				Prairie View A&M	51
		Longwood	60

	First Round					Second Round
							Nevada	80
		Nevada	60				Longwood	78
		Prairie View A&M	47

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	Upper Bracket November 23					First Place Game November 24
		Bradley	44
	11	Wisconsin	66
						11	Wisconsin	73
							BYU	56
	BYU		76
	Nevada		55			3rd place game November 24
						Bradley		59
						Nevada		64

	Lower Bracket November 23					Fifth Place Game November 24
	Longwood		70
	Prairie View A&M		67
						Longwood		53
						UMKC		93
	UMKC		64
	Wofford		58			Seventh Place Game November 24
						Prairie View A&M		49
						Wofford		56

2010

Richmond was crowned champions of the 2010 Chicago Invitational Challenge as the Spiders upset tenth ranked Purdue 65–54.^[5][6]

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
						14	Purdue	82
	10	Purdue	87				Oakland	67
		Austin Peay	65

	First Round					Second Round
							Southern Illinois	85
		Southern Illinois	72				Charleston Southern	67
		Austin Peay	65

	First Round					Second Round
							Richmond	81
		Richmond	82				Southern	40
		Charleston Southern	71

	First Round					Second Round
							Wright State	66
		Wright State	82				Southern	43
		Austin Peay	79

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	Upper Bracket November 26					First Place Game November 27
	10	Purdue	79
		Southern Illinois	60
						10	Purdue	54
							Richmond	65
	Richmond		71
	Wright State		61			3rd place game November 24
						Southern Illinois		56
						Wright State		50

	Lower Bracket November 26					Fifth Place Game November 27
	Austin Peay		70
	Charleston Southern		64
						Austin Peay		70
						Oakland		78*
	Oakland		105
	Southern		53			Seventh Place Game November 27
						Charleston Southern		89
						Southern		54

2009

With the temporary closing of Sears Centre Arena on October 1, 2009, The fourth annual Chicago Invitational Challenge was moved to UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.^[7][8] Northwestern defeated Iowa State 67–65 in the championship game.^[9][10]

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
							Iowa State	84
		Iowa State	96				Tennessee State	53
		Mississippi Valley State	55

	First Round					Second Round
							Northwestern	69
		Northwestern	69				Tennessee State	62
		Liberty	53

	First Round					Second Round
							Notre Dame	80
	23	Notre Dame	91				Kennesaw State	62
		Liberty	72

	First Round					Second Round
							Saint Louis	75
		Saint Louis	76				Mississippi Valley State	39
		Kennesaw State	66

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	Upper Bracket November 27					First Place Game November 28
	Iowa State		65
	Saint Louis		54
						Iowa State		65
						Northwestern		67
		Northwestern	72
	23	Notre Dame	71			3rd place game November 28
							Saint Louis	52
						23	Notre Dame	64

	Lower Bracket November 27					Fifth Place Game November 28
	Kennesaw State		67
	Tennessee State		73
						Tennessee State		60
						Liberty		63
	Liberty		72
	Mississippi Valley State		53			Seventh Place Game November 24
						Kennesaw State		85
						Mississippi Valley State		68

2008

The third Chicago Invitational Challenge was held in a non-bracket format for the upper bracket, with matchups set prior to the tournament, the lower bracket was still held as a four team tournament.

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
							Auburn	61
		Auburn	74				Bethune–Cookman	46
		Mercer	78

	First Round					Second Round
							Dayton	71
		Dayton	78				Mercer	53
		Bethune–Cookman	38

	First Round					Second Round
						15	Marquette	85
	15	Marquette	106				Texas Southern	68
		Chicago State	87

	First Round					Second Round
							Northern Iowa	74
		Northern Iowa	81				Texas Southern	67
		Chicago State	70

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	November 28
	Dayton		60
	Auburn		59*
	15	Marquette	73
		Northern Iowa	43

	November 29
	Northern Iowa		67
	Auburn		61
		Dayton	89
	15	Marquette	75

	Lower Bracket November 28					Fifth Place Game November 29
	Bethune-Cookman		64
	Chicago State		79
							Chicago State	77
							Mercer	88
	Mercer		71
	Texas Southern		68			3rd place game November 27
							Bethune-Cookman	68
							Texas Southern	61

2007

Xavier won the second Chicago Invitational Challenge defeating eighth ranked Indiana 80-65 in the championship game.^[11][12]

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
							Illinois State	90
		Illinois State	89				Southeast Missouri State	71
		UNC Wilmington	73

	First Round					Second Round
						8	Indiana	95
	8	Indiana	100				UNC Wilmington	71
		Longwood	49

	First Round					Second Round
							Kent State	80
		Kent State	74				Longwood	62
		Coppin State	51

	First Round					Second Round
							Xavier	90
		Xavier	98				Southeast Missouri State	59
		Coppin State	49

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	Upper Bracket November 23					First Place Game November 24
		Illinois State	57
	8	Indiana	70
						8	Indiana	65
							Xavier	80
	Kent State		65
	Xavier		78			3rd place game November 24
						Illinois State		59
						Kent State		65

	Lower Bracket November 23					Fifth Place Game November 24
	Coppin State		102
	Southeast Missouri State		99
						Coppin State		57
						UNC Wilmington		78
	Longwood		65
	UNC Wilmington		80			3rd place game November 24
						Southeast Missouri State		59
						Longwood		65

2006

Illinois won the inaugural Chicago Invitational Challenge defeating Bradley 75–71 in the championship game.^[13][14]

First and Second Rounds

	First Round					Second Round
							Bradley	81
		Bradley	107				UIC	72
		Florida A&M	75

	Finals
	Rutgers		70
	Jackson State		71

Finals     Illinois 84 Florida A&M 63

Finals     Illinois 76 Jackson State 55

November 23     Illinois 81 Savannah State 34

	First Round					Second Round
							Miami (Ohio)	72
		Miami (Ohio)	52				UIC	61
		Florida A&M	33

First and Second Round Game played at on campus sites

Championship Round

	Upper Bracket November 24					Championship Game November 25
	Bradley		101
	Rutgers		72
						Bradley		71
						Illinois		75
	Illinois		51
	Miami (Ohio)		49			3rd place game November 25
						Rutgers		44
						Miami (Ohio)		57

	Lower Bracket November 24					Fifth Place Game November 25
	Florida A&M		57
	UIC		75
						UIC		68
						Jackson State		71
	Jackson State		72
	Savannah State		71			Seventh Place Game November 24
						Florida A&M		74
						Savannah State		65

References

1. "NOW Arena officially renamed for NOW Health Group, Inc". Village of Hoffman Estates.
2. "NOW Arena Information". Village of Hoffman Estates.
3. "UIC, Credit Union 1 Reach Agreement in Principle on Naming Rights Deal". International Association of Venue Managers, Inc.
4. "Chicago Champs! Badgers bury BYU to take home title". uwbadgers. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
5. "No. 10 Purdue Falls to Richmond, 65-54". purduesports. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
6. "Richmond Handles No. 8 Ranked Purdue". richmondspiders. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
7. "UIC Pavilion Press Releases". UICPavillion.com.
8. "Chicago Invitational Moved To UIC Pavilion". Cyclones.com. Iowa State Athletics. September 11, 2009.
9. "Cyclones Fall To Northwestern, 67-65". cyclones. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
10. "NU Claims Tournament Title with 67-65 Win Over Iowa State". nusports. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
11. "No. 8 Indiana Falls At Chicago Invitational". iuhoosiers. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
12. "Xavier Tops No. 8 Indiana For Chicago Invitational Title". goxavier. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
13. "Illinois Knocks Off Bradley in Come-From-Behind Style, 75-71". bradleybraves. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
14. "Illinois Puts Together Second-Half Rally to Edge Bradley, 75-71". fightingillini. Retrieved 25 November 2006.