TBT New Mexico Regional Tips Off Monday at The Pit
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Basketball Tournament (TBT), the annual 64-team, $1 million winner-take-all competition, will make its debut in Albuquerque when the New Mexico Regional begins Monday at The Pit. The regional, featuring eight teams, will have four first-round games on Monday, the two regional semifinal games on Tuesday and the regional final on Thursday.
TBT originated in 2014 and this year marks the first time that New Mexico will host games in the tournament. The teams in the 64-team field are highlighted by college alumni squads, international pros, former NBA players and college standouts. Since 2017, TBT has used the Elam Ending, the end-of-game format adopted by the NBA All-Star game in recent years, that eliminates the game clock after a certain point and features teams playing to a Target Score.
Tickets for all games are on sale at GoLobos.com/tickets.
All games of the New Mexico Regional will be broadcast on the ESPN Family of Networks. The games will also be on the radio locally with ESPN Albuquerque 101.7 The Team broadcasting all seven games.
Monday’s first round is highlighted by a matchup of The Enchantment, a team comprised of Lobo alumni, against the Panamaniacs, a team comprised of New Mexico State alumni. That game will tip off at 8 p.m. MT and be televised on ESPNU. Other first round games include top-seed Heartfire against Competitive Choice, No. 2 seed Team Challenge ALS against Once a Bronco (Boise State alumni) and the third-seeded LA Cheaters against Ram Up (Colorado State alumni).
The winner of the New Mexico Regional will advance to the quarterfinals, held in Dayton, Ohio. The other seven TBT regionals are taking place in New York (Rucker Park), Omaha (Creighton), Cincinnati (Xavier), Wichita (Wichita State), Omaha (Creighton), Syracuse (Syrcause) Charleston (West Virginia & Marshall) and Dayton (Dayton).
NEW MEXICO REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Monday, July 18
1:00 pm MT (3) L.A. Cheaters vs. (6) Ram Up
3:00 pm MT (2) Team Challenge ALS vs. (7) Once a Bronco
6:00 pm MT (1) Heartfire vs. (8) competitive Choice
8:00 pm MT (4) The Enchantment vs (5) Panamaniacs
Tuesday, July 19
5:00 pm MT LA Cheaters/Ram Up winner vs. Challenge ALS/Once a Bronco winner
7:00 pm MT Heartfire/Competitive Choice winner vs. Enchantment/Panamaniacs winner
Thursday, July 21
7:00 pm MT Regional final