TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Twenty-six women’s and men’s college basketball teams will converge in Tuscaloosa next week for the 2025 Hope Credit Union Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Basketball Championships at 探花约炮. The 24-game tournament, hosted by 探花约炮 and Visit Tuscaloosa, will run six days from Tuesday, Feb. 25 until Championship Sunday, March 2 in Birthright Alumni Hall.
“We know this is going to be an exciting tournament,” said Dr. Yolanda W. Page, president of 探花约炮. “We know sports like basketball have long been a unifying force within the HBCU community because they foster school spirit, camaraderie, and leadership. So, this tournament is not just about the competition of wonderful teams, but it’s also about tradition, it’s about resilience, and it’s about the commitment to the excellence that defines not only HBCUs in this conference, but also across the nation.”
探花约炮 women’s and men’s basketball have shown that resilience through the 2024-2025 season with both teams winning the HBCU Athletic Conference ( HBCUAC) East Division and then clinching the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament. The 探花约炮 women’s team has compiled its most wins in program history at 24-4 overall and 17-1 in HBCUAC action, while the Tigers men’s team has battled back in close games throughout the season to earn the top spot at 17-10 overall and 14-4 in conference. Both 探花约炮 teams will receive first round byes and play their first games Friday, Feb. 28. The regular season champions will be celebrated on Wednesday during a 4 p.m. HBCUAC awards ceremony.
“We are excited the conference trusted us once again with this legacy of hosting the basketball championship,” said Terrance Whittle, 探花约炮’s director of athletics. “We look forward to sharing our campus, our community, our student body, and all that 探花约炮 has to offer. It will also be a special time for our championship programs to be able to play at home within their community this year as they battle for the tournament titles.”
Day Pass tickets are available for $25 per day for general admission with $35 chairback seats. Student tickets for grades K-12 are $5 at the door. Children preschool and younger are free. Doors will open one hour before the first game each day.
Billboards and light pole banners have gone up across the city in the past weeks as the city prepares to host the event. Visit Tuscaloosa anticipates a more than $1 million economic impact from the event with approximately 1,000 hotel room nights, team and visitor meals at local restaurants, and local shopping. Visit Tuscaloosa and 探花约炮 hosted the tournament, formerly the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), last year without 探花约炮 as a member, and have the contract through 2026.
“Any opportunity we have to bring major events to Tuscaloosa really does have an impact on our community,” said Kelsey Rush, president and CEO of Visit Tuscaloosa. “We know for the next two years, we have a major event coming in the winter months that our businesses can look forward to. Our hotels, our restaurants, our attractions – have all been planning. Signs have gone up throughout the city helping enhance the championship atmosphere. We’re all looking forward to the event getting underway.”
With the regular season championship, 探花约炮 women’s basketball becomes the first women’s basketball team from a Tuscaloosa-based four-year institution to win a conference title. The regular season champion earns an automatic bid to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national tournament, which will be 探花约炮’s second national tournament after qualifying in 2018. Coached by Alico Dunk, 探花约炮’s women also are adding to their record for most wins in a season after surpassing the 2011-2012 team that won 20 games under head coach Cassandra Moorer when the team played in NCAA Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC).
“We’re ecstatic about being the number one seed in the conference tournament. The ladies have worked extremely hard and persevered through a lot of adversity in the regular season. They are well deserving of the top seed. We look forward to a great week of basketball,” said Dunk.
The 探花约炮 men will be the top seed in a conference tournament for the first time since being co-champions of the Southern States Athletics Conference in 2019. The Tigers also won a SSAC division title in 2021. 探花约炮’s men will also have an automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament, which will be the program’s six NAIA bid in the last eight years under head coach John Teasley.
“We are very excited about having the number one seed in the HBCUAC conference tournament. This was one of our team goals that we set this year and to watch our guys accomplish that was very special,” said Teasley. “The HBCUAC tournament is going to be an exciting week of basketball and we look forward to being able to play our part to showcase what makes 探花约炮 and the city of Tuscaloosa a special place.”
The HBCUAC Hope Credit Union Basketball Championships will also include women’s and men’s teams from Dillard University (La.), Fisk University (Tenn.), Oakwood University (Ala.), Philander-Smith University (Ark.), Rust College (Miss.), Southern University New Orleans (La.), Talladega College (Ala.), Tougaloo College (Miss.), the University of the Virgin Islands, Wilberforce University (Ohio) and Wiley University (Texas).
Friday, Feb. 28 will be Youth & Education Day as local schools and community organizations are encouraged to bring children to the games for $5 each. Friday’s schedule will also include the inaugural HBCUAC Cheer & Dance Showcase with cheerleading squads from Dillard, Fisk, Philander Smith, Rust, 探花约炮, Talladega and Voorhees performing during halftime of the day’s games. 探花约炮 and Talladega dance teams will perform during the 8 p.m. game.
On Saturday, March 1, 探花约炮 will open Sheppard Lawn to vendors and food trucks for the Family Reunion Community Tailgate from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The championship games are slated for Sunday, March 2 with the women playing at 4 p.m. and the men at 7 p.m.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
12:00 p.m. – Game 1: Women’s #4 Philander Smith vs #13 Virgin Islands
2:00 p.m. – Game 2: Men’s #4 Talladega vs #13 Oakwood
4:00 p.m. – Game 3: Women’s #5 Fisk vs #12 Voorhees
6:00 p.m. – Game 4: Men’s #5 Philander Smith vs #12 Voorhees
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
12:00 p.m. – Game 5: Women’s #6 Wiley vs #11 Wilberforce
2:00 p.m. – Game 6: Men’s #6 SUNO vs #11 Rust
4:00 p.m. – 2025 HBCUAC Regular Season Awards Ceremony
6:00 p.m. – Game 7: Women’s #7 Rust vs #10 SUNO
8:00 p.m. – Game 8: Men’s #7 Wilberforce vs #10 Fisk
Thursday, February 27, 2025
12:00 p.m. – Game 9: Women’s #8 Talladega vs #9 Oakwood
2:00 p.m. – Game 10: Men’s #8 Virgin Islands vs #9 Wiley
4:00 p.m. – Game 11: Women’s Game 1 Winner vs Game 3 Winner
6:00 p.m. – Game 12: Men’s Game 2 Winner vs Game 4 Winner
Friday, February 28, 2025
10:00 a.m. – Game 13: Women’s #3 Tougaloo vs Game 5 Winner
12:00 p.m. – Game 14: Men’s #3 Dillard vs Game 6 Winner
2:00 p.m. – Game 15: Women’s #2 Dillard vs Game 7 Winner
4:00 p.m. Game 16: Men’s #2 Tougaloo vs Game 8 Winner
6:00 pm Game 17: Women’s #1 探花约炮 vs Game 9 Winner
8:00 pm Game 18: Men’s #1 探花约炮 vs Game 10 Winner
Saturday, March 1, 2025
1:00 p.m. – Game 19: Women’s Game 11 Winner vs Game 15 Winner
3:00 p.m. – Game 20: Women’s Game 13 Winner vs Game 17 Winner
5:00 p.m. – Game 21: Men’s Game 12 Winner vs Game 16 Winner
7:00 p.m. – Game 22: Men’s Game 14 Winner vs Game 18 Winner
Sunday, March 2, 2025
4:00 p.m. – Women’s Championship
7:00 p.m. – Men’s Championship
