The Commonwealth Classic lives on, kind of

By Zachary Baru

Back when the Tip-Off Classic actually meant the tip-off of the NCAA men's basketball season, early season neutral-site games were a rarity.  Always around Thanksgiving, the annual neutral-site game traditionally marked the beginning of college basketball.  Sometimes nationally televised, always with a Tip-Off Parade in basketball's home of Springfield, Massachusetts, the Tip-Off Classic offered an interesting concept: two top teams, neutral-site, marking the beginning of the college basketball season.  

Fast-forward to 2025, every city and it's European sister city has a game.  Often with names like "Classic" branded in, or even "Tip-Off" or "Showdown", these games have become a dime a dozen.  But to many college basketball fans, more games means more opportunities to watch your favorite team, often times in a different city than the college town they typically play in.  

An In-State Rivalry is Born

Enter, the Commonwealth Classic.  In 1995 Governor Weld and state legislators introduced a new game for the then-new FleetCenter.  This game would be called the "Commonwealth Classic", putting two division 1 men's basketball rivalries against one another.  The game would always feature Boston College against UMass, playing for the "Governor's Cup".  

Back in 1995, the first Commonwealth Classic sold-out the FleetCenter, now TD Garden.  It was the first college basketball game played at the 1995-built arena.  The rivalry continued, mostly at on-campus locations in either Chestnut Hill or Amherst, with games through 2011.

End of an Era

In 2012, with an expanded ACC schedule, Boston College dropped it's Commonwealth Classic meeting with UMass, then an Atlantic-10 Conference school.  The two teams did meet once again in 2013 and 2014, but this time the "Commonwealth Classic" name had been reduced to just that, a name, often only appearing in a news article here and there, or a mention on TV and radio broadcasts.  As early season college basketball expanded, and traditions faded, the enormity of the Commonwealth Classic faded with it.

But the Commonwealth Classic did not die.  Fast-forward again, this time to two nights ago, when Boston College and UMass faced off once again, thanks to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  If anyone would keep the tradition alive, it might as well be the Hall of Fame itself.  And this is exactly what happened on Wednesday night, when the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic hosted UMass and BC.  While no longer called the Commonwealth Classic, the tradition carried on.  There were mentions on broadcast and articles, and 5,853 fans saw what always was a storied intra-state rivalry.  

A Tradition, Continued

The Basketball Hall of Fame Classic has been one of many early season games hosted by the Basketball Hall of Fame since 2011, when the Tip-Off Committee moved their one-day game in Springfield to a two-day tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena.  The Committee did continue to host a UMass appearance in Springfield that year, and in subsequent years to continue to the tradition of early season basketball in the game's birthplace.  

In the end, two traditions, the Commonwealth Classic and Tip-Off Classic, both have been kept alive and merged into one.  The Tip-Off's early season basketball is still played in Springfield, and BC-UMass still faced off against one another, also in Springfield, on Wednesday night.  Neither might have the same name, but both are still alive in spirit.  As for one night, nearly 6,000 fans in the game's birthplace were able to experience what is left of the decades-old tradition of two historic games.  

Zach Baru can be followed on Twitter @zbaru and reached at zachbaru@gmail.com.

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