The Capital Hoops Classic is a Canadian
rivalry
A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...
basketball series between the
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...
Gee-Gees and
Carleton University
Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...
Ravens
Ravens may refer to:
* Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus''
Sports
* Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana
* Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise
* Benedictine Ravens, ...
sponsored by bank holding company
MBNA
MBNA Corporation was a bank holding company and parent company of wholly owned subsidiary MBNA America Bank, N.A., headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, prior to being acquired by Bank of America in 2006.
History
The former Maryland National ...
. The series, featuring both the men's and women's teams, has been held since 2007 at
Canadian Tire Centre
Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...
(known until 2013 as Scotiabank Place) and traditionally occurs on the first Friday in February.
Both schools are located in the city of
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
; Ottawa is older of the two and is located in the downtown
Sandy Hill neighbourhood of the city, while Carleton sits between
Old Ottawa South
Old Ottawa South is an older urban neighbourhood in Capital Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Old Ottawa South is a relatively small and compact neighbourhood, located between the Rideau Canal (to the north) and the Rideau River (to the south). The ...
and
Dow's Lake
Dow's Lake in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a small man-made lake on the Rideau Canal, situated two kilometres north of Hog's Back Falls in the middle of Ottawa. It is at the south end of Preston Street, just south of Carling Avenue, and just to th ...
. Both teams compete in the East division of
Ontario University Athletics
Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...
in
U Sports
U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...
, and frequently finish near the top of the league table.
History
On January 23, 2007, the two men's basketball teams faced off at
Scotiabank Place
Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...
in front of nearly 9,720 spectators, which was a record crowd for a regular season basketball game in U Sports (then known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The Ottawa Gee-Gees won the inaugural event 64–62. This event, now known as the Capital Hoops Classic, has been expanded to include the women's teams as well, with the Classic featuring a doubleheader of both teams.
The January 28, 2009 edition of the game broke the 2007 record with 10,523 fans attending the two games, with both of Carleton's teams posting victories over Ottawa.
In the 2013–14 season the teams faced each other both in the provincial and national finals, with Ottawa winning the
OUA championship and Carleton winning the national title.
The 2015 matchup set a new record attendance at 10,780 and was the first time in the series where the Gee-Gees Men's team were the top-ranked team in the CIS, with the Ravens holding second. The Gee-Gees defeated the Ravens in an earlier game; the inaugural "Bytown Battle" which took place at the U of O's Montpetit Hall. However, while their women won 46–40, the Gee-Gees men were unable to defeat the Ravens in the rivalry series, falling 79–66.
The 2021 edition of the games were not played, and the 2022 games were played at Carleton University, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Game results
Men's
Women's
See also
*
Panda Game
References
{{University of Ottawa
College sports rivalries in Canada
Ottawa Gee-Gees
Carleton Ravens basketball
2007 establishments in Ontario
Carleton University
University of Ottawa
U Sports basketball