# 1949 Dixie Classic

The 1949 Dixie Classic was a mid-season college basketball tournament held December 28–30, 1949 at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the first iteration of the Dixie Classic and it was part of the 1949–50 NCAA men's basketball season.
The championship game was contested by favorite NC State, who cruised to the final with double-digit wins over Rhode Island State and Georgia Tech, and underdog Penn State, who advanced with narrow upset wins over Duke and West Virginia. After initially struggling against Penn State's zone defense, NC State rallied back from a halftime deficit and won by a score of 50–40. Dick Dickey of NC State was voted most valuable player of the tournament.

## Teams

Each year, the Dixie Classic included the "Big Four" teams (Duke, NC State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest), as well as four other invited teams. The 1949 teams were:
* Wake Forest Demon Deacons
* Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
* NC State Wolfpack
* Rhode Island State Rams
* North Carolina Tar Heels
* West Virginia Mountaineers
* Duke Blue Devils
* Penn State Nittany Lions
The first round pairings were decided by drawing names from a hat on September 5, 1949.

## Bracket

| Consolation final | Consolation final | Consolation final | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | | Dec. 28, 2:00pm | Dec. 28, 2:00pm | Dec. 28, 2:00pm | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 57 | | | | |
| | | | Dec. 29, 2:00pm | Dec. 29, 2:00pm | Dec. 29, 2:00pm | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | 64 | Dec. 29, 3:30pm | Dec. 29, 3:30pm | Dec. 29, 3:30pm | | | |
| | | | Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 57 | | | | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | 34 | |
| | | | Rhode Island State | Rhode Island State | 61 | Dec. 28, 3:30pm | Dec. 28, 3:30pm | Dec. 28, 3:30pm | NC State | NC State | 57 | |
| | | | | | | NC State | 81 | | | | | | | |
| Dec. 30, 3:30pm | Dec. 30, 3:30pm | Dec. 30, 3:30pm | | | | Rhode Island State | Rhode Island State | | 64 | | | Dec. 30, 9:00pm | Dec. 30, 9:00pm | Dec. 30, 9:00pm |
| Rhode Island State | Rhode Island State | 65 | | | | | | | NC State | NC State | | 50 |
| North Carolina | North Carolina | 60 | | | | Dec. 28, 7:30pm | Dec. 28, 7:30pm | Dec. 28, 7:30pm | NC State | | | Penn State | 40 |
| | | | | | | North Carolina | North Carolina | 50 | | | | | | |
| | | | Dec. 29, 7:30pm | Dec. 29, 7:30pm | Dec. 29, 7:30pm | West Virginia | West Virginia | 58 | Dec. 29, 9:00pm | Dec. 29, 9:00pm | Dec. 29, 9:00pm | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | North Carolina | North Carolina | 59 | | | | West Virginia | West Virginia | 41 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| Dec. 30, 2:00pm | Dec. 30, 2:00pm | Dec. 30, 2:00pm | Duke | Duke | 52 | Dec. 28, 9:00pm | Dec. 28, 9:00pm | Dec. 28, 9:00pm | Penn State | Penn State | 46 | Dec. 30, 7:30pm | Dec. 30, 7:30pm | Dec. 30, 7:30pm |
| Wake Forest | Wake Forest | 52 | | | | Duke | Duke | 48 | | | | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech | 63 |
| Duke | Duke | 54 | | | | Penn State | Penn State | 51 | | | | West Virginia | West Virginia | 48 |

## Game log

* December 28 2:00pm
Wake Forest 57, Georgia Tech 64 :
| Scoring by half: 34–30, 23–34 |||
| Pts: Mason (11) | Pts: Keener (16) |
* No. 1
* December 28 3:30pm
NC State 81, Rhode Island State 64 :
| Scoring by half: 47–31, 34–33 |||
| Pts: Ranzino (33) | Pts: Blount (17) |
* No. 2
* December 28 7:30pm
North Carolina 50, West Virginia 58 :
| Scoring by half: 23–32, 27–26 |||
| Pts: White (15) | Pts: Beach (15) |
* No. 3
* December 28 9:00pm
Duke 48, Penn State 51 :
| Scoring by half: 22–22, 26–29 |||
| Pts: Lamie (16) | Pts: Groat (18) |
* No. 4
* December 29 2:00pm
Wake Forest 57, Rhode Island State 61 :
| Scoring by half: 30–36, 27–25 |||
| Pts: McCotter, Bennett (12) | Pts: Blount (17) |
* No. 5
* December 29 3:30pm
Georgia Tech 34, NC State 57 :
| Scoring by half: 21–33, 13–24 |||
| Pts: Dold (8) | Pts: Ranzino (17) |
* No. 6
* December 29 7:30pm
North Carolina 59, Duke 52 :
| Scoring by half: 22–27, 37–25 |||
| Pts: Tsantes (19) | Pts: Groat (15) |
* No. 7
* December 29 9:00pm
West Virginia 41, Penn State 46 :
| Scoring by half: 17–17, 24–29 |||
| Pts: Beach (11) | Pts: Lamie (10) |
* No. 8
* December 30 2:00pm
Wake Forest 52, Duke 54 :
| Scoring by half: 31–33, 21–21 |||
| Pts: Mueller, Brooks (12) | Pts: Groat (17) |
* No. 9
* December 30 3:30pm
Rhode Island State 65, North Carolina 60 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 26–27, 29–28 Overtime: 10–5 |||
| Pts: Blount (19) | Pts: Kappler (14) |
* No. 10
* December 30 7:30pm
Georgia Tech 63, West Virginia 48 :
| Scoring by half: 36–25, 27–23 |||
| Pts: Cline, Sermersheim (15) | Pts: Workman (14) |
* No. 11 Attendance: 11,700
* December 30 9:00pm
NC State 50, Penn State 40 :
| Scoring by half: 23–26, 27–14 |||
| Pts: Dickey (14) | Pts: Schisler (9) |
* No. 12 Attendance: 11,700