Great Alaska Shootout
The GCI Great Alaska Shootout (originally known as the Sea Wolf Classic) was an annual college basketball tournament in Anchorage, Alaska that featured colleges from all over the United States. The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) hosted the tournament every Thanksgiving. Tournament games were played at the Alaska Airlines Center, a new arena on the UAA campus. Prior to the opening of the Alaska Airlines Center in September 2014, games were played at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Prior to the Sullivan Arena opening in 1983, games were played at Buckner Fieldhouse. The men's tournament, held  annually since 1978, included eight teams while the women's tournament, held annually since 1980, had four participants. The tournament was one of the longest-running basketball tournaments, lasting for 39 years, and brought the highest level of basketball to Alaska. The Shootout was held Thanksgiving weekend. Under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, teams are normally limited to 28 regular-season games. However, games in "exempted events", traditionally played early in the season, are not counted against that limit. The most recent policy from the NCAA in this regard allows all teams to play in one exempted event per  season. Those teams who choose to take advantage of that opportunity may play up to thirty-one games per season, including games played in those exempted events but excluding postseason tournament games. A previous version of the rule allowed for all games played outside the United States mainland to be exempt from the then-27-game limit. This version was partly responsible for the genesis of tournaments such as Great Alaska Shootout. During each of its 40 editions, the Great Alaska Shootout men's tournament field included at least one team that qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament later that  season. The 1985 field included an event-record six teams that would go on to be invited to that season's NCAA Tournament. Five times the Great Alaska Shootout field included the defending NCAA champion, most recently in 1996, when the University of Kentucky took part in the Shootout. History. The Great Alaska Shootout began in 1978. Raycom Sports first picked up the broadcast rights to the tournament in 1979. On August 26, 2017, it was announced that the 2017 Shootout would be the last. The University of Alaska Anchorage stopped funding it as other, newer tournaments were drawing away  top teams to warmer locations. Past champions, runners-up and MVPs. Men's tournament. The following table indicates the winners, runners-up and tournament most valuable players (MVPs). Women's tournament. The following table indicates the winners, runners up and tournament MVPs. Tournament was played in a round robin format. The tournament was moved to earlier in the season beginning in the 1994-95 season; hence the first 1994 tournament corresponds to the 1993-94 season and the second tournament to the 1994-95 season.