Iowa State men’s basketball: 2014 CBE Hall of Fame Classic bracket revealed

ESPN has revealed the 2014 CBE Hall of Fame Classic bracket, and Iowa State will be taking on an SEC powerhouse — in football.

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The Alabama Crimson Tide will meet with the Cyclones in the semifinal of the tournament at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The Maryland Terapins will take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first semifinal.

It’s a shorter version of all these fall basketball tournaments; two other games are part of the deal, but they’re both played at Hilton Coliseum. And regardless what happens in those games, Iowa State will be in this tournament.

The semifinals are played on Monday, November 24th and the final is played the very next day. Here’s how the tip-off and TV network schedule breaks down:

Monday, November 24

• Semi 1: Arizona State vs Maryland – 6:00 PM CT | TV: ESPNU / Web: WatchESPN
• Semi 2: Alabama vs Iowa State – Approx. 8:30 PM CT | TV: ESPN2 / Web: WatchESPN

Tuesday, November 25

• Consolation Game – 6:00 PM CT | Web: ESPN3
• Championship Game – Approx. 8:30 PM CT | TV: ESPNU / Web: WatchESPN

ESPN’s college basketball blog believes that Iowa State is poised as the big favorite in this tournament, and they’ll likely have a matchup with the Terapins unless the Sun Devils upset them.

"Why you’ll want to watch: Iowa State. Sorry to take the fun out of this one, but this is the Cyclones’ tourney to lose. A final matchup against Maryland could prove tricky, but Iowa State is the easy favorite."

Hard to argue with it. Alabama wasn’t good last year; notching a win against Missouri last year was their best win. Otherwise, they collected six other wins from mediocre SEC teams in a 13-19 season.

Now the Crimson Tide don’t have their best player, Trevor Releford, who averaged 18.5 points per game last season. Everyone else was in the single digits.

Iowa State will be playing two other SEC teams in non-conference play — Arkansas at Hilton Coliseum for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, and South Carolina in Brooklyn, New York.