The College Basketball Experience Classic (formerly known as the Guardians Classic) is an annual season-opening college basketball tournament founded in 2001. The tournament is currently sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts and is held in mid-November. Sixteen invited teams, representing 16 different athletic conferences, are divided into groups of four (the 2008 tournament features only 14 teams). The initial two rounds are played at regional sites on back to back days and are hosted by a participating team. In general, regional hosts are expected to advance to the finals, and generally do so. Each regional site winner then moves on to the championship round in Kansas City, Missouri, with the games played at Sprint Center. The championship round takes place one week after the initial round. I