Overview The AutoNation Orange Bowl Basketball Classic is a one-day December doubleheader of Division I men's college basketball at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, and in 2025 it opened with Florida playing as the defending national champion. The Orange Bowl bills it as the only Division I basketball event in Broward County. Four programs come in for two games. Florida and Florida State have played it most often, and the rest of the field changes from year to year: UCF, Tulsa and Tulane in 2024, George Washington and UMass in 2025. The Orange Bowl Committee runs it. The committee is a nonprofit created in 1935 to bring visitors to South Florida through its bowl game, and its 410-plus volunteer members and staff of 30 put on more than 50 events a year. On site Pregame entertainment runs outside the arena, and the committee's sponsorship book describes a holiday-themed tailgate on the tarmac two hours before tipoff. The games run back to back through the afternoon. In 2023 South Florida and Florida State tipped at 1:30 p.m. on ACC Network, and Richmond and Florida followed at 4 p.m. on SEC Network; in 2024 the first game went up at 2 p.m. The Orange Bowl 50/50 raffle is sold in the building, with the proceeds going to Orange Bowl Cares, the committee's community program. Audience Most of the appearances belong to in-state schools: the committee counted Florida's 2023 trip as its 23rd appearance and Florida State's 2024 trip as its 14th. The Orange Bowl pitches the day to families during the holiday season, and its Big Buddy program gives young people tickets to Orange Bowl events. Track record The 2025 edition was the 31st. Results in 2024: Florida State 77, Tulane 64; UCF 88, Tulsa 75. In 2025: UMass 103, Florida State 95; Florida 80, George Washington 70. Tulane in 2024 and George Washington in 2025 made their first appearances, and UMass came back in 2025 for the first time in more than a decade. Brand presence AutoNation holds the title, and ten companies were thanked as sponsors of the 2025 Classic, Amerant Bank among them. Partners can buy naming rights to a courtside lounge, a quarter entitlement, in-game promotions such as a Lucky Row and a mascot race, courtside signage, videoboard spots, PA reads, a game-program ad, regional TV spots and exhibit space, along with a place in the Orange Bowl's media plan.