The 2024 Orange Bowl Classic was the 30th installment of this college basketball holiday tradition held at Amerant Bank Arena, home of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers. The matchups for the two games featured were between the University of Central Florida against Tulsa and Florida State against Tulane. Who could say no to two college basketball games back to back? I know I couldn’t.
A lesson I learned from last year’s tournament was to bring a cushion for the floor. I didn’t think I could lose sensation in my butt from sitting on the hardwood floor, but I was quickly reminded why I was a photographer and not a doctor. This year I wasn’t playing games, I had my cushion ready. Of course I should have known better last year, but I had a hockey game the night before and I was probably in the middle of second edits and forgot it.
With the Classic this year, compared to last, there was a lot more photographers and videographers on the floor for both games. There are hash marks along the baseline the note where a photographer could sit. Well with the amount of media there this year, those marks were merely ornamental.
I sat on the far hash mark closest to the sidelines in hopes that the refs weren’t going to block as much of the action as they did last year. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I had more stripes in my shots than a zebra has on it’s back. Not to mention that my range was severely limited due to another person occupying space in between the hash marks and they were shooting holding their camera like two feet away from their face. I couldn’t shoot the benches because I couldn’t shoot right and I couldn’t shoot at the rim because of the refs.
And they say sports photographers have it easy.
After the first game between UCF and Tulsa I decided I would try my luck and shoot from the opposite side in hopes of avoiding the refs and others occupying space in between the hash marks. Well I did avoid the others in the hash mark spaces but I found myself in the middle of the team huddles on the bench. And the refs were also there again in my shots as well.
And that is the thing with sports photography, you’re not going to have a good game every game. Or good back to back games for that matter. You can only work with what you’re given and try to make the best of the situation.
Did I grab some usable shots? Absolutely. Did I miss some great action shots because of my limited range and because of the stripes? Yup, but the game must go on.
As far as the games went, the were similar to last year’s where the games weren’t as competitive. Both Florida teams handled their opponents fairly easily. The University of Central Florida defeated Tulsa 88-75 while Florida State defeated Tulane 77-64. And without any ranked teams at the tournament this year, there wasn’t a lot of national media or wire photographers there to capture the action.
As much as I and others I assume, would love a big name school like a Duke or Indiana to play in this tournament, I’m sure the fees to pay those types of schools to play is astronomical. It’s a great tournament, well put together and the crowds were bigger this year.
Who knows, but I do know I’ll be looking forward to covering the 2025 Classic as well.
Below are a handful of selected photos from the two games:
For more images please visit my college basketball page! And don’t forget to visit my Instagram page for my latest adventures in sports photography