The Maui Invitational is one of the premiere early-season college basketball tournaments in the country today and this year’s event should not disappoint at all. We already knew the eight teams competing in this year’s event and now we know the first-round games.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein shared the match-ups for the first round on Tuesday and it includes some big meetings like a showdown between prominent power Georgetown and a No. 1 seed from the 2016 NCAA Tournament in the Oregon Ducks. It also features a SEC/Big Ten crossover between Tennessee and Wisconsin, two teams that should be able to make the tournament in March of next year.
First-round matchups for Maui Invitational are set, per release. Tennessee/Wisconsin, Georgetown/Oregon, UConn/Oklahoma St, UNC/Chaminade.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 19, 2016
If people ever try to say that this tournament doesn’t make much of a difference, I would implore you to look at the past few years. In each of the last three years, the Maui Invitational champion has gone on to land at least a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament (Syracuse as 2 seed in 2014, Arizona as a 3 seed in 2015 and Kansas a 1 seed in 2016.)
This year’s tournament begins on Nov. 21 and runs through Nov. 23.
