All these tournaments are Thanksgiving week.
Gulf Coast Showcase (25th-27th)
Louisiana Tech v. UNC Greensboro
San Diego v. UIC
Wagner v. Stetson
St Bonaventure v. Southern Illinois
Only analysis here is that La Tech should be the class of this tournament. As CUSA favorites, anything less than 3 wins is damaging.
Maui (25th-27th)
Arkansas v. California
Minnesota v. Syracuse
Chaminade v. Baylor
Dayton v. Gonzaga
A weaker Maui field than usual, there's some soft spots in here. You figure Syracuse is the favorite in the top half, and Baylor/Gonzaga would be a good semifinal. I want to see if the marginal teams like Cal, Minnesota, and Dayton can do anything for their resume.
Legends Classic (25th-26th)
Pittsburgh v. Texas Tech
Stanford v. Houston
Odds are we get Pitt/Stanford, which would be a useful neutral court win for either team. Pretty standard stakes here. I doubt Houston and TTU are major players on the bubble in March.
CBE Hall of Fame Classic (25th-26th)
Texas v. BYU
Wichita St v. DePaul
This should end up being BYU/WSU, and if it isn't, it'll be a disappointment. Both teams are stuck in conference that aren't going to offer many quality win chances in conference play, so it's more important than you think, especially for BYU (Wichita figures to be safe either way).
Cancun (26th-27th)
West Virginia v. Old Dominion
St Louis v. Wisconsin
Interesting - the clear 2 best teams are playing each other in the semis. ODU still has a long way back and WVU has slipped. Wisky has a lot of equity built up this season already, so this isn't mandatory, but this would be a very nice win and could start to get them thinking about the top 2 lines. As for St Louis, free shot at getting a signature win.
Preseason NIT (27th-29th)
Drexel v. Arizona
Alabama v. Duke
Drexel "upset" regional host Rutgers, and everyone might be better off for it. Drexel is the better team. Alabama gets a free run at Duke, but I'll eat my hat if they get it.
The real story is the Duke/Arizona matchup, which will have major ramifications on the 1 line in March.
Great Alaska Shootout (27th-30th)
Tulsa v. Indiana St
TCU v. Alaska Anchorage
Pepperdine v. Green Bay
Denver v. Harvard
Field in Alaska continues to slip. Indiana St is the favorite in the top half and really needs to hold serve for 2 games. In the bottom half, opportunity for Harvard. I doubt they get an at-large bid or come close, but they need to win this tournament to even think about it. They've got a frisky first game in Denver. This is a bracket where the loser's side will be death to at-large hopes.
Old Spice (28th-1st)
Purdue v. Oklahoma St
Butler v. Washington St
Memphis v. Siena
LSU vs. St Joseph's
Those first 3 games have a clear favorite. Obviously, they need to hold serve. LSU/St Joseph's is the bubble game of the entire season, possibly. Win and you get 2 games against Memphis/OSU/Butler. 2 signature win chances. Lose and you get 2 games of little value to at-large resumes. Both teams are borderline bubble teams. Everything's on the line.
Not much analysis needed for Memphis/OSU/Butler. Signature win chances, but more will come later too.
Battle 4 Atlantis (28th-30th)
Villanova v. USC
Kansas v. Wake Forest
Xavier v. Iowa
Tennessee v. UTEP
Kansas is the class here and anything less than 3 wins is an issue. Tennessee/Iowa is the semifinal matchup that could really be of note. 2 bubble teams who can get a good win AND a free run at Kansas. If Xavier or UTEP any good? I think so. Villanova is a bubble team. Lot of ramifications here.
Wooden Legacy (28th-1st)
Miami v. George Washington
Marquette v. Cal St-Fullerton
Charleston v. San Diego St
Creighton v. Arizona St
Whoa, the bottom half of the bracket. Marquette should handle the upper half, and it's a problem if they don't. But Creighton/ASU is a big game. Win and get more quality games. Lose and get stuck with a couple marginal games. Not to mention the chance at a good resume win in the first place. There's also a chance for SDSU to make noise
Corpus Christi (29th-30th)
SMU v. Virginia
Missouri St v. Texas A&M
This is a good litmus test tournament. Virginia expects to be in the tournament. SMU and MSU expect to rise in status this season to become contenders. If they expect to be contenders, they have to prove it in this tournament.
Barclays (29th-30th)
Ole Miss v. Georgia Tech
St John's v. Penn St
Marginal power conference teams. We're probably headed for an Ole Miss/St John's game that would be mildly useful for both.
Las Vegas (29th-30th)
UCLA v. Nevada
Missouri v. Northwestern
This should end up being UCLA/Missouri. Both expect the NCAA tournament, so the win will be useful for the victor, mildly harmful for the loser.
Busy week upcoming, boys.
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