In the past The Maui Invitational has been one of the best tournaments that ESPN puts on during the holiday seasons. For some reason in Maui the humid climate seems to get to some of the teams, which always makes the games that should be blowouts close and great to look. This year's participants include Purdue, Kansas State, Missouri, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Chaminade, BYU, San Diego State.
The first game of the tournament, which kicks off on November 24th, features Purdue and Kansas State. The Boilermakers will be looking to their star center A.J. Hammons for most of the offence this season. Along with point guard Ronnie Johnson they will look to make a run in the Big Ten this coming season. As for Kansas State they will look to sophomore Marcus Foster to lead their team this season. Coming off a 1st round exit in last years NCAA tournament the Wildcats are looking to make a solid run this season.
Next comes tournament favorite Arizona taking on Missouri. The Wildcats look to be the heavy favorite in Maui due to their returning players. Arizona could be in the conversation for a number one seed come March Madness if everything holds true. Players such as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Kaleb Tarczewski are going to have to play big roles in the Wildcats success. As for Missouri, they are coming off a season in which they got screwed out of a NCAA tournament bid. The Tigers are looking to continue the success, and a early season will against Arizona will give them some momentum moving forward.
The next game on the slate will be Pittsburgh taking on Chaminade. The Panthers have lucked out and have gotten the best first round draw in the tournament. Pittsburgh will be looking for Cam Wright to facilitate the offence this season as they look to contend in the Big East. Chaminade is looking to put the whole country on upset alert as they try and make a run in Maui.
The final first round match-up features BYU and San Diego State. Last season BYU's Tyler Haws was one of the counties top leading scorers averaging close to 24 points a game. They will look to him again this season to lead them to the promise land. San Diego State completely reloaded in the off-season with the additions of Malik Pope, Trey Kell and Zylan Cheatham who are all four star recruits (according to ESPN.com). With a young team coach Steve Fisher will try and mature his talent.
The Maui Invitational takes goes until November 26th. All games can be seen on the ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU.