Welcome, friends, to the third edition of Bracketology here at ClutchPoints. Allow me to be the first to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year (might as well kill three birds with one stone). It's a great time of year to spread holiday cheer, and let me tell ya, it's a great week to sit on the couch and watch a sickening amount of college basketball. For my money, this is the best sports week of the entire year, and the sheer amount of big time college basketball we have on the slate is a huge reason for that.
Look no further than the Maui Invitational: Five teams ranked in the top 25 (#1 Kansas, #2 Purdue, #4 Marquette, #7 Tennessee and #11 Gonzaga) are in the field, marking only the ninth time in the forty year history of the Maui Invitational that at least four ranked teams have been in the Maui field. Below I've listed the previous examples of loaded Maui Invitational's.
Maui Invitational History Lesson
1988 – Four ranked teams (#3 Michigan, #4 Oklahoma, #8 UNLV, #16 Ohio State)
-Championship: Michigan 91, Oklahoma 80
1998 – Four ranked teams (#9 Utah, #21 Indiana, #22 Syracuse, #24 Clemson)
-Championship: Syracuse 76, Indiana 63
2000 – Four ranked teams (#1 Arizona, #6 Maryland, #8 Illinois, #13 Connecticut)
-Championship: Arizona 79, Illinois 76
2004 – Four ranked teams (#4 North Carolina, #11 Tennessee, #14 Louisville, #15 Texas)
-Championship: North Carolina 106, Iowa 92
2005 – Four ranked teams (#3 Connecticut, #11 Arizona, #12 Michigan State, #20 Gonzaga)
-Championship: Connecticut 65, Gonzaga 63
2006 – Four ranked teams (#5 UCLA, #11 Memphis, #19 Georgia Tech, #20 Kentucky)
-Championship: UCLA 88, Georgia Tech 73
2011 – Four ranked teams (#6 Duke, #8 Memphis, #15 Michigan, #14 Kansas)
-Championship: Duke 68, Kansas 61
2022 – Five ranked teams (#9 Arkansas, #10 Creighton, #14 Arizona, #17 San Diego State, #21 Texas Tech)
-Championship: Arizona 81, Creighton 79
Bracketology Bracket
Bracketology Breakdown
Top Seeds: Kansas (South Region), Purdue (Midwest Region), Marquette (East Region), Arizona (West Region)
Multi-Bid Leagues: AAC (2), ACC (6), Big 12 (8), Big East (5), Big Ten (7), MWC (3), Pac-12 (5), SEC (7), WCC (2)
Bracketology Bubble Watch
Last Four Byes: Saint Mary’s, Boise State, Maryland, Indiana
Last Four In: BYU, Northwestern, NC State, New Mexico
First Four Out: Florida, Providence, Ohio State, Washington
Next Four Out: St. John’s, Texas Tech, Iowa, Michigan
Five Most Intriguing Tournaments of the Week
Allstate Maui Invitational (Nov. 20-22)
-Participating Teams: Tennessee, Syracuse, Purdue, Gonzaga, Kansas, Chaminade, UCLA, Marquette
Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off (Nov. 20, Nov. 22)
-Participating Teams: Wisconsin, Virginia, West Virginia, SMU
Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 22-24)
-Participating Teams: North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Villanova, Texas Tech, Michigan, Memphis, Arkansas, Stanford
ESPN Events Invitational (Nov. 23-24)
-Participating Teams: Penn State, Texas A&M, FAU, Butler, Iowa State, VCU, Boise State, Virginia Tech
Emerald Coast Classic (Nov. 24-25)
-Participating Teams: Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon, Santa Clara
And One!
I’m 0-2 so far this season on my ‘And One’ predictions, so that means, in basketball terms, I need a layup this week. I need to see the metaphorical ball go through the metaphorical net. I need a gimme, friends. Therefore, instead of taking a stab at predicting who will win one of the many early season tournaments, my prediction for this week is that I will eat entirely too much food on Thanksgiving, and if you don’t consider that a worthwhile basketball prediction, just remember, it’s Feast Week in college basketball.
Past And One! Predictions
11/6/23 – Maryland will win the Asheville Championship early season tournament (INCORRECT)
11/13/23 – 50 Point Scorer during the week (INCORRECT)