One of the best weeks of the entire college basketball season tips off Thursday and runs through 11/29! My weekly viewing guide will break down every major tournament, complete with a pick to win each one and a quick overview of what I’m watching for from every tournament below!
Strap in — it’s going to be a phenomenal week of hoops.
Players Era: Vegas, Nov 24-26:
Alabama, UNLV, Maryland, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Creighton, San Diego State, Iowa State, St. John’s, Oregon, Houston, Auburn, Kansas, Baylor, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Michigan, Rutgers
This is such an incredible field — truly one of the best brackets you’ll see all season. Every team is guaranteed two games (as shown above), followed by a consolation bracket, a third-place game, and of course, a championship matchup. The seeding logic behind this bracket is above my pay grade, so I’ll happily leave that to the tournament directors.
Diving into the teams, pretty much the entire field involves tournament caliber teams. When I look at trying to pull who has the best shot to get 3 wins, Gonzaga and Houston jump off the page immediately. Those two feel like the most complete teams in the field, and if we get a matchup between them, it almost certainly means we’re watching the championship game. Alabama and St. John’s also have the pieces to shake this whole thing up — both are talented enough to make some noise.
My pick to win it all? Houston.
I’d love to see a Houston vs. Gonzaga final, but honestly, the depth of this bracket means we’re going to get elite-level games from start to finish. Upsets, heavyweight clashes, stylistic contrasts — this event has everything.
I’ll be locked in all week, and if you’re a college hoops fan, you should be too.
Schedules:
- Tennessee: Rutgers & Houston
- Rutgers: Tennessee & Notre Dame
- Creighton: Baylor and Iowa State
- Baylor: Creighton and Iowa State
- Kansas: Notre Dame and Syracuse
- Notre Dame: Kansas and Rutgers
- St. John’s: Iowa State and Baylor
- Iowa State: St. John’s and Creighton
- Houston: Syracuse and Tennessee
- Syracuse: Houston and Kansas
- Auburn: Oregon and Michigan
- Oregon: Auburn and SDSU
- Gonzaga: Alabama and Maryland
- Alabama: Gonzaga and UNLV
- Michigan: SDSU and Oregon
- SDSU: Michigan and Oregon
- UNLV: Maryland and Alabama
- Maryland: UNLV and Gonzaga
Baha Mar Hoops, Nassau, Nov 20-21:
Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Memphis, Purdue
Purdue opens the tournament against Memphis, while Wake Forest and Texas Tech square off in the second matchup. For Purdue and Texas Tech, these opening games should grade out as likely Q2 opportunities, while Memphis and Wake are staring at clear Q1 chances right away.
But let’s be honest — the game everyone is hoping takes place is Purdue vs. Texas Tech on 11/21 at 9:30, with the championship on the line. I’ll take Purdue to win this tournament, especially after how much better they looked last week with TKR back in the lineup.
Memphis will get two high-quality chances to grab a marquee win and boost their non-conference metrics, which they badly need. Wake Forest remains one of the toughest teams in the country to project right now — their range of outcomes is huge — but at this point, I’m leaning toward them being the 0–2 team in this field.
Rady Children’s Invitational, San Diego, CA, Nov 27-28:
Florida, Providence, TCU, Wisconsin
Game 1: Florida vs. TCU
Game 2: Wisconsin vs. Providence
NCAA Tournament hopes — and the Wisconsin vs. Providence matchup is absolutely massive for both sides. That game could swing the trajectory of each team’s résumé.
Looking at the two, I lean Wisconsin, but a Providence win would be a statement that they’re firmly in the at-large conversation. On the other side of the bracket, I do expect Florida to handle TCU, as this appears to be a down year for the Horned Frogs.
My pick to win the event: Wisconsin.
Maui Invitational: Maui, Nov 24-26:
Seton Hall, USC, Chaminade, NC State, Arizona State, Texas, Washington State, Boise State
Maui was always my favorite event growing up, and I genuinely never thought anything would overtake it as the premier early-season tournament — yet here we are. This year’s field is far from vintage, and unfortunately, it’s going to get overshadowed nationally by several stronger events, especially the Players Era.
Maui is in a strange place right now. They aren’t involved in NIL funding the way other major tournaments are, and being a traditional 3-game MTE makes them less appealing to programs in today’s landscape. Because of that, this bracket is undeniably underwhelming. NC State and Texas are the two best teams here, but I’d argue NC State might be the only true NCAA Tournament-caliber team in the field.
Matchups are in the picture — and of course, I’ll still be watching. Maui is Maui, even in a down year.
My pick: NC State
Acrisure Classic (Multiple brackets, all in Thousand Palms, California), Nov 25-28:
A: Utah, Ole Miss, Grand Canyon, Iowa
B: Washington, San Francisco, Colorado, Nevada
C: Stanford, Minnesota, St. Louis, Santa Clara
D: Tulsa, UNI, San Jose State, Loyola Chicago
E: Cal Baptist, Fresno State, San Diego, Pepperdine
For simplicity, I’ve labeled these as the A–E brackets. This event is consistently one of the most chaotic during Feast Week, but the Acrisure series always does a fantastic job pulling in strong programs — especially out west — including some really competitive mid-majors.
The A bracket has the most intrigue overall, but don’t sleep on the C bracket. If you’re a mid-major fan, that group is absolutely loaded and might be the most fun of the entire event.
The good news? We’re guaranteed to see Ole Miss and Iowa face off, as they’re locked into the fourth game on Tuesday, 11/25. That feels like the most likely “tournament vs. tournament team” matchup anywhere in this field. I’m also extremely excited for Saint Louis vs. Santa Clara on Thursday, 11/27 — that game has real potential to be one of the sneaky best of the week
My picks:
A: Iowa
B: Washington
C: Saint Louis
D: UNI
E: Cal Baptist
Hall of Fame Classic, Kansas City, MO, Nov 20-21:
Nebraska, New Mexico, Kansas State, Mississippi State
This is a really fun four-team bracket, with Nebraska vs. New Mexico opening things up on 11/20, followed by Kansas State vs. Mississippi State. The championship and consolation games will take place the next day on 11/21.
All four teams enter with at-large hopes, which makes this MTE especially important — and it’s almost certain that at least one (and possibly two) of these teams will see their NCAA Tournament odds take a real hit by the end of it.
My pick to win the event: Kansas State.
ESPN Events Invitational (Multiple Events, all in Orlando), Nov 24-28:
Adventure: Bradley, Liberty, Princeton, Rhode Island, Temple, Vermont, UC San Diego, Towson
Magic: Dayton, Miami, BYU, Georgetown
Imagination: Charlotte, Furman, Illinois State, Richmond
With the Adventure Bracket tipping things off, let’s start there. Liberty and Bradley look like the two strongest teams in the field, and I fully expect both to take care of business and advance to the title game.
The Magic Bracket is absolutely loaded. BYU enters as the clear favorite, but both Georgetown and Miami have enough firepower to make things interesting and potentially push this into a competitive title game. My expectation is that we see BYU vs. Georgetown on Friday evening for the championship. I’ll take BYU to win it.
Dayton, meanwhile, has been a bit too disappointing early in the season for me to trust right now. I’ll lean toward them being the 0–2 team in this field — though I’m far from confident in that pick.
Finally, the imagination bracket; I fully expect Illinois State and Furman to meet for the championship, and I’ll take Illinois State to get it done.
Battle 4 Atlantis, Paradise Islands, Bahamas, Nov. 26-28
Vanderbilt, USF, VCU, WKU, Colorado State, Virginia Tech, Wichita State, Saint Mary’s
First: Sorry for inadvertently leaving this off to start!
This tournament, while it may not jump off the page, is very intriguing overall. Teams like Vanderbilt, VCU, USF, Virginia Tech, Saint Mary’s and Wichita State all have genuine at-large hopes and have started the year solidly. There will be a lot of high-level basketball from the get-go here. In the first round, Wichita vs. Saint Mary’s will be very fun, as will VCU vs. USF.
Thus far, Saint Mary’s has looked like an elite level team and I have no reason to doubt them at this point, so I’ll take them over Vanderbilt for the championship.
Paradise Jam, US Virgin Islands, Nov 21-24:
This is a really strong slate of mid-major programs, with Akron clearly leading the field. The Zips open against Iona, and if they advance, they’ll likely draw an upstart Oregon State team. The Beavers have been good — not great — this year, but that matchup would be a legitimately strong test if it materializes.
On the top half of the bracket, I’m very interested to see how Charleston matches up with UMass, and potentially with Yale, who has looked like one of the most complete mid-majors so far.
My projected championship matchup is Yale vs. Akron, and I’ll take Yale to win the bracket.
Charleston Classic (2 Brackets), Charleston, SC, Nov 21-23:
Palmetto Bracket: Clemson, WVU, Georgia, Xavier
This is clearly the stronger of the two brackets. Clemson vs. West Virginia opens things up, followed by Georgia vs. Xavier. All four programs are names you’d normally expect to see in or around the NCAA Tournament picture, but right now each of them sits somewhere on the bubble — and a couple (WVU and Xavier especially) are deep in rebuild mode and simply searching for momentum.
I expect Clemson and Georgia to win their opening matchups and meet in the championship game.
My pick to win it: Georgia.
Lowcountry Bracket: Boston College, Tulane, Davidson, Utah State
This bracket is a bit rough overall. Utah State is clearly the best team in the field, with Tulane as the only other squad that feels somewhat reliable right now. I’ll take Utah State to win this one without much hesitation.
It’s also very possible we see Boston College finish 0–2 here, given the matchups and where they are as a team at the moment.
Emerald Coast Classic: Destin, Florida, Nov 29-29
This year’s rendition of the Emerald Coast Classic features four teams all still trying to find their identity. Of the group, DePaul has looked the best so far, though Drake has the pieces to push this field and make things interesting.
On the other hand, I haven’t liked much of what I’ve seen from Georgia Tech or LSU to this point — both feel a step behind the others heading into the event.
My pick to win the championship: DePaul.
Cayman Islands Classic, Cayman Islands, Nov. 23-25:
Murray State, George Washington, McNeese, Middle Tennessee
First: This is on FloSports. I will not catch any of this because I refuse to add that sub.
McNeese opens against George Washington, followed by Middle Tennessee vs. Murray State in the second matchup. Both first-round games should be tight, competitive, and genuinely entertaining — this is one of those mid-major brackets that usually delivers.
I’ll take McNeese and Murray State to advance, with Murray State ultimately winning what should be a really fun tournament.
Sunshine Slam (2 Brackets); Daytona Beach, FL, Nov 24-25:
Ohio, FAU, George Mason, LMU
This is the marquee bracket here, and the one with some really fun matchups. All 4 of these teams have impressed and this feels wide open. I’ll take Ohio and LMU to win game 1, with LMU winning the tournament!
Bethune Cookman, Jacksonville, Pacific, Stony Brook
I’m taking Bethune Cookman in this one. It’s on BallerTV, so unfortunately not many will see it. However, these matchups should be solid.
Make sure you check out @ryanhammer09’s full Feast Week Schedule and Breakdown of how many top teams are in action below:
All Images are owned by the respective tournaments, and are used here to provide visuals of the brackets!
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