NCAA Basketball: 2019 Maui Invitational field is loaded

The Maui Invitational tends to have the best overall field of teams when it comes to non-conference tournaments. The 2019 field continues that trend.

One of the best traditions in college basketball is the Maui Invitational, arguably the best preseason tournament around. Even with D-2 Chaminade in the field, it’s usually stacked with quality teams, including at least a couple of ranked opponents, followed by some close to the top-25 and a couple of good mid-major programs.

Notre Dame was the last winner of this event, beating Wichita State in a battle of top-15 teams. The 2018 field could have three preseason top-10 teams in Duke, Gonzaga, and Auburn, along with Arizona, Iowa State, Xavier, San Diego State and Illinois.

But the 2019 group could be just as good, based on who was listed to play.

The three teams that obviously stand out are Kansas, Michigan State, and UCLA. Based on how these blue bloods recruit, there’s a very good chance all three could be top-15 by the time the event starts. Virginia Tech will be young for 2018 but will be more experienced and a tough out for any team.

Georgia has all of a sudden become an intriguing team to watch, with the recent hire of former Indiana coach Tom Crean. It’ll be year-two of his era there.

This field also presents huge opportunities for mid-majors BYU and Dayton. It’s become harder and harder for smaller conference teams to schedule quality opponents in the non-conference, so for these two teams who have a history of at-large bids, this is a chance for marquee wins for both the Flyers and Dayton. The goal for both of them will be avoiding Chaminade at any point in the Maui Invitational.

Next: Thoughts on AP All-American teams

It’s a long way between now and November of 2019, but now these seven D-1 programs will know that they have some big games around Thanksgiving to look forward to. Fans of those teams should start saving up now, for a nice trip to Hawaii.