NCAA Basketball: Top 2018-19 early season tournament fields

DURHAM, NC - MAY 31: Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski sits down for SiriusXM's Town Hall With Hall Of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Bill Brill Media Room in Cameron Indoor Stadium on May 31, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images for SiriusXM) /

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DURHAM, NC – MAY 31: Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski sits down for SiriusXM’s Town Hall With Hall Of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Bill Brill Media Room in Cameron Indoor Stadium on May 31, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images for SiriusXM) /

The early portion of each NCAA Basketball season features several amazing non-conference tournaments. Here are some of the top fields for the 2018-19 season.

Early-season tournaments are designed to inject some interest and excitement into a portion of the college hoops season that is often written off as irrelevant. The long conference season leaves coaches leery of scheduling too many top tier games. The lucrative payouts and opportunities to silence criticisms are what draw some of the country’s most talented teams to these events. Although this may be a little premature, there are five specific fields that look particularly interesting.

Many TV-viewing eyeballs will be drawn to the NIT Early-Season Tip Off. Though the field for the Brooklyn-based tournament has not been completely set at this point, the inclusion of a Louisville team looking to put last year’s scandal behind them will create critical intrigue. Add Kansas, a popular choice for preseason No. 1, and you have what could be the highest rated of the early in the year roundball tourneys.

The Maui Jim Maui Invitational features six of last year’s NCAA tournament teams. Defending national champion Villanova faces a tough group in the AdvoCare Invitational, including Memphis and LSU. The Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational brings a quartet of household names looking to make up for early exits from the “Big Dance” in 2018. Excitement is nearly guaranteed.

Let’s take a closer look at the early season tournaments that I think are worth watching the most.

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