NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 8 teams in the 2018 Maui Invitational

The brackets for the 2018 Maui Invitational has been set. With the offseason transactions done, how do the eight participating teams rank for this upcoming season?

The Maui Invitational has been known as arguably the best annual non-conference tournament in NCAA Basketball. With the beautiful background environment in Hawaii combined with the primetime television coverage by ESPN, it’s become the premier event for the sport in the beginning month of November.

It also can be home to some memorable events, evident of last season’s tournament. The finals were between Notre Dame and Wichita State, who both were top-15 teams at the time. The Shockers had a big league in the second half before a late Irish run stole the win and the title in the end. That win alone almost pushed Notre Dame into the NCAA Tournament.

The participants of the 2018 field have already been named, with the following teams involved along with their first-round opponents:

Note that the normal host Chaminade will not be part of next season’s event. Starting in 2018, the D-2 college program will be participating in every other year, hence their absence.

This could quite possibly be the best Maui field from top to bottom. A number of combined national titles and Final Four appearances are between the teams and even the mid-major teams (Gonzaga and San Diego State) were in the NCAA Tournament just recently.

As great as an overall field this is, there are still some who are better than the other. Here is a ranking from last to first of the 2018 Maui Invitational teams.