With the NCAA Basketball season underway, it’s time for one of the most exciting parts of the first half of the season: non-conference tournaments. One of the most prominent this year is the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The field is a small one, with only four teams competing for the title in two games each. What it lacks in size it makes up for in stature, though, as all four teams have legitimate Final Four aspirations.
The Villanova Wildcats have a loss on the books already, but it was on the road at an elite UCLA squad in an instant classic. They are 2-1 entering the tournament following an offensive tour de force against Howard on Tuesday night.
The Tennessee Volunteers are 2-0 entering the tournament, dominating Tennessee-Martin and East Tennessee State. The Vols held both teams to 62 points while scoring at least 90 in both games.
Box scores for the Purdue Boilermakers look very similar. The No. 6 team in the country held its first two opponents to 67 points each while scoring at least 92 points in wins over Bellarmine and Indiana State before widening the gap further with a 96-52 rout of Wright State.
Then, there’s the North Carolina Tar Heels. They are the lowest-ranked of the four teams, a lowly No. 18 in the latest AP poll. The program also carries the most intrigue of the four under first-year coach Hubert Davis.
Villanova and Tennessee start things off Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm ET on ESPNN, followed by North Carolina and Purdue at 4:00 pm ET ON ESPNN. The championship will be played a 1:00 pm ET Sunday on ABC, with the consolation following at 3:30 pm ET on ESPN.
Let’s take a deeper look at the competitors.