Bracketology 2024: 5 MTEs that will impact the bracket in March

Maui Invitational

Honolulu, HI, November 20-22

Now I know the Maui Invitational doesn’t take place until next week, but there’s no way I could do an MTE column and not talk about one of the most star-studded field to hit the islands in years. If you want to talk about national title contenders, a final four feel, No. 1 seeds on the line, and national brands, this field has it all. These three days will be must-see TV.

The first game has Tennessee taking on a new-look Syracuse team in the first year of new head coach Adrian Autry. That game will be followed by a big matchup between Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers facing Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs. The other side of the bracket has No. 1 Kansas battling host Chaminade and Mick Cronin’s young UCLA Bruins squaring off with one of the contenders in the Big East, Marquette (3-0).

If the tournament in the Cayman Islands is a mid-major paradise, then the Maui Invitational is a paradise for those teams likely to be on the top-4 seed lines. Each day will have big implications for what the top of the bracket may look like on Selection Sunday, but the same token will have the losers likely only impacted on the seed list if at all given how strong the field is.

Tennessee and Marquette have the biggest must-win (if there is such a thing here) first-round games against Syracuse and UCLA respectively. Gonzaga taking on Purdue would be a big feather in the cap of the Bulldogs early on and Kansas has to make sure they don’t get Ralph Sampsoned by Chaminade in their opening game.

When the bracket is revealed, we may look back at this field and see two (or possibly three) No. 1 seeds and a total of five (or six) of the teams in this field as top-3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.