NCAA Basketball: Kansas, Purdue, Marquette, and Tennessee takeaways from Maui Invitational

This year’s Maui Invitational was one of the best overall fields in NCAA Basketball history. There were five ranked programs entering the field, all of them in the top 11. Two were the AP top two teams in the country (Purdue and Kansas), as well as No. 4 Marquette. Plus, No. 7 Tennessee was viewed as a team that could’ve been the best in the country after its great start.

All four teams won opening-round games in the Maui Invitational, setting up a pair of top-10 semifinal matchups. Purdue took on Tennessee in the ultimate foul-fest but was able to come out with a 71-67 victory. Marquette had an easier time against Kansas, taking them out with a 73-59 final score.

In the third-place game, Kansas was able to give Tennessee its second loss, 69-60. But in an early contender for Game of the Year, it was Zach Edey and the Boilermakers who took down Marquette in the title game, 78-75. That gave the Big Ten team not only three wins against top-11 opponents in three straight days but also the likely No. 1 overall AP ranking when the polls come out Monday.

There’s a ton to take away from the Maui Invitational regarding the top four teams in this field, both from a positive and negative standpoint. The first one is that all of them are definite Final Four contenders, though some may have shown more flaws than others. Here’s a look at my thoughts from the top teams in this tournament.