Utah Utes guard Gabe Madsen (55) drives into the lane between BYU Cougars guards Rudi Williams (3) and Richie Saunders (15) as BYU and Utah play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Early-season tournaments will see BYU’s and Utah’s men’s basketball teams play against Arizona State and Wake Forest, respectively, this coming November.
ESPN Events announced the brackets for both the Vegas Showdown and the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Tuesday.
The Cougars are slated to play in the four-team Vegas Showdown, first against the Sun Devils — a future Big 12 Conference foe. If victorious, BYU will play the winner of a matchup between Vanderbilt and NC State.
The Vegas Showdown will be held over Thanksgiving weekend at Michelob Ultra Arena, with the Cougars and Sun Devils battling on Thanksgiving Day.
As for the Runnin’ Utes, they’ll play the Demon Deacons a week earlier, on Nov. 16, at TD Arena in Charleston, South Carolina.
Win that game and Utah will face the winner of Houston vs. Towson.
The Charleston Classic features eight teams, the aforementioned Utes, Demon Deacons, Cougars and Tigers as well as St. John’s, North Texas, Dayton and LSU.
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Utah has only played Wake Forest four times in program history, splitting the contests.
The Runnin Utes’ have only played Houston — a future Big 12 Conference foe — once, in December 1982, and have never squared off against Towson.
All told, there are six early-season tournaments sponsored by ESPN: the Vegas Showdown and Charleston Classic, as well as the Myrtle Beach Invitational, the NIT Season Tip-Off, the ESPN Events Invitational and the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.
Taking place in November or December, the tournaments include 40 teams from across Division I basketball and per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, have proven an effective launching point for multiple teams over the years. Last season in particular.
“While nonconference men’s college basketball multiteam events (MTEs) and tournaments aren’t necessarily predictive of what will happen four months later in the NCAA Tournament, teams using an early title to generate momentum and catapult them toward a surprising season happens every year,” Borzelo writes, touting the success of Purdue, Charleston, Kansas State, San Diego State, Creighton and Arizona last season, following successful runs in early season tournaments.
“It works with individual players, too,” Borzello added. “Zach Edey’s consensus National Player of the Year campaign began with a dominant showing at the Phil Knight Legacy, averaging 22.7 points and 10.3 rebounds. Alabama’s Brandon Miller established himself as the best freshman in the country with 17 points and five rebounds in the first half against Michigan State in Portland.”
