Maui Invitational Men's Basketball Breakdown
To many, the Championship Round of the Maui Invitational is the unofficial start of the college basketball season. This is where Connecticut ran the table last year and started the hype machine that eventually led them to the national title. Is there a surprise team ready to come out this year? With such a strong field, only Chaminade winning it all would be a big surprise.
Michigan vs. Memphis
The Wolverines have very, very high expectations this year. Michigan has not dominated the competition early in the season, but they certainly have the talent to beat Memphis and possibly win the tournament. Memphis has just one game on the schedule prior to heading to Hawaii and the lack of game experience for the Tigers could prove to be troublesome for this young team. That is a huge advantage for Michigan, but it remains to be seen if the Wolverines can stick with the athletes that Coach Josh Pastner has at his disposal.
Tennessee vs. Duke
The Volunteers would be the biggest surprise to come out with a couple wins in Hawaii. The young backcourt duo of Trae Golden and Jordan McRae has been strong, but this is still a team in rebuilding mode and it will take some time for Tennessee to get back into the mix for an SEC title. Meanwhile, Duke has a few issues as well, but Coach K has his group moving in the right direction and getting better. The tough competition in Maui may be a surprise to the Duke youngsters, but they are too talented to lose to Tennessee. Facing Memphis or Michigan in the second round could tell us a lot about how far the Blue Devils have come in a short amount of time.
UCLA vs. Chaminade
UCLA is struggling early in the 2011-2012 campaign, but they still have a superb frontcourt that consists of David Wear, Travis Wear, Reeves Nelson and Joshua Smith. Those four are tough to stop, but the backcourt needs to step up their game and get those big guys more involved. UCLA should beat Chaminade, although this is not a bad Chaminade team by DII standards, but they will have trouble moving forward in this tournament.
Georgetown vs. Kansas
This is a big tournament for Georgetown. The Hoyas will certainly have many, many more opportunities to prove their NCAA tournament worth in the Big East, but the Hoyas could get off on the right foot with a couple wins in Maui. They may not be able to beat Kansas, and if that is the case they will likely play Chaminade in the second round, leaving just one more opportunity to leave the islands with a quality win. The Hoyas frontcourt is very talented and a possible matchup pitting Henry Sims, Hollis Thompson and Nate Lubick against the UCLA frontcourt is very appealing. Kansas will be tested before they even head to Maui and Coach Bill Self will have his team ready to take on anybody. And they are good enough to beat anybody.
Men's Basketball Games of the Week and Tournament Breakdowns
