Report: Tournament bracket set for 2022 ESPN invitational
The ESPN Invitational has become one of the better early season tournaments in college basketball. Last season’s field was highlighted by the eventual champion in the Kansas Jayhawks. It also featured the Elite Eight bound Miami Hurricanes, Rick Pitino’s MAAC leading Iona Gaels and an Alabama team that knocked off multiple top teams in 2021. Now, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein has a report on this season’s field.
Six Power-5 programs will headline the event per a tweet from Rothstein.
The first game from ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida features the ACC’s Florida State Seminoles against the MAAC’s Siena Saints. The SEC’s Ole Miss Rebels and Pac-12’s Stanford Cardinals is the event’s first reported Power-5 matchup.
The second will come when the Big 12’s Oklahoma Sooners matchup with the Big Ten’s Nebraska Cornhuskers. The final first round game from the ESPN event will square Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers off with the Big East’s Seton Hall Pirates.
The eight teams combined for a 133-123 record last season. The final reported game between Memphis and Seton Hall would project as the best as the Tigers (22-11) and the Pirates (21-11) each made the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
The teams will play in this tournament on November 24, 25 and 27 once the season kicks off. With college basketball right around the corner, tournament fields like this will have fans excited for the season to come even faster.