USC to play Kansas State, Georgia to face Oregon in Las Vegas tournament in November

According to college hoops insider Jon Rothstein, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will host an awesome four-team event to kick of the season. USC, Kansas State, Oregon and Georgia will all trek to Sin City for a season-opening bash, with USC facing KSU and Oregon facing Georgia. Here was the official report, which Rothstein posted to Twitter on Thursday morning:

“USC will play Kansas State and Oregon will face Georgia on on Nov. 6th in a doubleheader at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, multiple sources told College Hoops Today. There is no timetable on an official announcement. Tip off times are also TBD.”

There you have it. Wildcats vs. Trojans and Ducks vs. Bulldogs out in the desert to kick off the 2023-24 college basketball season. USC and the debut of Bronny James will earn all the headlines, but this is a darn great group of ball clubs.

However, there ain’t a snowball’s chance in hell little LeBron even starts in that game with veteran stud Boogie Ellis returning while the Trojans’ other top recruit, Isaiah Collier, the No. 1 player in the 2023 On3 Industry Rankings, will slide in at point guard. Then, in the front-court, the Trojans are stacked with veteran defensive bulldogs, including another famous son, DJ Rodman — yes, Dennis’ boy. This is one of the best rosters in the country, hands down.

Their opponent, Kansas State, had their best season in at least a decade in 2022-23. They lost their two All-Americans, but second-year coach Jerome Tang returned his top big man, Nae’Qwan Tomlin, who will likely be the leader of the team alongside North Texas import and shooting extraordinaire Tylor Perry.

Oregon is coming off a tough season where they missed the NCAA Tournament, but let’s assume Dana Altman gets this group back to the big dance next year. Because they have a more typical Altman roster this coming season — a massive and productive center in N’Faly Dante and a ton of athleticism surrounding him at guard, including Georgia’s very own Kario Oquendo, a high-flying guard who transferred from the Dawgs to the Ducks this offseason.

So call it the Kario Oquendo revenge game! You may be thinking Georgia’s the the bottom of this barrel — and they probably are — especially after losing their star in Oquendo. But Mike White has talent and athleticism, folks. They returned a couple key guys but really supplemented a bad roster last season with high-major contributors via the portal. Not stars, per se, but guys who can play at an SEC level. Don’t expect Georgia to win, but also don’t assume this is the same pitiful group they trotted out last year.