College Basketball 2005 Preview: Tournaments (Excluding March Madness)

[JohnBM01]

GTPlanet, this thread is all about college basketball tournament previews this coming season. In an effort to expand my college sports talk outside of football, I try basketball by gathering up an audience to make this hot.

--- 2005 Maui Invitational: Part 1/2 ---

Aloha! The week of November 21, 22, and 23 will play host to the Maui Invitational. The Maui Invitational isn't "The Big Dance," but it is a nice bit of action to get you set for the new seaon. This year, I'll try to make an effort to generate a college basketball audience, in much the same way I've done well with college football.

INTRODUCTION:
What do you think of when you think of Hawaii? Surfing? Volleyball on the sands? Women as beautiful as the Hawaiian islands themselves? According to NCAA Basketball, those are all good, but basketball is better than these pleasures. As the product of about a 21-year old college basketball tradition, some of the lower 48's best schools all meet in Maui on the campus of Chaminade University. Chaminade should be popular if you know about the history of college basketball. Chaminade upset the #1 Virginia Cavaliers back in the 1980s in one of the biggest upsets in all of college hoops. Chaminade is a Division 2 school competing in the Pacific West Conference. You can bet that as this game is played at Chaminade, that the home crew are wanting to see Chaminade take down the big boys. Winning this tournament may not do anything do your March Madness hopes, but it gives you a sense that you're ready for the bigtime when college basketball gets off and running.

More info in next post. Afterwards, more tournaments other than March Madness.

 

[JohnBM01]

--- 2005 Maui Invitational Part 2/2 ---

Having said that, let's meet the teams competiting in this year's event. The contestants in this upcoming tournament include Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan State, and Chaminade. Arizona plays a sport they are best at- basketball. The Phoenix Suns may be the best team in the pros, but the Tuscon, AZ outfit are all out to make a Final Four appearance at the most for this Pac-10 squad. Arkansas has a talented basketball unit apart from their so-so football team in the SEC. The Razorbacks are not expected to be an NCAA contender this year, according to Athlon Sports' College Basketball preview magazine. Connecticut is the Big East standout that won it all in college hoops for men and women in 2004. Question is, can the Huskies get it done this year to the Final Four? Some of you college basketball newcomers will get to learn new teams and new conferences. A team you never heard of in football is Gonzaga. The Gonzaga Bulldogs are clearly the class of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Losing to Villanova by more than 30 points, the Big XII's Kansas Jayhawks are looking to rise high and become a big power all the way to the National Championship game. The Terrapins of College Park, MD are looking to make a prescence as well. The University of Maryland isn't expected to go too far in March Madness, but never count them out. Michigan State is obviously a great football team, but they shared great success in NCAA basketball too, all the way to the National Title in 2000. Their talent will be tough to tame as one source has Michigan State as high as the Final Four. There is one major football program in Hawaii, and that's the University of Hawaii. The Silverswords of Chaminade represents a small portion of Hawaii's basketball talent, as they are pretty popular for only a Division 2 team. They are hosts to this great tournament. They shocked America when they beat #1 Virginia back in the 1980s. You can also play that as a "Pontiac College Classic" in the game "NCAA March Madness 2005." Be prepared to be frustrated as hell, though.

And so, this concludes the Maui preview. Maybe in my next post, I'll preview the Great Alaska Shootout.