Report: Maui Invitational coming to Las Vegas in November
The Maui Invitational, often considered the most prestigious regular-season college basketball tournament, will be played in Las Vegas this year, according to a report from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
The tournament is Nov. 22 to 24 and expected to be played at Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay, but tournament organizers have not confirmed that information and an MGM Resorts spokesman said he had not heard.
T-Mobile Arena cannot be used because of a game Nov. 23 between UCLA and Gonzaga.
Playing in the Maui field are Oregon, Saint Mary’s, Butler, Houston, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Texas A&M and Chaminade.
Four games will be played each day. On the first day, Wisconsin will face Texas A&M, Houston will play Butler, Oregon will meet Chaminade and Saint Mary’s will play Notre Dame.
ESPN or one of its sister networks will televise all 12 games.
This is the second consecutive year that a tournament will not be played in Maui because of COVID-19 reasons. It was in Asheville, North Carolina, last season, and UNLV was one of the participants.
The Rebels lost all three games.
Organizers hoped to return to Maui this year, but fans would not have been allowed inside the Lahaina Civic Center because of local health restrictions. Until last year, the 2,400-seat venue had hosted the tournament since 1987.
The plan is to return to Maui next year. Arizona, Louisville, San Diego State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Creighton and Arkansas will comprise the 2022 field
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.