Nothing beats March Madness for the college hoops-obsessed fan, but Feast Week is as good as it gets outside the month of March. Sit back, relax and enjoy wall-to-wall college hoops from tournaments across the country (and North America, for that matter). There’s something for everyone this time of year, but the top-tier tournaments that pit some of the best teams in the country against each other could go a long way to determining what seeding looks like on Selection Sunday.
Here’s a look at five events to pay attention to over the next week.
Maui Invitational (Nov. 25–27)
Bracket: HERE
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call this the greatest Maui Invitational field of all time. Three of the top five teams in this week’s AP poll and four of the top 10 all converge on the Lahaina Civic Center early next week, including two-time defending national champion UConn in the Huskies’ first real tests of the 2024–25 season. The best illustration of this field’s ridiculous depth: Iowa State and Auburn, a pair of top-five teams, will face off in the quarterfinals on Monday evening.
The path for the Huskies is a bit more manageable than the other side of the bracket, with a first-round matchup with Memphis followed presumably by the winner of Colorado and Michigan State before a potential title tilt against a top-10 foe. Still, it will be an excellent early litmus test for the Huskies, who so far have won their first four games each by 35-plus points against severely overmatched competition. UConn has won its early-season tournament in each of its title-winning campaigns, but this test will be as steep as any they’ve had.
The pick: UConn
Players Era Festival (Nov. 26, 27, 30)
Bracket: HERE
The sport’s big disruptor is finally here: The Players Era Festival, the high-profile event promising million-dollar payouts to the NIL collectives of participating teams, will tip off early next week in Las Vegas. The event doesn’t contain the same type of iconic brands that Maui or the Battle 4 Atlantis can claim, but landing two elite teams in Alabama and Houston as well as elite NBA prospects in Rutgers’s Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper gives the first iteration of this event some legitimate juice. The format here is a bit funky, with teams separated into two groups of four and then round-robin games Tuesday and Wednesday before a “Championship Day” on Saturday. That said, the main event regardless of how Saturday’s slate shakes out is Tuesday night’s epic matchup between Houston and Alabama, a battle of elite offense from the Tide against the best defensive team in the sport in Houston. How Year 1 of the event goes could go a long way in determining the future of these types of NIL-centric events, which could have significant scheduling ramifications long-term for the sport if successful.
The pick: Houston
Battle 4 Atlantis (Nov. 27–29)
Bracket: HERE
The eight-team field assembled for this year’s Atlantis tournament should be a ton of fun to watch. The primary story line is a potential title game that would pit Mark Few and Gonzaga against Tommy Lloyd and Arizona for the first time since Lloyd left his longtime post as Few’s top assistant in Spokane. Beyond the personal dynamics at play there, that would be a dynamite matchup between a Gonzaga team that has played as well as anyone in the country thus far against an Arizona squad that entered the season with big expectations and is looking to bounce back from an early loss at Wisconsin.
Elsewhere in the bracket, it will be interesting to see how Indiana looks against top-tier competition given how optimistic many are that the Hoosiers can contend for a Big Ten crown. Their first-round matchup with Louisville, another monster brand looking to see how it measures up against top competition, is a must watch.
The pick: Gonzaga
Rady Children’s Invitational (Nov. 28 and 29)
Bracket: HERE
College basketball world, meet Egor Demin. The Russian passing sensation has lived up to all the preseason expectations and more thus far for BYU and new coach Kevin Young, but he’ll step up in weight class in this event with matchups against Ole Miss and then either Purdue or NC State. The Cougars are something of a mystery team in the loaded Big 12, and could make an early statement that they are for real. Meanwhile, Ole Miss expects to be much better in Year 2 under Chris Beard and will get its first high-major test in this event. And that’s not even mentioning the two Final Four participants from a year ago that will participate in this one, including a Purdue team that earned a signature win last week against Alabama before a Tuesday setback at Marquette.
The pick: BYU
Acrisure Classic (Nov. 28 and 29)
Bracket: HERE
Doing some early hunting for potential Cinderellas this Feast Week? The Acrisure Classic could be for you. A pair of feisty mid-majors in New Mexico and Saint Mary’s get to see how they measure up against Arizona State and USC. The Lobos and Gaels each have an impressive early-season win under their belts, with New Mexico beating UCLA in Las Vegas and Saint Mary’s knocking off Nebraska in South Dakota. Continuing those hot starts might be tricky though: Arizona State is off to a strong 4–1 start with a talented young roster headlined by five-stars Joson Sanon and Jayden Quaintance, while USC’s transfer-heavy nucleus boasts the type of positional size and experience that could make them a bubble team in the crowded Big Ten.
The pick: New Mexico
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Feast Week Guide: Men’s College Hoops Tournaments to Watch.