Seven early-season men's college basketball tournaments to watch

The Champions Classic was the commencement of early-season tourney play successful men's assemblage basketball, with powerhouses Michigan State beating Kentucky successful double overtime, portion reigning nationalist champion Kansas took down Duke without caput manager Bill Self. Seven much tournaments volition travel this period and next, with a slate that highlights immoderate of the game's apical programs and elite players.

Here is your useful usher to the men's games that volition each look connected the ESPN household of networks done the remainder of 2022.

Jump to an event: Charleston Classic | Myrtle Beach Invitational | Wooden Legacy | Phil Knight Invitational (PKI) | Phil Knight Legacy | ESPN Events Invitational | Diamond Head Classic

play

0:22

Jackson throws it down vs. South Carolina State

2022 Shriners Children's Charleston Classic

Dates: Nov. 17-18, 20

Site: TD Arena, Charleston, South Carolina

First-round matchups:

Furman Paladins vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
Old Dominion Monarchs vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Colorado State Rams vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
Davidson Wildcats vs. Charleston Cougars

Team to beat: Virginia Tech experienced immoderate important turnover this offseason -- Keve Aluma and Nahiem Alleyne are some gone -- but Mike Young has endured alteration passim his career, and inactive managed to mean 21 wins implicit the past 5 seasons. Hunter Cattoor (11.3 PPG) and Justyn Mutts (9.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG) articulation Wright State transportation Grant Basile (18.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.7 BPG) arsenic Virginia Tech aims to triumph this lawsuit and support Young's streak alive.

Sleeper team: Davidson. The Wildcats mislaid 2 of their apical 3 scorers from past play (Hyunjung Lee and Luka Brajkovic) and Bob McKillop is retired now. But his son, caller caput manager Matt McKillop, has Foster Loyer (28.3 PPG, 46.7% from the 3-point line), the program's starring scorer past year, to win present and beyond -- including competing for the Atlantic 10 rubric successful the archetypal play of Davidson hoops without Bob McKillop since 1989.

Player to watch: G.G. Jackson. He was a apical imaginable successful the 2023 people earlier helium made the determination to reclassify into the 2022 class, decommit from North Carolina and past perpetrate to caller caput manager Lamont Paris and South Carolina -- abruptly making the Gamecocks a must-watch programme successful 2022-23.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: When Drexel transportation Camren Wynter, a cardinal pickup for Penn State this offseason, was connected the level past season, the Dragons changeable 53% from wrong the arc.

play

1:40

KJ Simpson and Tristan da Silva are the apical scorers successful Colorado's triumph implicit No. 11 Tennessee.

2022 Myrtle Beach Invitational

Dates: Nov. 17-18, 20

Site: HTC Center, Conway, South Carolina

First-round matchups:

Colorado Buffaloes vs. UMass Minutemen
Murray State Racers vs. Texas A&M Aggies
Boise State Broncos vs. Charlotte 49ers
Loyola Chicago Ramblers vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Team to beat: Texas A&M. After making a tally to the NIT title crippled past season, the Aggies are positioned to decorativeness successful the SEC's apical tier. Buzz Williams' squad returned 3 of its apical 4 scorers from 2021-22, including Henry Coleman III (13.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG), and added Wichita State transportation Dexter Dennis (12.0 PPG).

Sleeper team: Boise State. The offseason communicative centered connected what the Broncos mislaid (Emmanuel Akot, Abu Kigab), but Marcus Shaver Jr. (16.0 PPG) is 1 of the apical constituent guards successful the country, and Tyson Degenhart (2021-22 Mountain West freshman of the year) is poised to instrumentality the adjacent measurement successful his development.

Player to watch: This volition beryllium a bully accidental for Tristan da Silva, a 6-foot-10 jock who averaged 9.4 PPG and connected connected 37% of his 3-point attempts past year, to beryllium helium tin anchor a Colorado squad that mislaid its apical 3 scorers successful the offseason.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: When helium was astatine South Carolina, caller UMass caput manager Frank Martin finished apical 50 successful KenPom's adjusted antiaircraft ratio rankings successful six of the past 8 seasons. UMass has failed to execute a top-50 people for 8 consecutive seasons.

Paycom Wooden Legacy

Dates: Nov. 23-24

Site: Anaheim Convention Center Arena, Anaheim, California

First-round matchups:

Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Washington Huskies
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

Team to beat: Saint Mary's got a boost successful April erstwhile Logan Johnson (10.7 PPG) announced that helium would instrumentality for a 5th year, aft starring the programme to the 2nd circular of the NCAA tournament. Yes, the Gaels mislaid Tommy Kuhse and different standouts, but Randy Bennett's way grounds suggests that the squad volition beryllium competitory successful the West Coast Conference again.

Sleeper team: Mike Hopkins has not accrued the momentum galore had anticipated erstwhile helium arrived astatine Washington, pursuing his relation arsenic a Syracuse assistant, but transfers Keion Brooks Jr. (Kentucky) and Noah Williams (Washington State) anticipation to springiness the Huskies a accidental to beryllium competitory this season.

Player to watch: Brooks struggled to find his mode astatine Kentucky, wherever helium averaged 10.8 PPG past season. A caller commencement successful Seattle could assistance him showcase his potential.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: Since the 2007-08 campaign, Randy Bennett's Saint Mary's squads person finished with astatine slightest 25 wins 11 times.

play

0:26

Armando Bacot gets the handbasket positive the foul

2022 Phil Knight Invitational (PKI)

Dates: Nov. 24-27

Site: Moda Center/Veterans Memorial Coliseum/Chiles Center, Portland, Oregon

First-round matchups:

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Portland Pilots
Iowa State Cyclones vs. Villanova Wildcats
UConn Huskies vs. Oregon Ducks
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Michigan State Spartans

Team to beat: North Carolina. Yes, the quality of G.G. Jackson's decommitment from North Carolina has been a large header this summer. But the Tar Heels instrumentality the cardinal players from 2022's nationalist rubric crippled run, including Armando Bacot (22.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG), and adhd Northwestern transportation Pete Nance, a 6-10 guardant who averaged 14.6 PPG and changeable 45% from 3 past season. North Carolina volition not lone beryllium the squad to bushed successful Portland, the Tar Heels could beryllium the squad everyone is chasing erstwhile the NCAA tourney begins.

Sleeper team: Collin Gillespie and Jay Wright are some gone. But first-year caput manager Kyle Neptune begins the caller epoch of Villanova hoops with a unit that counts connected veterans Eric Dixon (18.3 PPG) and Caleb Daniels (16.7 PPG), on with five-star imaginable and projected NBA draught lottery prime Cameron Whitmore, who is recovering from a preseason injury. Neptune boasts the endowment to support the aforesaid pedigree the programme enjoyed nether Wright.

Player to watch: A cardinal subordinate of an Oregon squad that chases a Pac-12 rubric this season, Kel'el Ware, a 7-footer from North Little Rock, Arkansas, is projected to beryllium the 11th prime adjacent summer, per ESPN's astir caller 2023 mock draft.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: Before transferring to Alabama this season, Mark Sears (19.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 4.1 APG astatine Ohio) helped the Bobcats support turnovers to conscionable 14.1% of their possessions, according to hooplens.com.

play

0:26

Armando Bacot gets the handbasket positive the foul

2022 Phil Knight Legacy

Dates: Nov. 24-27

Site: Veterans Memorial Coliseum/Moda Center/Chiles Center, Portland, Oregon

First-round matchups:

Duke Blue Devils vs. Oregon State Beavers
Florida Gators vs. Xavier Musketeers
Purdue Boilermakers vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
Portland State Vikings vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs

Team to beat: While a talented young Duke squad mightiness request immoderate clip to mature nether caller caput manager Jon Scheyer, Gonzaga and Drew Timme -- a preseason All-American connected each reputable database and a Wooden Award campaigner -- volition beryllium acceptable to enactment past season's Sweet 16 nonaccomplishment to Arkansas down them and marque different tally toward the program's archetypal nationalist title. Chattanooga transportation Malachi Smith (10.0 PPG) boosts a Bulldogs discourtesy that mislaid lottery prime Chet Holmgren successful the NBA draft.

Sleeper team: The NIT title tally not lone helped Xavier reboot aft a rocky decorativeness to its regular season, it besides convinced the nucleus of that squad to instrumentality -- a radical that includes Jack Nunge (15.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG) and Colby Jones (13.5 PPG, 7.0 APG). New caput manager Sean Miller is besides precocious connected UTEP transportation Souley Boum, who averaged 19.8 PPG and changeable 37% from beyond the arc past season.

Player to watch: Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead are the apical 2 recruits successful the 2022 people according to ESPN, but Jeremy Roach (13.0 PPG) -- a leader successful Duke's Final Four tally past play -- is the seasoned who volition play a important relation for Scheyer.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: Purdue's Zach Edey made 77% of his shots astatine the rim for Purdue past season, per hoop-math.com.

play

0:21

Kendric Davis sets up DeAndre Mitchell for the flush successful the paint.

2022 ESPN Events Invitational

Dates: Nov. 24-25, 27

Site: ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida

First-round matchups:

Florida State Seminoles vs. Siena Saints
Ole Miss Rebels vs. Stanford Cardinal
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Memphis Tigers vs. Seton Hall Pirates

Team to beat: Memphis mislaid cardinal players to the transportation portal and Jalen Duren to the NBA, but the summation of Kendric Davis (19.4 PPG, 37% from 3 past season), a Wooden Award campaigner aft a stellar vocation astatine SMU, volition springiness Penny Hardaway a accidental to marque different tally astatine the NCAA tournament.

Sleeper team: Porter Moser has immoderate continuity with Tanner Groves starring a radical of returnees astatine Oklahoma, which besides added Grant Sherfield (15.0 PPG) from Nevada.

Player to watch: Stanford manager Jerod Haase has softly built a programme that tin vie for the Pac-12 rubric with Spencer Jones and Harrison Ingram, the apical scorers from past season's team. But Michael Jones, who averaged 11.8 PPG astatine Davison past season, could find wherever the Cardinal onshore successful the league standings.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: Poor shooters tin go large shooters implicit time, too. Take Al-Amir Dawes (Clemson), 1 of 3 cardinal transfers for Shaheen Holloway's Seton Hall squad that could upset the tract present and passim the season. He finished 48-for-151 (nearly 32%) from beyond the arc arsenic a freshman earlier improving to 84-of-211 (nearly 40%) successful the aforesaid stat past season.

Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic

Dates: Dec. 22-25

Site: Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, Hawai'i

First-round matchups:

Iona Gaels vs. SMU Mustangs
Seattle U Redhawks vs. Utah State Aggies
George Washington Colonials vs. Washington State Cougars
Pepperdine Waves vs. Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors

Team to beat: Rick Pitino's Iona squad won 25 games past twelvemonth connected its mode to a MAAC regular-season championship. Nelly Junior Joseph, a archetypal squad all-MAAC player, is back, and helium volition articulation Cruz Davis, a four-star enlistee who primitively committed to Oregon State, arsenic Pitino aims to triumph a 2nd consecutive league crown.

Sleeper team: Although Darrion Trammell transferred out, Cameron Tyson (33.5 PPG, 55.6% from 3) and Riley Grigsby (7.0 PPG) are backmost to assistance a caller manager seizure a stock of the WAC crown successful 2021-22.

Player to watch: Louisville transportation Samuell Williamson is present astatine SMU, wherever helium hopes to lucifer the hype that has followed him since helium was a five-star enlistee successful the 2019 class.

Something for the assemblage hoops junkies: In his 33 years arsenic a caput coach, Rick Pitino has conscionable 1 losing play (1980-81, astatine Boston College).