Syracuse it is in Maui

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SelectionSunday

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Should be a great game. I think it's better to play a tough team right away anyway.
 


Wow after the scuffle us fans have had with Syracuse a few weeks ago this is a welcome challenge. May the winner get Newton/Whitehead
 




Wow, on the surface it looks like the top half of that bracket is the loaded one. Chaminade and Dayton on the same side weakens the lower bracket, IMHO. If Minnesota wins the Maui, they will have earned it!!
 

Interesting bracket and a chance for the Gophers to play 2 major conference teams and maybe a 3rd. This will be an interesting test for the Gophers but they should have a good chance to win 2 of the three games in this event and possibly all 3. It would be a great starting point for Coach Pitino if he could grab the nations attention by winning this tourny.
 

Can someone explain to me the point of those opening round games and 4 extra teams that play each other in a mini tourney in SC?
 



Great for PR. Love being able to point to a game like this early in the season to get hyped for.
 

Thank god we fired Tubby. Can you imagine going up against Syracuse's 2-3 defense with Tubby's zone offense (or lack there of)?
 

JimmyJamesMD said:
Can someone explain to me the point of those opening round games and 4 extra teams that play each other in a mini tourney in SC?
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Teams are allowed to play up to 4 games as part of an exempt tournament. Playing the opening-round games allows the teams going to Maui to get that 4th game, while at the same time allowing the 4 "Maui on Mainland" teams to play 3-4 games as part of the Maui.
 




MadtownGopher said:
Thank god we fired Tubby. Can you imagine going up against Syracuse's 2-3 defense with Tubby's zone offense (or lack there of)?
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That was my first thought too. It will be a very tough game, but Pitino should give us a much better chance than Tubby would have.
 

Here is the press release from the U:

Minnesota to Face Syracuse in EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Opener
The University of Minnesota men's basketball team will open the Championship Round of the 2013 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational against Syracuse University, tournament directors announced today. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 25, from the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui.

The Gophers will play host to Coastal Carolina on Monday, Nov. 19 at Williams Arena in their true opener of the invitational. Louisiana, Oakland and St. Francis Brooklyn are the other Mainland teams taking part in the event. After the opening games, the Mainland teams will travel to Conway, S.C. to compete in the Regional Games at Coastal Carolina from Nov. 23-24.

The Arkansas Razorbacks and California Bears will play in the Championship Round opener at 2:00 p.m., followed by Minnesota vs. Syracuse, Chaminade vs. Baylor at 8:30 p.m. and Dayton vs. Gonzaga at 11:00 p.m. All times Central.

The entire EA SPORTS Maui Invitational will be televised live on the ESPN family of networks. The Minnesota/Syracuse matchup is scheduled to appear on ESPN2. Games will also be broadcast live on the WatchESPN mobile app and WatchESPN.com.

Minnesota and Syracuse will be meeting for just the second time in each school’s history, but the first time since the Gophers defeated the Orange, 82-75, in the 1990 Sweet 16. Minnesota went 2-1 in its only other appearance in Maui (1991), with an opening-round loss to Arkansas and wins over Providence and Arizona State.

The Gophers have a combined record of 74-42 in in-season tournaments, dating back to the Chicago District Olympic Tournament during the 1935-36 season. Minnesota is 13-5 in the last six seasons during in-season tournament play, including wins over Memphis and Stanford last season at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Gophers lost to Duke in the Atlantis opener.

Minnesota returns its top two scorers from a team that finished the 2012-13 season 21-13 overall, including a win over UCLA in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory over the Bruins was the first NCAA win for the program since defeating Syracuse in 1990 (vacated games not included).

The 2013-14 Gophers will be under the tutelage of first-year head coach Richard Pitino. Pitino comes to Gold Country after spending one season at the helm of the Florida International University (FIU) basketball program. Prior to his arrival in South Florida, FIU had not had a winning season since 1999-2000 and in the three seasons before his hiring posted a combined record of 26-65.

In just one season, Pitino led the program to 18 wins, the fourth-most in program history, and its first appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game. FIU finished with 11 conference wins on the season, the most by a Panther team since joining the Sun Belt Conference.

-UM-
 

"The Minnesota/Syracuse matchup is scheduled to appear on ESPN2."

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

even if we lose i think we will still get newton/whitehead, they said they will commit before their high school seasons
 

Awesome! Maybe the officials that set this up saw the gopher/cuse forum bantering. Huge!
 

MinneStoa said:
That was my first thought too. It will be a very tough game, but Pitino should give us a much better chance than Tubby would have.
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Whatever one's opinions are of Tubby, not sure it's fair to criticize the performance of his squads in November & December vs. some pretty decent competition. Wins over Louisville, Butler, North Carolina, West Virginia, Memphis, Stanford, Florida State. ... none of which were played in Williams Arena.

I'll listen to frustrations with our overall (regular season) Big Ten record under Tubby, but Pitino would do well to match Tubby's success in these exempt tourneys/neutral-siters that we play in every year.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Whatever one's opinions are of Tubby, not sure it's fair to criticize the performance of his squads in November & December vs. some pretty decent competition. Wins over Louisville, Butler, North Carolina, West Virginia, Memphis, Stanford, Florida State. ... none of which were played in Williams Arena.

I'll listen to frustrations with our overall (regular season) Big Ten record under Tubby and his unwillingness/inability to schedule a decent home game once every blue moon, but Pitino would do well to match Tubby's success in these exempt tourneys/neutral-siters that we play in every year.
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Your are missing the point entirely. Tubby had absolutely no answer to the 2-3 defense. Whether it was Northwestern or an elite program, we could not score against the 2-3, period. Syracuse runs the best 2-3 in the country, so I think Pitino will help us overcome it more than Tubby would have.
 

How are Arkansas and Cal supposed to do this year?
 

Cal probably similar to the Gophers, should be in the mix for a NCAA bid. Return 4 of 5 starters, but the one starter was a NBA draft pick (Crabbe).

Would put Arkansas a notch below both the Gophers and Cal. Have been a disappointment under Mike Anderson, but it'd be a tough game.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Your are missing the point entirely. Tubby had absolutely no answer to the 2-3 defense. Whether it was Northwestern or an elite program, we could not score against the 2-3, period. Syracuse runs the best 2-3 in the country, so I think Pitino will help us overcome it more than Tubby would have.
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Pollyanna, you are missing the point entirely. IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON.
 

MadtownGopher said:
Your are missing the point entirely. Tubby had absolutely no answer to the 2-3 defense. Whether it was Northwestern or an elite program, we could not score against the 2-3, period. Syracuse runs the best 2-3 in the country, so I think Pitino will help us overcome it more than Tubby would have.
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Northwestern's 1-3-1 certainly gave us headaches.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Whatever one's opinions are of Tubby, not sure it's fair to criticize the performance of his squads in November & December vs. some pretty decent competition. Wins over Louisville, Butler, North Carolina, West Virginia, Memphis, Stanford, Florida State. ... none of which were played in Williams Arena.

I'll listen to frustrations with our overall (regular season) Big Ten record under Tubby, but Pitino would do well to match Tubby's success in these exempt tourneys/neutral-siters that we play in every year.
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+1
 

afurry91 said:
Wow after the scuffle us fans have had with Syracuse a few weeks ago this is a welcome challenge. May the winner get Newton/Whitehead
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Whoa, I'm excited for Syracuse too, but I wouldn't put the prized package deal on the line if that were the deal. Remember, they made the Final Four last year and return great players. Although I know the winner of the game doesn't the pair. That's just not how it works in recruiting.

But hopefully like die hard gopher said, we will have the package duo on board to root on the team in the opening round!
 

GameDay said:
Whoa, I'm excited for Syracuse too, but I wouldn't the prized package deal on the line if that were the deal. Remember, they made the Final Four last year and return great players.

But hopefully like die hard gopher said, we will have the package duo on board to root on the team in the opening round!
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I highly doubt if it will have any impact. Whitehead has said he thinks he'll commit by September anyways. You're right though, I hope it doesn't matter at all and we already have them committed, because this will be a tough game.
 


SelectionSunday said:
Teams are allowed to play up to 4 games as part of an exempt tournament. Playing the opening-round games allows the teams going to Maui to get that 4th game, while at the same time allowing the 4 "Maui on Mainland" teams to play 3-4 games as part of the Maui.
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SS, as always, thanks. That makes perfect sense now. I wonder if that rule is in place for the preseason NIT
 

I was really hoping for Arkansas or California, but it would be awesome if we could knock off the favorites right off the bat...
 

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