Alabama Basketball Learns Opening Round Opponent for ESPN Events Invitational

Another piece of the scheduling puzzle has fallen into place for Alabama basketball, and it will be against a recent postseason opponent.

The Crimson Tide will take on the Iona Gaels in the opening round of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla. on Nov. 25. Alabama and Iona met in the round of 64 in the 2021 NCAA tournament where the No. 2 seed Crimson Tide came out on top with the 68-55 victory.

In his first year as the Iona head coach, Rick Pitino took the Gaels to the NCAA tournament as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champions.

Belmont, Dayton, Drake, Kansas, Miami (Fla.) and North Texas are the other six teams as part of the Thanksgiving weekend tournament field. Belmont and Drake are on Alabama's side of the bracket while Dayton and Miami will play in the opening round along with Kansas versus North Texas.

Alongside the Tide and Gaels, Drake, Iona and Kansas were all part of the 2021 NCAA tournament with Alabama being the only team out of those five to reach the Sweet 16.

Alabama has been scheduled to play in places like Maui, Atlantis, Brooklyn and Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week over the last few seasons and is making the return trip to the ESPN Events Invitational for the first time since 2015 where they went 2-1 with wins over Wichita State and Notre Dame.

Other known non-conference dates set for Alabama include the defending national champion Baylor Bears coming into Tuscaloosa on Jan. 29 as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, as well as the Tide traveling out to Seattle to take on the 2021 runners-up Gonzaga on Dec. 4.