Penn State Vs. VCU at Thanksgiving? A Tempting Matchup Awaits
Penn State and VCU will spend Thanksgiving in Florida, where coach Mike Rhoades' current and former teams would merit an intriguing tournament matchup.
ESPN on Thursday announced the eight-team field for the 2023 ESPN Events Invitational basketball tournament at Walt Disney World. The tournament, scheduled for Nov. 23-26, features six NCAA Tournament teams, including two that Rhoades knows quite well: Penn State, Rhoades' current team, and VCU, which Rhoades coached for the past six seasons. Joining them are Florida Atlantic, fresh off its Final Four appearance, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Boise State, Virginia Tech and Butler.
The ESPN Events Invitational will be held at ESPN Wide World of Sports at Walt Disney World. ESPN said the tournament bracket will be announced this summer. Of course, there's an opportunity to pair Penn State and VCU for what would be an intriguing matchup.
Rhoades arrived at Penn State in March after spending six seasons as head coach at VCU. He took the Rams to three NCAA Tournaments, including an appearance in 2023. Rhoades brought six staff members, including associate head coach Jamal Brunt and assistant coach Jimmy Martelli, to Penn State from VCU. Rhoades also signed former VCU players Ace Baldwin, Jr. and Nick Kern, Jr. from the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The tournament also could foster a rematch between Penn State and Texas A&M, which met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Lions defeated Texas A&M for their first tournament victory since 2001. Penn State also played Butler and Virginia Tech during the 2022-23 regular season, defeating Butler and falling to Virginia Tech.
The tournament is the first element of Penn State's 2023-24 men's basketball schedule to be released. The Big Ten recently announced conference opponents for the upcoming season. Penn State will play home-and-home series against Indiana, Michigan State and Maryland, among others, and will host Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.
The ESPN Events Invitational is among six men's college basketball tournaments owned and operated by ESPN.
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