Included in the same bracket as Kansas are UCLA and UNLV.
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The winners of the top and bottom two games will meet in the semifinals, and the Maui championship will be played, as always, on the eve of Thanksgiving (Nov. 25).
The Maui Invitational, which will be held from November 23-25, should provide a strong early test for Vanderbilt.
Wake Forest is making its first appearance in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
The Jayhawks are 2-0 versus the Silverswords, having defeated them 89-62 in the 1987 Maui Invitational quarterfinals and in 2006, 102-54.
Self will be in the same field as his longtime assistant and Jayhawk legend, Danny Manning, but Self was none too sad to see Wake Forest and its head coach on the other side of the bracket.
They were trying to set up a championship clash between Kansas and Indiana when they placed the two blue bloods on opposite sides of the draw.
The Maui Invitational has a perennially loaded field, and this year, Vanderbilt will get to boost its NCAA Tournament hopes with a strong showing in that tournament.
The opposite side of the bracket has Preseason Top 20, Indiana, St. John’s and Vanderbilt.
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The tournament will run through November 25th, with four games scheduled for each day. With head coach Steve Alford entering his third year at UCLA (his 25th year as a collegiate head coach), the Bruins will return three of their five starters from one year ago and four of last season’s top six scorers. The Jayhawks bring back a veteran team led by point guard Frank Mason Jr. and senior power forward Perry Ellis.
