Kansas basketball: Guide to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational

Kansas basketball is off to Hawaii to participate in the amazingly named Maui Jim Maui Invitational (we’re just going to call it the “Maui Invitational”). Here’s everything you need to know including what time the Jayhawks play, how to watch, and the bracket.

Kansas basketball won the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in 2015, that last time the Jayhawks appeared in the tournament.

This year, the marquee anticipated matchup would feature Michigan State and Kansas, so long as both teams make it through their respective sides of the bracket.

Making it to the final and beating the Spartans would be huge for Kansas basketball in more ways than one.

First, it’d be a great win to add to the Jayhawks’ resume, considering Michigan State is believed to be one of the top five teams in the nation. Not only that, but it could prove that Kansas’ loss to Duke was just a fluke game since Kansas turned the ball over a whopping 28 times.

Here are the first four games of the tournament, including time (central) and channel:

Kansas will take on the Chaminade Silverswords in the first round. Chaminade plays in the Pacific West Conference where they’re currently 2-0 against Alaska and Alaska Anchorage. If Kansas somehow lost to Chaminade, it’d be the equivalent of Michigan losing to Appalachian State back in 2007.

Here are the next two games on the winner side of the bracket, once again, all times are central:

In all likelihood, Kansas will take on either UCLA or BYU late on Tuesday night, with the winner advancing to the championship. Statistic website kenpom.com currently predicts the game to be within two points and gives a slight advantage to BYU.

Finally, the championship game will be played on Wednesday the 27th at 4:00 PM central time, and be broadcast on ESPN. What could be better than a Kansas win, and then Thanksgiving the very next day?

This tournament is a great opportunity for Kansas basketball. They’ll have a chance to play either UCLA or BYU and then maybe even Michigan State. Once the Jayhawks come home, they’ll face off against a ranked Colorado, and then Villanova a couple of weeks later.

With the Jayhawks are coming into the toughest part of their non-conference schedule, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Jayhawks fare, and it should be telling for the rest of the season.