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Battle 4 Atlantis could include the Gonzaga vs. Arizona championship game

Battle 4 Atlantis could include the Gonzaga vs. Arizona championship game

College Basketball has undergone massive changes in the last half decade, permanently altering the sport. Conference realignment, the transfer portal, and NIL have forever changed college hoops, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some constants.

Feast week – a nickname given to the week leading up to Thanksgiving, where many marquee basketball tournaments take place – is one of those constants. The Maui Invitational, Battle 4 Atlantis, ESPN Events Invitational, and many others are staples of the late November sports calendar, often pitting the best teams in college basketball against each other for the first big non-conference tests of the season.

While the future of these multi-team events (MTEs) is a bit in question with bloated conference schedules limiting non-con opportunities, this year still boasts very competitive fields at both Maui and Atlantis – and should once again provide high quality basketball all week long

The Battle 4 Atlantis features eight quality programs, even with Creighton making a last minute decision to back out of the event in favor of a new Las Vegas-area invitational.

However, the main storyline for Atlantis is pretty simple: the championship is set up to potentially pit Gonzaga against Arizona – not only an epic battle between two west coast powerhouses, but a matchup between Mark Few and Tommy Lloyd, who served as Few’s assistant for 20 years in Spokane.

Below is a look at each of the eight teams in the field, ranked in order of projected finish with the bracket officially getting revealed on Wednesday:

James Snook-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 27-8

conference: WCC

First Round Game: West Virginia

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 27-9

conference: Big 12

First Round Game: Davidson

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 19-14

conference: Big Ten

First Round Game: Louisville

Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 21-14

conference: Big East

First Round Game: Oklahoma

Syndication: The Courier-Journal

2023-24 Record: 8-24

conference: acc

First Round Game: Indian

Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 20-12

conference: dry

First Round Game: Providence

William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

2023-24 Record: 9-23

conference: Big 12

First Round Game: Gonzaga

Syndication: Journal-Courier

2023-24 Record: 15-17

conference: A-10

First Round Game: Arizona