Get ready to stuff your face with turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving while enjoying some Penn State men’s basketball. Penn State will play on Thanksgiving as they participate in the first game of the ESPN Events Invitational.
Penn Stae men’s basketball will open the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando with an NCAA Tournament rematch with Texas A&M this November. The Nittany Lions and Aggies were paired up in the opening game of this year’s ESPN Events Invitational scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 23. The winner of the game will face the winner of a matchup between Butler and Florida Atlantic. Penn State also beat Butler last season. Florida Atlantic made a surprise run to the Final Four last season.
New Penn State men’s basketball head coach Mike Rhoades could potentially face his former team, VCU. VCU will face Iowa State in another first-round matchup in the tournament. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Virginia Tech vs. Boise State matchup scheduled to wrap up the first day of the tournament.
First-round games will be played on Thanksgiving, Nov. 23. Second-round games will take place on Friday, Nov. 24 with a winners bracket and a consolation bracket to ensure every team plays at least two games. After an off day on Saturday, every team will play in a third game on Sunday, Nov. 26. The championship game will be scheduled to tip at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Penn State topped Texas A&M in the first-round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in March. Andrew Funk’s 27 points and hot three-point shooting lifted Penn State to an easy win over the Aggiues, 76-59, for Penn State’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2001. Penn State’s tournament run came to an end in the next round with a loss to Texas.
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