One of the best parts of the NCAA Tournament is watching games on Thursday and Friday afternoon. Watching basketball when most people should be working is one of life’s simple pleasures. Truthfully, I am in favor of any sporting event that happens on a weekday. Be it the World Cup, a major golf tournament, or the Olympics, I enjoy them all. When something good is happening during a weekday, it has to be extra special to draw our attention.

There is something about the feeling you had as a child on the last day of school. It was the feeling of freedom, the release of expectations. Watching the tournament on a Thursday afternoon is a piece of that freedom, however fleeting.

Even if I cannot indulge in a three-month summer vacation from worries as an adult, I do enjoy planning my fleeting moments. And while there are no NCAA moments in July or August, there are plenty in November in December. The chance to see your team play three times in three days, while enjoying a tropical location is as good as it gets. 

Here is my summary of this year’s Holiday Tournaments and Exempt Events for the 2011-12 NCAA Basketball schedule:

BCS

Eight-Team

Big East

ACC

SEC

Big Ten

Big 12

Pac12

6

Maui

Georgetown

Duke

Tennessee

Michigan

Kansas

UCLA

5

Old Spice

DePaul

W. Forest

 

Minnesota

T. Tech

Ariz. St.

4

Charleston

Seton Hall

G. Tech

LSU

Northwest.

   

4

Puerto Rico

 

Maryland

Alabama

Purdue

 

Colorado

4

76 Classic

Villanova

B. College

   

Oklah.

Wash. St.

3

Paradise Jam

Marquette

Virginia

Ole Miss

     

3

Atlantis

UConn

Florida St.

     

Utah

3

Diamond Head

 

Clemson

Auburn

 

Kans. St.

 
               
 

Other

           

4

C vs Cancer

St. John's

 

Miss St.

 

TexA&M

Arizona

4

CBE

N. Dame

 

Georgia

 

Missouri

Cal

4

Legends

 

NC State

Vanderbilt

 

Texas

Oreg. St.

4

NIT

Syracuse

V. Tech

   

Okl. St.

Stanford

3

HoF Tip Off

USF

 

Kentucky

Penn St.

   

3

LV Invitational

 

N. Carolina

S. Carolina

   

USC

2

Cancun Chal

Rutgers

   

Illinois

   

2

LV Classic

W. Virginia

     

Baylor

 

2

South Padre

Providence

     

Iowa St.

 

1

Chicago IC

     

Wisconsin

   

1

Hoop Group

Pittsburgh

         
               
 

Home Events

           

2

Florida – OSU

   

Florida

Ohio St.

   

1

Indiana

     

Indiana

   

1

Cincinnati

Cincinnati

         

1

Iowa

     

Iowa

   

1

Michigan St.

     

Mich. St.

   

1

Washington

         

Wash.

1

Louisville

Louisville

         

1

Arkansas

   

Arkansas

     
               
 

No Event

 

Miami

 

Nebraska

 

Oregon

1) Obviously, the Maui invitational is the deepest field since it includes six BCS teams. But a strict count of BCS teams is a little misleading about the strength of various tournaments. There are five BCS teams playing at the Old Spice Classic and that event looks terrible on paper. DePaul is an annual Big East doormat; Wake Forest was by far the worst team in the ACC last season; Minnesota ended last season with a huge losing streak; Texas Tech fired its coach; and Arizona St. was another last place team. The Old Spice Classic may feature five BCS teams, but it is certainly not the most powerful field.

2) What is Oregon’s excuse for not announcing an exempt tournament yet? I understand that Nebraska is moving to the Big Ten and might have had other priorities this off-season. I understand that Miami (FL) had an unexpected coaching change, and may have had other priorities. But what is Oregon doing this off-season? I hate home round-robin events like the ones Louisville and Iowa are hosting. They are not tournaments, but glorified excuses to get one or two extra home games on the schedule. But if you don’t use the exemption, your team plays fewer games, and that is never fun. I hope Oregon still has something planned that the school has not announced yet.

3) Why is the Big Ten in so few real tournaments this year? I admit the Ohio St. vs Florida non-conference rematch will be nice. But it would be a lot more fun if it was part of a four-team tournament in some tropical location. I seriously dislike these exempt events where one team schedules a bunch of home games. Sure, Indiana vs Butler might be fun for Indiana fans, but if the final is in Bloomington, that’s a regular season game, not a tournament. Even the Cancun Challenge, where Illinois faces a possible upset from Richmond, lacks a full slate of BCS teams.

4) Are the ACC teams more aggressive in seeking out these tournaments, or do their fans travel better? The ACC is in every single eight-team tournament this year, from the Maui Classic to the Diamond Head Classic. The ACC would appear to be the best draw for neutral site non-conference games.

5) Err, scratch that, there is one eight-team tournament where you will not find an ACC team. No ACC team is participating in the Great Alaska Shootout. In fact, no BCS team is participating in the Great Alaska Shootout. A year after Steve Lavin scheduled an extra St. John’s trip to salute the tradition of the Alaska event, the event has once again failed to bring in any marquee teams.

Bonus Fact: Though not shown here, the MVC has placed nine of its 10 teams in exempt tournaments this off-season. The MVC has had a few down years, but by winning games in these neutral site tournaments, the league often has great RPI numbers. Other high profile leagues like the A10 and MWC have far fewer teams participating in exempt events this year.

Once again, I want to thank Chris Dobbertean who keeps and incredible list of these early season exempt events here.  I should also mention that on the eve of Nebraska formally joining the Big Ten on Friday, there is plenty of smaller conference realignment this week too. In case you missed it, Chris Dobbertean posted a nice summary here and here. (I am glad someone is keeping track of how the Summit League replaced Centenary, as well as the continuing saga of Cal State Bakersfield.)