My preseason rankings can be found in the November 14^th edition of ESPN the magazine.  But what good are predicted Pythagorean rankings if you do not use them to predict games?  Time to use my tempo free season predictions to predict the early season tournaments.*  I also include links to printable brackets for these tournaments. Don’t wait until March to fill out a bracket, print these out today!

Preseason NIT – Nov 14, 15, 16, 23, and 25

Oklahoma St. has a chance to win the NIT, but Oral Roberts is one of the most dangerous small conference teams in the nation this year, and they have a very good chance to upset Oklahoma St. in the second round. Meanwhile Virginia Tech and George Mason really is a toss-up in the second round of that pod. Syracuse’s four-team pod is far less compelling. The overall strength of the Orange combined with their easy path makes them the prohibitive favorites in the NIT.

Coaches vs Cancer – Nov 17 and 18

Arizona lost an exhibition game this year, and I’ve already spent a lot of words on why I think Texas A&M and Mississippi St. are over-rated. But if I am going to be down on all three teams, I guess that makes this prediction seem pretty equitable. Arizona is the favorite, but not the only team that can win this four-team bracket.

Puerto Rico Tipoff – Nov 17, 18, and 20

Other than Maui, this might be the best preseason tournament in the country this year. If Alabama, Purdue, Temple, and Wichita St. win in round one, the semifinals will be extremely balanced. But there is no guarantee those top four teams will advance. Maryland, Iona, and Colorado may not be good bets to win three games in three days, but they can all pull an upset.

Charleston Classic – Nov 17, 18, and 20

Seton Hall is not that much worse than Northwestern, but Seton Hall’s half of the bracket is much tougher.

Paradise Jam – Nov 18, 19, 20 and 21

Drexel not only has a chance to win the CAA this year, they have a chance to win the Paradise Jam too. But this is Marquette’s event to lose.

Legends Classic – Nov 19 and 21

Head-to-head, Vanderbilt would and should be favored against Texas. But with all apologies to OSU’s Jared Cunningham, Vanderbilt draws a much tougher first round opponent in NC State.

Hall of Fame Tipoff – Nov 19 and 21

Kentucky has a young team, and these odds more closely reflect the odds in March than in November. But on paper, none of these teams comes close to matching the Wildcats.

CBE Classic – Nov 21 and 22

This would have been a much more exciting tournament last year. But with Georgia losing a pair of players to the NBA, and Missouri’s Laurence Bower’s injured, you get these odds. I’ve gone on the record that I think the Pac-12 will still struggle this year.  But if the conference wants to prove me wrong, California can start by winning this event.

Maui Invitational – Nov 21, 22, and 23

Memphis vs Michigan is an outstanding first round match-up in the Maui Invitational. Both teams return a ton of talent, but Michigan had better margin-of-victory numbers last year, and I see them as a slight favorite. (I don’t think people acknowledge how much Joe Jackson struggled last year. While he was great in the CUSA tournament, he was a huge disappointment for much of the season. I was much more impressed with how Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to run John Beilein’s precision offense and become an efficient scorer.) But the bottom line is this: Don’t bet against Duke in November. Not only is Duke the best team, they also get the weakest D1 team in the bracket, Tennessee, in the first round.

Cancun Challenge – Nov 22 and 23

This is another mini-tournament that would have looked a lot better last year. Remember when Richmond was making an NCAA tournament run and Illinois had all those seniors? I loved what Mike Rice was able to do at Rutgers last season, but Kadeem Jack is injured and Rutgers lost some key seniors too. Illinois has the best recruiting class, so that makes them the favorites.

Great Alaska Shootout – Nov 23, 24, 25, and 26

I guess this tournament is a nice chance for San Francisco or New Mexico St. to show something. But for those of us that remember the glory days of the Great Alaska Shootout, this field is sad.

Battle 4 Atlantis – Nov 24, 25, and 26

The country may be rooting for Harvard after the Crimson narrowly missed the NCAA tournament last year. I see Harvard beating Utah in the first round, but I think Harvard will have a hard time beating Florida St. in the semifinals. UConn has won 11 tournament games in a row, and they are the clear favorite.

76 Classic – Nov 24, 25, and 27

New Mexico has a better team than Villanova, but Villanova draws UC Riverside in the first round, and that looks like a first round bye. St. Louis has had to play a ton of freshmen the last two years, so perhaps it is fitting they play such a young Boston College team in the first round of this event.

Old Spice Classic – Nov 24, 25, and 27

A Dayton vs Indiana St. final is a legitimate possibility here. I think the bigger question is which BCS team finishes 0-3.

Chicago Invitational Challenge – Nov 25 and 26

Bradley, Nevada, and BYU have all had their NCAA moments in recent years, but Wisconsin is the best team in this four-team bracket.

Las Vegas Invitational – Nov 25 and 26

Dave Rice has said that he wants to reinstate the run-and-gun mentality at UNLV. But will he be push the tempo against North Carolina if the teams meet in the title game of this event?

Diamond Head Classic – Dec 22, 23, 25

Very sneaky move by Hawaii to schedule the weakest BCS team (Auburn) as their personal first round opponent.

*These odds probably give the favorites too high a probability of winning.  The problem is that there are two sources of uncertainty.  The first source is the random variation when teams face each other.  The second is the noise related to the fact that we do not have an accurate read on the teams yet.  These odds are only accurate if you believe my preseason rankings are 100% accurate.  So if your team only has a 10% chance to win, don’t worry.  Maybe they are better than I think.