Note: Graphics and tables may not appear optimally when viewing on a mobile device.

All field graphics by Chris Dobbertean using logos from Sportslogos.net.

TV/streaming info from the event websites and MattSarzSports.com. All times are Eastern.

Tip Time Schedule

Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Finals

3rd/4th Place: Oklahoma Sooners (4-1) vs. Dayton Flyers (4-1), 11:30 a.m. (ESPN2)
Championship: Wisconsin Badgers (5-0) vs. Virginia Cavaliers (5-0), approx. 2 p.m. (ESPN)
7th/8th Place: Stanford Cardinal (2-3) vs. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (3-3), 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
5th/6th Place: Florida Gators (3-2) vs. Butler Bulldogs (4-1), approx. 9:30 p.m. (ESPNU)

Okay, the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals weren’t all bad. The first half of game one started out close. But then Wisconsin used a big second half to roll past Oklahoma, 78-58, in the first game of the day in the Bahamas.

While Ethan Happ had a 14-point, 12-board double-double for the Badgers, Kobe King also scored 14, while D’Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 25 on 8 of 13 shooting, with seven threes on eight attempts. Christian James led the Sooners with 18.

In the second semifinal, Dayton gave Virginia a better contest than expected, but the Cavaliers nevertheless prevailed, 66-59. De’Andre Hunter had 23 to lead Tony Bennett’s squad to the title game. Hopefully, it will be far more entertaining than last season’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge matchup, a 49-37 slugfest won by UVa in Charlottesville or the 48-38 Badger road win of four seasons’ prior.

In the consolation bracket, Florida dominated Stanford, 72-49, so much so that the broadcast rather quickly transformed into an in-depth discussion of marine mammalian biology.

Deaundre Ballard led Florida with a career-high 19 on a night when Jalen Hudson didn’t start and played just seven minutes.

The Gators will meet Butler—who they’re already scheduled to host in Gainesville on December 29th—in the fifth-place game following the Bulldogs blowout (surprising, I know) 84-53 win over MIddle Tennessee. Sean McDermott scored 21 for Butler, on 7-11 shooting from beyond the arc, while Paul Jorgensen matched him with 21 of his own.

AdvoCare Invitational Semifinals

Championship Bracket

Villanova Wildcats (3-2) vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-1), 11:30 a.m. (ESPN)
LSU Tigers (5-0) vs. Florida State Seminoles (4-0), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Consolation Bracket

Memphis Tigers (2-2) vs. Canisius Golden Griffins (1-3), approx. 2 p.m. (ESPN3)
College of Charleston Cougars (3-2) vs. UAB Blazers (3-1), approx. 7 p.m. (ESPN3)

Downloadable bracket

The semifinals in Lake Buena Vista are comprised of four of the five Power 7 teams in the field, and none of the contests were close.

2018 national champ Villanova got its AdvoCare Invitational campaign off to a needed strong start by blasting Canisius, 83-56. Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree had his first career double-double for the Wildcats, 15 points and 13 rebounds. Nova will face Oklahoma State, easy 84-64 winners over Memphis, in Friday morning’s opening semifinal at Walt Disney World. Five Cowboys scored 10 or more in a balanced performance, with Cameron McGriff picking up 11 and 12 boards and Yor Anei scoring 12.

LSU opened the evening session by easing past College of Charleston, 67-55. Tremont Waters served as the Tigers’ holiday caterer, dishing out 11 assists, while Naz Reid provided the dessert in the form of an emphatic second half dunk.

The Tigers will take on a dangerous Florida State squad in the second semifinal, as the Seminoles dominated UAB, 81-63. While Terance led FSU with 17, they wouldn’t have been quite as successful had Christ Koumadje (12 points, 9 boards) not controlled the interior so effectively.

Emerald Coast Classic Semifinals

Visitors’ Bracket Semifinals

Nicholls State Colonels (2-4) vs. N.C. Central Eagles (1-4), 12 p.m. (EmeraldCoastTV.com)
Southern Jaguars (0-4) vs. Western Michigan Broncos (3-2), approx. 2:30 p.m. (EmeraldCoastTV.com)

Hosts’ Bracket Semifinals

George Mason Patriots (2-3) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (3-1), 7 p.m. (CBSSN)
Baylor Bears (3-1) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (2-1), approx. 9:30 p.m. (CBSSN)

This is the final #HoopsFeast event to tip off. I’m not counting next week’s Belfast Basketball Classic or the handful of Christmas week events, since they’ll serve as handy leftovers that fall out of the Thanksgiving window.

2014 finalists Ole Miss and Cincinnati are both playing in their second Emerald Coast Classic, and while a Rebel team coached by Andy Kennedy knocked off Mick Cronin’s Bearcats to claim the first-ever championship in Niceville, don’t expect a repeat by Kermit Davis’ first Mississippi squad. Not only are the Bearcats the favorite to walk away with the hardware this season, the Rebels might struggle to make it to the championship game. That’s because 2018 NIT qualifier Baylor will be a challenging semifinal matchup, particularly when compared to the struggling GMU squad Cincy will meet. And that’s true even after the Bears dropped their opener to Texas Southern. Scott Drew’s squad has won all three of its subsequent games, two comfortably, though Ole Miss will be a substantial step up in competition.

In the visitors’ bracket, both 2014 champ N.C. Central and participant Southern, who went 0-2 in the Florida Panhandle, return. The Eagles defeated Northern Arizona by a 40-36 score in that first lower-division final, so hopefully they packed a little more offense this time around. While none of the four visiting squads managed to win an on-campus game, N.C. Central played George Mason close for the majority of its 15-point loss on Tuesday.

Wooden Legacy Semifinals

Championship Bracket

Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes (4-0) vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (2-1), 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Seton Hall Pirates (2-2) vs. Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (4-1), approx. 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Consolation Bracket

La Salle Explorers (0-5) vs. Northwestern Wildcats (3-1), approx. 4:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Grand Canyon Antelopes (3-2) vs. Utah Utes (2-2), 9 p.m. (ESPN3)

Downloadable bracket

While the power conferences dominated at the AdvoCare, they weren’t so fortunate at its West Coast counterpart.

In an early window full of blowouts, Miami had the biggest one, as the Hurricanes simply obliterated winless La Salle, 85-49. Five Canes cracked double-figures in the victory, led by Chris Lykes with 18 and Dejan Vasiljevic with 15. A couple of hours later, Fresno State added to the mountain of non-competitive games by embarrassing Northwestern, 78-59.

The first game of the evening session did not disappoint, on the other hand, as Seton Hall slipped past a gutsy Grand Canyon squad, 82-75. The Pirates got 40 from Myles Powell, and they needed just about all of them to send the Antelopes to the consolation bracket. While the ‘Lopes were unable to join Fresno State as a mid-major victor, Hawai’i was. The Rainbow Warriors, playing in the familiar surroundings of a Big West rival’s gym, stunned Utah 90-79, thanks in no small part to a career-high 24 from Brocke Stepeau.

Both Fresno State and Hawai’i will chances to pick up consecutive power conference wins today.

Las Vegas Holiday Invitational Visitors Semifinals

Cal Baptist Lancers (2-2) vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions (0-4), 2 p.m. (no TV/streaming)
Howard Bison (4-1) at Little Rock Trojans (2-2), approx. 4:30 p.m. (Little Rock stream)

While the four host schools will complete their bracket tonight, the four visitors will play their semifinals today at the Stephens Center on Little Rock’s campus. These four teams have combined for just three Division I victories and just one of those came in the on-campus rounds—Howard’s win at UMass, the Bison’s lone positive result against a D1 foe.

Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational Finals

Consolation: North Carolina Tar Heels (5-1) vs. UCLA Bruins (4-1), 4 p.m. (Fox)
Championship: Texas Longhorns (5-0) vs. Michigan State Spartans (4-1), approx. 6:30 p.m. (Fox)

On a day full of underwhelming hoops, the first Las Vegas Invitational semifinal was a bountiful Thanksgiving spread for famished fans. Texas held off North Carolina in a 92-89 thriller that looked like it was going to be a Tar Heel blowout early on. But Shaka Smart’s Longhorns dug themselves out of an early 13-point deficit and picked up a handy victory for their profile.

Tar Heel freshman phenom Coby White scored a game-high 33.

And while the Longhorns’ Kerwin Roach II responded with 32, he would have earned many more were style points a thing.

Game two didn’t live up to the lofty expectations the first semi set, thanks to Michigan State’s defense, which suffocated UCLA in an 87-67 rout that was over almost as soon as it started. Four Spartans hit double figures, led by Cassius Winston’s 19.

If Sparty plays at that level defensively today, it could be a long afternoon for Texas in the final.

Fort Myers Tip-Off Visitors’ Semifinals

Grambling State Tigers (2-2) at Niagara Purple Eagles (2-1), 4 p.m. (Niagara stream)
St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (2-2) vs. IUPUI Jaguars (2-2), 7 p.m. (Niagara stream)

I’m originally from Niagara Falls, N.Y., and since I grew up in Florida, I can tell you that Niagara’s campus is basically the exact opposite November environment than the Southwest Florida coast where the four host teams played earlier this week.

Not one, but two of the teams in this bracket picked up wins in the on-campus round. Niagara won at Wyoming, who finished third in Fort Myers, while IUPUI defeated champion Boston College. However, just one of the four combined victories Grambling and St. Francis have picked up came against Division I opposition (the Terriers’ over Lafayette).

NIT Season Tip-Off Finals

Consolation: Louisville Cardinals (3-1) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (3-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Championship: Tennessee Volunteers (4-0) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (4-0), approx. 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Downloadable bracket

For a time on Wednesday afternoon, the Louisville-Tennessee NIT semifinal was a little closer and slightly more exciting than the anticipated Maui final between Duke and Gonzaga. But then the Volunteers pulled away for a 92-81 victory, paced by 24 points and 10 boards from Grant Williams and 20 and 6 from Admiral Schofield.

Kansas started slowly in game two, trailing Marquette 47-38 at the half. Then the Golden Eagles disappeared for a significant portion of the second half.

While Marquette eventually did score again, Kansas had too much of what you’ll see below, and the Jayhawks ended up cruising to a titanic Friday final against Tennessee, 77-68.

Given the amount of talent the Vols have, the Jayhawks would be well advised to start playing from the jump tonight.

Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational Finals

Consolation: UMass Minutemen (4-2) vs. Nevada Wolf Pack (5-0), 10 p.m. (FS1)
Championship: Southern Illinois Salukis (2-3) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-1), approx. 12:30 a.m. 11/24 (FS1)

UMass was no match for SIU in game one, holding the Salukis to only 20 first-half points en route to an 84-62 win. Nevada, meanwhile, had three 20-point scorers (Jordan Caroline with 25, Caleb Martin with 21, and Jazz Johnson with 20) in its high-octane 96-86 triumph over Tulsa.

The Wolf Pack have to like their chances against the Minutemen in a championship game that will tip in the early hours of Thanksgiving Saturday on the East Coast.

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