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The matchups for the preseason NIT have been set, according to Jon Rothstein. Tennessee will face Louisville and Kansas will take on Marquette.
Kansas will face Marquette and Tennessee will play Louisville in the first round of the Preseason NIT at the Barclays Center, per a source.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 9, 2018
The four-team tournament will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The first games will take place on Wednesday, November 21st, while the second game will be played on Friday, November 23rd.
Tennessee will have to beat a rebuilding Louisville team for a shot to play Kansas, assuming they can get past Marquette. Louisville’s new head coach is Chris Mack, who kept the Xavier program rolling over the last decade following Thad Matta and Sean Miller. The Cardinals were forced to move on from Rick Pitino before last season following a federal investigation which discovered fraud and bribes within the program.
David Padgett served as the interim head coach last season, guiding Louisville to a 22-14 record.
Tennessee capitalized on Thanksgiving week last season, taking down Purdue and N.C. State while hanging tough against the eventual national champion Villanova Wildcats. We’ll see if they can do the same this year and get that resume built early on.