Bracket Unveiled for the Inaugural Myrtle Beach Invitational


ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, has revealed the bracket for the inaugural Myrtle Beach Invitational on November 15, 16 & 18 at the HTC Center in Conway, SC.

The top half of the bracket will feature St. Joseph’s vs. Wake Forest and UCF vs. Cal State Fullerton. Wake Forest is expected to have a bounce back year behind its strong recruiting class, ranked 17th overall in the ESPN rankings; while St. Joseph’s has earned a postseason bid in four of the past seven seasons.  Cal State Fullerton is appearing in its second consecutive ESPN Events early-season tournament (2017 Wooden Legacy). Cal State Fullerton will face a UCF squad expected to be one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Valparaiso will make its first appearance in an ESPN Event with a showdown against Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are coming off a 27-win season that included a deep run to the NIT semifinals.  Monmouth, a team that has won the regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title in two of the past three seasons, will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Mountaineers have earned an NCAA tournament bid in nine out of the last 11 seasons, including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2017 and 2018.

The bracket-format tournament will feature 12 games over three days. The teams compete once per day, regardless of results. The two remaining undefeated teams will face off in the championship game on Sunday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m. that will air on ESPN2.

Date Time (ET) Matchup Network
Thu, Nov 15 11:30 a.m. St. Joseph’s vs. Wake Forest ESPNU
  1:30 p.m. UCF vs. Cal State Fullerton ESPN3
  5 p.m. Valparaiso vs. Western Kentucky ESPNU
  7 p.m. Monmouth vs. West Virginia ESPNU
Fri, Nov 16 11 a.m. Consolation #1 ESPN2 or ESPNU
  1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. Semifinal #1 ESPN2 or ESPNU
  6:30 p.m. Consolation #2 ESPN3
  9 p.m. Semifinal #2 ESPNU
Sun, Nov 18 10:30 a.m. 5th Place Game ESPNU
  12:30 p.m. 7th Place Game ESPN3
  4 p.m. 3rd Place Game ESPNU
  6:30 p.m. Championship ESPN2

 

Travel packages for the Myrtle Beach Invitational are available now. Packages include discounted hotel rates and the opportunity to purchase all-session game tickets prior to the public on-sale. To purchase a travel package through Anthony Travel visit https://www.anthonytravel.com/myrtle-beach/ or call 888-632-6951.

All-session tickets will go on-sale to the public on August 15.