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The EA SPORTS Maui Invitational is the nation's premier early-season college basketball tournament that takes place Thanksgiving Week in November each year. It takes place in Lahaina, Hawaii at the Lahaina Civic Center on the island of Maui. It is hosted by Chaminade University of Honolulu (which is also a yearly participant). EA SPORTS has served as the title sponsor since 2001. The tournament, broadcast by ESPN, began in 1984 spurred by The Greatest Upset Never Seenand will be celebrating its 25th Annual Tournament in 2008.
The 2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Hosted by Chaminade University, will mark the tournament’s 25th year of launching the college basketball season. This year’s NCAA Tournament participants North Carolina, Texas, Notre Dame, Indiana, Oregon and St. Joseph’s, along with Alabama and host Chaminade, will vie for the coveted early-season crown Nov. 24-26 at Maui’s Lahaina Civic Center. The ESPN networks will again offer live television coverage of all 12 tournament games.
[edit] History
Most believe that the tournament began because of what is considered the greatest upset in the history of college basketball. Chaminade, then an NAIA school (now NCAA Division II), defeated (#1) Virginia which included one of the best players in college basketball history, Ralph Sampson, in Hawaii.
Shortly after the amazing upset, Virginia head coach Terry Holland congratulated Chaminade’s Athletic Director, Mike Vasconcellos, and suggested to him that he might consider beginning a Hawaii tournament at some point. Two years after that, the Maui Classic, today’s EA Sports Maui Invitational, had begun for the first time, with Chaminade reaching the finals and losing to Providence.
Today the tournament provides schools the rare opportunity to compete on a neutral court with the top basketball programs in the country. AP college basketball editor Jim O’Connell calls the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, "the best in-season tournament in the country – the standard by which all others are compared."
Of the eight teams which play in the Maui Invitational, generally there is one from each of the six major conferences (the Pac-10, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, ACC, and the SEC), one that is considered a good program in a mid-major conference (such as Conference USA or the Atlantic 10), and Chaminade.
[edit] Past Champions, Runners Up, and MVPs
| Year |
Winner |
Score |
Opponent |
Tournament MVP |
| 1984 |
Providence |
60-58 |
Chaminade |
Patrick Langlois, Chaminade |
| 1985 |
Michigan |
80-58 |
Kansas State |
Dell Curry, Virginia Tech |
| 1986 |
Vanderbilt |
87-71 |
New Mexico |
Will Perdue, Vanderbilt |
| 1987 |
Iowa |
97-74 |
Villanova |
Entire Iowa Team |
| 1988 |
Michigan |
91-81 |
Oklahoma |
Glen Rice, Michigan |
| 1989 |
Missouri |
80-73 |
North Carolina |
Doug Smith, Missouri |
| 1990 |
Syracuse |
77-74 |
Indiana |
Billy Owens, Syracuse |
| 1991 |
Michigan State |
86-61 |
Arkansas |
George Gilmore, Chaminade |
| 1992 |
Duke |
89-66 |
BYU |
Bobby Hurley, Duke
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, Memphis State |
| 1993 |
Kentucky |
93-92 |
Arizona |
Travis Ford, Kentucky |
| 1994 |
Arizona State |
97-90 |
Maryland |
Mario Bennett, Arizona State |
| 1995 |
Villanova |
77-75 |
North Carolina |
Kerry Kittles, Villanova |
| 1996 |
Kansas |
80-63 |
Virginia |
Raef LaFrentz, Kansas |
| 1997 |
Duke |
95-87 |
Arizona |
Steve Wojciechowski, Duke |
| 1998 |
Syracuse |
76-63 |
Indiana |
Jason Hart, Syracuse |
| 1999 |
North Carolina |
90-75 |
Purdue |
Joseph Forte, North Carolina |
| 2000 |
Arizona |
79-76 |
Illinois |
Michael Wright, Arizona |
| 2001 |
Duke |
83-71 |
Ball State |
Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Duke |
| 2002 |
Indiana |
70-63 |
Virginia |
Bracey Wright, Indiana |
| 2003 |
Dayton |
82-72 |
Hawaiʻi |
Keith Waleskowski, Dayton |
| 2004 |
North Carolina |
106-92 |
Iowa |
Raymond Felton, North Carolina |
| 2005 |
UConn |
65-63 |
Gonzaga |
Adam Morrison, Gonzaga |
| 2006 |
UCLA |
88-73 |
Georgia Tech |
Darren Collison, UCLA |
| 2007 |
Duke |
77-73 |
Marquette |
Kyle Singler, Duke |
[edit] 2006 Tournament field
- November 20-22: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui
| |
3rd Place game |
| |
|
|
|
|
20 |
Kentucky |
63 |
|
12 |
Memphis |
80 |
| |
Loser's Bracket |
|
5th Place Game |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Oklahoma |
71 |
|
|
|
Purdue |
74 |
|
|
|
|
|
Purdue |
81 |
|
|
|
DePaul |
73 |
|
|
DePaul |
93 |
|
|
Chaminade |
74 |
|
|
| |
7th Place game |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Oklahoma |
72 |
|
|
Chaminade |
57 |
[edit] 2007 Tournament field
- November 19-21: Lahaina Civic Center, Maui
Number of asterisks denotes number of overtime periods played.
| |
3rd Place game |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Oklahoma State |
49 |
|
|
Illinois |
65 |
| |
Loser's Bracket |
|
5th Place Game |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LSU |
78 |
|
|
|
Chaminade |
72 |
|
|
|
|
|
LSU |
84 |
|
|
|
Arizona State |
87* |
|
|
Princeton |
42 |
|
|
Arizona State |
61 |
|
|
| |
7th Place game |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Princeton |
70 |
|
|
Chaminade |
74 |
[edit] Future tournament fields
- 2008
- 2009
- 82 schools representing 21 conferences and 37 states have competed in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.
- Maui participants have won an astounding 53 of 69 NCAA championships, 53 of 69 national runner-up spots and comprise 210 of 280 Final Four teams.
- The 12 officials assigned to the Maui Invitational Tournament are perennially among the best in the country, with most having officiated in the NCAA Tournament for many years.
- Each year, more than 4,000 out-of state visitors – boosters, players, officials, team and game personnel, media representatives, sponsors, production crews and basketball fans in general.
- The 2007 EA SPORTSTM Maui Invitational® Hosted by Chaminade University again ranked among Hawaii’s top revenue-generating events by bolstering the local economy by more than $8 million, according to the latest financial data released by the Maui Visitors Bureau. The nation’s premier early-season college basketball tournament has brought nearly $130 million to Maui’s economy since the tournament’s debut in 1984.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
