Phil Knight college hoops tournament stacked with elite programs for 2017
The 16-team field was announced on Wednesday for the 2017 Phil Knight Invitational — also known as PK80 — a Thanksgiving tournament honoring the Nike co-founder and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.
In short, the field is loaded. The made-for-TV tournament will take place Nov. 23, 24, and 26, 2017 in Portland, Ore., airing on ESPN channels.
Elevated to celebrate Knight's 80th birthday, the 2017-18 field of Nike-sponsored teams will make for one of the most exciting holiday tournaments in recent memory.
The event will be two eight-team tournaments with two schools each from the ACC (Duke and North Carolina), Big East (Georgetown and Butler), Big Ten (Michigan State and Ohio State), Big 12 (Texas and Oklahoma), SEC (Florida and Arkansas), Pac-12 (Oregon and Stanford), and WCC (Gonzaga and Portland) and one each from the AAC (UConn) and Big Sky (Portland State).
"Phil Knight has been a visionary and an innovator for a long time," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. "PK80 is a unique way we can honor him and the contributions he has made not just to the game of basketball, but to all of sport."
High-profile programs such as Kentucky and defending national champion Villanova were some of the schools left out. Nearby Oregon State is not one of the teams because there was a limit of two schools per conference and the two Pac-12 schools, Oregon and Stanford, were chosen because those are where Knight earned degrees.
Phil Knight ahead of his 80th birthday. Knight, the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, turns 80 on February 24, 2018. November was the best time for the tournament so it wouldn't intervene with conference play.
Here's a rough look at the national preseason rankings of teams in the field if the tournament were happening this November:
- Duke
- Oregon
- North Carolina
- Michigan State
- Gonzaga
- Butler
- Texas
- UConn
- Georgetown
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Arkansas
- Ohio State
- Stanford
- Portland
- Portland State