The Maui Invitational Tournament has become perhaps college basketball's most prestigious early season tournament, and the 2012 field is certainly a reflection of that status. According to CBS Sports' Jeff Goodman, the 2012 Invitational will include the North Carolina Tar Heels, Texas Longhorns, Butler Bulldogs, Marquette Golden Eagles, Illinois Fighting Illini, USC Trojans, Mississippi St. Bulldogs and, of course, the hosting Chaminade Silverswords.
Chaminade's legendary 1982 upset of the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers served as the inspiration for the original tournament. Almost 30 years later, and the list of the tourney's all-time winners reads as a college basketball who's-who. Last year's edition saw eventual national champion UConn take out eventual Final Four entrant Kentucky, 84-67.
This year's edition is set to include Duke, Kansas and UCLA among its heavy-hitters. While next year's won't quite reach that level, there still won't be many complaints about either Maui field. Does anybody complain about anything in Maui?
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