Utah Basketball Still Has Plenty Of Options For A Quality MTE This Season

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah head basketball coach Craig Smith has plenty of options for an MTE (multi-team event) that will provide quality competition.

The Utah basketball program was scheduled to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament but that was moved to South Dakota due to COVID-19 and the Runnin’ Utes eventually pulled out due to COVID concerns.

Utah’s last MTE they actually participated in was during the 2019-20 season when they played in the Myrtle Beach Invitational. They lost to Coastal Carolina before beating Ohio but lost to Tulane in the last game.

Craig Smith told KSL Sports a couple of weeks ago that they have great options for their MTE. Utah assistant coach Eric Peterson, who is in charge of the schedule, said that they haven’t nailed down an MTE yet because they are playing “musical chairs” with opponents.

Utah Assistant Coach Eric Peterson https://t.co/Zc7vZfF6J7

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 23, 2021

Possible MTE Options For Utah Basketball

Andrew Crowley is a Utah basketball fan that is a “scheduling guru” for the Runnin’ Utes. He provided a list of possible MTE’s and collaborated with KSL Sports on this story. These are tournaments that Pac-12 school have participated in through recent years.

Duke and Stanford came off the board today, leaving 18 P6 teams without an announced MTE. Among those teams are #Pac12hoops squads Washington, WSU, and Utah. #Utes #GoUtes https://t.co/SkOJyoA9hm

— Andrew Crowley (@AJCrowley42) May 4, 2021

The Orlando Invitational is an option for the Utes. It would feature a strong field with Iona, Kansas, Dayton, Georgetown, Alabama and Miami participating. According to the ESPN Events page, the bracket has eight slots and no Pac-12 teams are currently in the field.

Another option for the Runnin’ Utes is the Cayman Islands Classic. A field has not been announced and not a ton of information is available for that MTE, which could be a problem.

Lastly, the Las Vegas Invitational is an option but there is a chance that Utah wouldn’t be interested in participating. It is a two-game tournament in Las Vegas and includes a guaranteed regular season home game to be scheduled between November 16-22. Nevada is the only team currently in the field but the kicker is that participating schools will need to pay over $100,000 to get into the field.

Nine Pac-12 teams have an MTE locked in for the upcoming season. Utah, Washington and Washington State do not have an MTE scheduled.

Pac-12 Teams Locked In To MTE’s For Upcoming Season

Crowley was able to dig up nine Pac-12 teams that are currently locked into an MTE for this season.

• Colorado – Paradise Jam
• Arizona – Roman Main Event (Las Vegas)
• Oregon – Maui Invitational
• California – Fort Meyers Tipoff
• UCLA – Roman Legends Classic
• Arizona State – Battle 4 Atlantis
• USC – Wooden Legacy
• Oregon State – Emerald Coast Classic
• Stanford – Diamond Head Classic

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.

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