After winning early-season tournaments the past two years, the Maryland men's basketball team will be trying for a three-peat when it plays in the Cancun Challenge next November.
The Terps are scheduled to play Illinois State in the first round of the tournament, according to an athletic department spokesman. Tournament director Brent Amick said the first two rounds of the tournament will be played at campus sites, and the final two rounds will be played at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya resort in Cancun, Mexico, on Nov. 24-25.
InsideMDSports.com, which first reported the story, said Texas Christian and Rhode Island are also in the field. Amick said the complete field won't be be announced until all eight schools have signed contracts.
Twice in the past three years, teams that played in the Cancun Challenge reached the Final Four: Wichita State in 2012 and Wisconsin last season. Northern Iowa won this year's tournament, which also included Morgan State.
Given its early-season play and the players expected to return next season, including Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter Jr. and junior-college transfer Jaylen Brantley, Maryland is the likely headliner in Cancun, Amick said.
The Terps won this year's CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo., by defeating Arizona State in the semifinals and then-No. 13 Iowa State for the championship. A year ago, Maryland won the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, defeating Northern Iowa, Marist and Providence en route to the title.