Tournament: Puerto Rico Tip-Off

When and where: Nov. 19-20, 22 at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Teams involved: Butler, Temple, Miami, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Utah, Missouri State

Initial thoughts: Because of the mix of conferences involved -- ACC, American, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Missouri Valley, Pac-12 and SEC -- the winner will take some early bragging rights back home and possibly even bag some RPI points for the league.

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off always seems to have an early upset and a team that's not expected to win it emerges with the title. The interesting thing is unlike most exempt tournaments that cram the action into consecutive days, in this one there's actually a break between the semifinal and championship game. Maybe that has given the underdog just enough preparation time to pull off the upset.

Oklahoma State beat No. 6 NC State in 2012 and Charlotte beat No. 14 Michigan in 2013 in the title game. Last season West Virginia topped then-No. 17 Connecticut, and it entirely changed the projection of their season. The Mountaineers blended so many newcomers on their team no one knew what to expect, especially early in the season. Winning in Puerto Rico gave them the confidence that helped move the team forward. It doesn't always mean the title winner will go on to a great season, but it does seem to foster immediate success for the winner in its aftermath.

There will be a sense of deja vu for several participants.

Minnesota's Richard Pitino began last year playing his father's Louisville team on a U.S. Coast Guard station in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. And the Gophers managed to get younger in Pitino's third season at the helm.

Tubby Smith won the Puerto Rico Tip Off in 2010 as the head coach at Minnesota, now he returns with Texas Tech to attempt a similar feat. That Gophers team, like his current bunch at Tech, weren't some big preseason favorite. They were unranked and largely unheralded.

Some of the growing pains endured by Smith's young squad last season might end up paying dividends this season. The Red Raiders return five of their top six scorers.

Paul Lusk was in a position a year ago with enough veterans to make Missouri State a team to watch, but a combination of transfers, injuries and suspensions sabotaged last season and caused major change in the offseason. Their biggest hit was seeing Marcus Marshall, the Valley's second leading scorer, opt to transfer.

Why you'll want to watch: I don't know who coined the phrase “sneaky good,” but I do believe Butler, Utah and Miami could fit that description.

When the Hurricanes' backcourt of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan get on a roll, it's like no other tandem in college basketball. The trick for the duo has been finding some consistency. When they were hot, Miami could beat anybody (check out its win in Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke). When they were off, or at least relied too much on taking 3-pointers, the opposite was true (check out the home loss to Eastern Kentucky).

Butler has the potential to be one of those pesky matchup nightmares opponents fear because they can place multiple shooters on the floor. Kellen Dunham shoots the lights out from 3-point range and Roosevelt Jones is arguably the most versatile player in the Big East.

Utah's Jakob Poeltl could have declared for the NBA draft and likely would have been a first-rounder, despite still needing some polish to his game. In returning for his sophomore season, Poeltl could develop into a bona-fide star player. The Utes lost all-everything guard Delon Wright, but they have enough talent on the roster to again be a Sweet 16 team.

Ben Howland makes his return to the sidelines for the first time since he was let go at UCLA in 2013. Howland was itching to get back into coaching. It seemed like he never left after securing his first major recruit. Malik Newman, the No. 10 rated player in the class of 2015 and son of former Mississippi State standout Horatio Webster, signed with the Bulldogs and should help their scoring take off after they averaged just 61.8 points per game last season.

Temple's Fran Dunphy always seems to find a guard that can carry the team and Quenton DeCosey is perhaps next in line for that role.