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Duke Basketball: Maui Invitational Bracket Made Official

By Kevin Connelly

GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 17: head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts in the first half against the Troy Trojans during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 17: head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts in the first half against the Troy Trojans during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 17, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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It has been known for quite some time that the Maui Invitational would be on the Duke Basketball schedule, but now we know who the Blue Devils will be facing off against in Hawaii.

It is a star-studded field in Maui in mid-November as Arizona, Auburn, Duke, Gonzaga, Illinois, Iowa State, San Diego State, and Xavier will all take in the floor in Hawaii to compete for one of the most coveted early season tournament trophies.

The bracket was made official on Tuesday morning, giving the college basketball world some amazing early-season matchups.

The Blue Devils will face the San Diego State Aztecs in the First Round of the Maui Invitational, an opponent Duke has not seen since the Round of 32 in the 2015 NCAA Tournament when the Blue Devils went onto win the National Championship.

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Neither team has a player remaining from the meeting in 2015, in fact, both programs legendary coaches won’t even be on the bench as San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher retired in 2017 after 16 seasons at the helm of the Aztec basketball program.

Fisher finished his illustrious career with 495 victories, 386 of those wins coming at San Diego State.

The Aztecs current Head Coach is Brian Dutcher, who in his first season at the helm of the San Diego State basketball program took the Aztecs to the NCAA Tournament.

The upper half of Duke’s side of the bracket is a matchup between Xavier and Auburn. Xavier will be going through a transition period this season with Chris Mack departing for Louisville, but Auburn will be ready to feast again in the SEC after finishing at the top of the league at the end of the regular season in 2017-18.

Arizona and Gonzaga highlight the other side of the bracket, in what looks like a sure-fire Semi-Final matchup, the Blue Devils would avoid both teams until a possible Championship Game matchup.

The Maui Invitational is absolutely loaded this year and it will only prepare this young Duke Basketball team for what they will be facing ahead in a daunting ACC Conference as well as the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

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