Gophers Linked to Charleston Classic — Here’s Who Could Be in the Field

College basketball analyst Rocco Miller reported last week that Minnesota is currently committed to compete in the 2026 Charleston Classic. It will likely be a formidable nonconference opportunity for the Gophers next fall. Here's what you need to know.

The traditional college basketball multi-team event (MTE) schedule has completely changed over the last few years with the implementation of the Player's Era Tournament, which will feature 24 teams this year. The Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis have taken a backseat, alongside many other tournaments.

The Charleston Classic was once considered to be near the top of the second tier. It used to feature an eight-team bracket, but last year's event was split into two different four-team fields. The Palmetto Bracket and Lowcountry Bracket format is expected to return this year, according to Miller's report.

Dayton, Virginia Tech, Utah and Oklahoma State are currently committed to the event, which means three spots are still available before any of the schools or the event itself makes a formal announcement. Those four opponents have the potential to resume-building opportunities for Minnesota. Last year's event featured Clemson, West Virginia, Xavier and Georgia in one bracket with Boston College, Tulane, Utah State and Davidson in the either.

The Gophers competed in the Acrisure Invitational last year, as their holiday tournament during Thanksgiving week. That event took place in California, and their bracket included Stanford, Santa Clara and St. Louis. Minnesota went 0-2 that week with losses to Stanford and Santa Clara.

Minnesota recently had some of the weakest nonconference slates among power conference teams, which has coincided with its NCAA Tournament drought since 2019. Resumes begin on opening day, and the Gophers have dug themselves a hole before conference play even begins.

Two neutral-site games against any of the Dayton, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State would've been Quad 2 games for the Gophers last season, and Utah would've fallen in Quad 3. You could make an argument that none of the three teams have made huge improvements from last season, so they could be in a similar spot.

It's pretty naive to make any sweeping judgments about the event until the entire field and matchups are set, but it's a solid opportunity given Minnesota's current standing as a program nationally. Their only other nonconference rumbling so far was an early-season home game against Southern, which would be a Quad 4 buy game.

Big Ten matchups were revealed on Tuesday, and the nonconference schedule appears to be a few months away from being announced. The NCAA Tournament field is being expanded to 76 teams next season, but the Gophers simply have to schedule better in the nonconference if they want to improve their chances for any postseason tournament.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow