Brackets Unveiled For Phil Knight Invitational
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The brackets were unveiled Wednesday afternoon for the prestigious Phil Knight Invitational, one of the largest regular season tournaments ever created to honor Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight in advance of his 80th birthday.
The three-day tournament will take place over Thanksgiving week in 2017 from Portland, Oregon, with the Razorbacks matching up in the first round with Oklahoma in the Moda Center and a potential second-round showdown with North Carolina.
Arkansas is in the “Victory” bracket along with Oklahoma, North Carolina, Oregon, Connecticut, Michigan State, Georgetown and Portland. The “Motion” bracket features Butler, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Portland State, Stanford and Texas.
The event features two eight-team brackets running simultaneously from the Rose Quarter’s Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum with the crowning of two bracket champions. Games will be played Thursday, Nov. 23, Friday, Nov. 24 and Sunday, Nov. 26 with all 24 contests televised on ESPN networks.
Arkansas’ opening game against Oklahoma will be in the early session on Thursday, Nov. 23, as the Razorbacks and Sooners meet for the 28th time in program history. Arkansas holds a 15-12 advantage against Oklahoma, including an 81-78 victory in Bud Walton Arena in the most recent matchup during the 2012-13 season. The Razorbacks are 4-0 all-time against Oklahoma in neutral site games.
Also in the early session, North Carolina and Portland will square off, leaving a potential second round showdown between Arkansas and UNC. In a matchup less than three months ago with the Sweet 16 on the line, the Razorbacks nearly pulled the upset of top-ranked and the eventual National Champion Tar Heels after leading by five points with less than three minutes left.
The participating schools in Arkansas’ bracket have combined for 15 National Championships, 52 Final Fours, 220 NCAA Championship appearances and 399 NCAA Tournament wins. Six of the eight schools have won a National Championship, including the defending National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels, and seven of the eight have made at least one Final Four appearance.
Limited All Session and Moda Only Ticket Packages are still available exclusively at pkinvitational.com/tickets. Single-session tickets, which include seats for two games, will go on sale Friday, June 9 at noon CT. Tickets will be available at ticketmaster.com, the Rose Quarter Box Office (M-F 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.), by calling 800.745.3000 or online at pkinvitational.com/tickets. Fans can join the presale for single-session seats by signing up now at http://pkinvitational.com/event-info/.
For more information on Arkansas men’s basketball, follow @RazorbackMBB on Twitter.
