The bracket for the fifth annual Myrtle Beach Invitational has been released as the 2023 in-season tournament will be played November 16, 17 and 19 at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
The upper half of the bracket has College of Charleston versus Vermont and Saint Louis meeting Wyoming in afternoon session games on November 16. The evening session features Wichita State playing Coastal Carolina and Furman facing Liberty.
College of Charleston won its previous two Vermont meetings with games in 2011 and 2012 while Saint Louis and Wyoming split a pair of games in the early 1950s. With Wichita State playing Coastal Carolina for the first-time on the hardwood, Furman leads the series with Liberty 5-1 with the last meeting in December 2016.
Owned and operated by ESPN Events, the 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational is an eight-team, 12-game bracketed tournament. The first-round winners play in the semi-finals on November 17. The title game is set for 5:30 p.m. (ET) on November 19 at the HTC Center.
The Myrtle Beach Invitational field has a combined eight shared or outright conference regular season titles in the last three seasons, with Vermont leading the America East each of those three years, Liberty at the top of the ASUN standings two of the three, and Charleston (Colonial), Furman (SoCon) and Wichita State (American) each topping the standings once in that span.
Six of the eight teams in the field have appeared in the NCAA Tournament at least once in the past three seasons - Charleston, Liberty, Furman, Vermont, Wichita State and Wyoming. After winning their respective post-season conference tournaments, Charleston, Furman and Vermont competed in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tournament. Liberty participated in the National Invitational Tournament after losing its league finale at Kennesaw State 67-66.
Charleston and Furman lost to Final Four participant San Diego State in the NCAA’s South Regional opening rounds in Orlando. Before meeting the Aztecs, Furman upset fourth-seeded Virginia in the first round. Vermont had a 15-game win streak prior to a first round loss in the NCAAs to second-seeded Marquette in Columbus. Liberty defeated Villanova in the Flames’ NIT opener before losing to Wisconsin in Madison.
Myrtle Beach Invitational 2023 Schedule
Thu, Nov. 16
11:30 a.m. Charleston vs. Vermont on ESPNU
2 p.m. Saint Louis vs. Wyoming on ESPN2
4:30 p.m. Wichita State vs. Coastal Carolina on ESPNU
7 p.m. Furman vs. Liberty on ESPN+
Fri, Nov. 17
12 p.m. Semifinal #1 (Charleston/Vermont vs. Saint Louis/Wyoming winners) on ESPN2
2:30 p.m. Consolation #1 (Charleston/Vermont vs. Saint Louis/Wyoming losers) on ESPNU
6:30 p.m. Consolation #2 (Wichita State/Coastal Carolina vs. Furman/Liberty losers) on ESPN+
9 p.m. Semifinal #2 (Wichita State/Coastal Carolina vs. Furman/Liberty winners) on ESPNU
Sun, Nov. 19
10:30 a.m. Fifth Place Game on ESPNU
1 p.m. Seventh Place Game on ESPN+
5:30 p.m. Championship Game on ESPN or ESPN2
8 p.m. Third Place Game on ESPN2
Tickets are now on sale. Visit 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational Tickets to purchase. All-session tickets are $135 for baseline seating, $150 for premium sideline and $160 for premium center court.
Past Myrtle Beach Invitational champions include UCF (2018), Baylor (2019), Utah State (2021) and UMass (2022). Three teams in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Invitational competed in the post-season with Boise State and Texas A&M advancing to the NCAAs while Charlotte captured the College Basketball Invitational title.
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In 2023, the 332-event schedule includes four early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, a college softball event, and the inaugural Band of the Year National Championship, in addition to a new college gymnastics event coming in 2024. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans. For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.