Not this year, but next year — Tennessee will return to the Maui Invitational. The Volunteers were announced as a part of the eight-team field, where each team will play three games during the tournament at the Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii, from Nov. 20-22, 2023.
Gonzaga, Kansas, Marquette, Purdue, Syracuse, UCLA and host Chaminade make up the rest of the field. Tennessee is very familiar with Gonzaga, Kansas and Purdue, seemingly finding a way to meet those schools regularly in these preseason tournaments or early non-conference games.
Tennessee last appeared in this tournament back in 2016 as Rick Barnes had just started his rebuild in Knoxville. The Volunteers took seventh place in the event, dropping games to Wisconsin and Oregon, but beating Chaminade.
The Volunteers also appeared in the tournament in 2011 and 2004.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maui Invitational was played in Asheville, North Carolina in 2020. It was played in Las Vegas in 2021. This year, it returns home to Maui.
For the upcoming season, Tennessee will be participating in the Battle 4 Atlantis, taking on a field consisting of Butler, BYU, Dayton, Kansas, NC State, USC, and Wisconsin. The tournament will take place Wednesday-Friday of Thanksgiving week this year.