:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/55029383/usa_today_9788173.0.jpg)
The brackets for the 2017 PK80 Invitational have been announced and the Texas Longhorns will begin the tournament matched against Butler on Thanksgiving Day.
A 16-team invitational honoring Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s 80th birthday, the tournament is split into two separate eight-team brackets, with the ‘Horns slotted in the “Motion Bracket.”
It's a hoops event unlike any other.
— ESPN (@espn) May 31, 2017
The bracket for the loaded @pkinvitational is out. Time to get your tickets! https://t.co/wZdrisrPmJ pic.twitter.com/ZAiWo0mK7H
Last season, the Bulldogs won 25 games before falling to the eventual national champion, North Carolina, in the Sweet 16.
From there, the result of the opening round meeting with Butler will then pit Texas against either Duke or Portland State, and ultimately, a session against one of Florida, Stanford, Gonzaga or Ohio State to conclude the tournament.
The three-day tournament will allow each team to play one game per day, regardless of outcomes, with the championship game being played on the evening of November 26.
Texas returns a substantial portion of it’s 2016-17 contributors, which will soon be joined by a No. 5-ranked recruiting class headlined by elite power forward Mohamed Bamba and flashy floor general Matt Coleman. What’s now widely expected to be a much-improved product during Shaka Smart’s third season on the Forty Acres will receive its first early test courtesy of a loaded field in Portland.