Prepping for Early-Season Basketball Events

ESPN’s Charlotte-based Events team is prepping for a busy early-season basketball events season, which tips off in early November and running through the Christmas holiday. The events management group has put together some loaded tournament fields for the 2013 season and is riding off the successes from 2012. Those events included top-ranked teams in the final Associated Press poll (March 18), including No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 Miami (Fla.), No. 6 Duke, No. 8 Georgetown and No. 9 Michigan State. Eight teams in the final top 25 participated in an ERT basketball event – setting up for an exciting 2013 season. MORE

Ducks, Hoyas ready for SEARS Armed Forces Classic

Oregon and Georgetown have committed to play in the SEARS Armed Forces Classic on Nov. 8 at an Army base, with the site being finalized. The game will be televised on ESPN. The game, which is in the second year of a five-year rotation, has a chance to be just as intriguing as last season's game between UConn and Michigan State at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, won by the upstart Huskies in Kevin Ollie's coaching debut. The Ducks should be one of the more interesting teams out West with a real chance to be a consistent Top 25 team and a challenger to Arizona and UCLA in the quest to win the Pac-12 regular-season title. MORE from ESPN.COM’s Andy Katz