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Cayman Islands tournament could be a boost to the Mountain West
The recent success of the perennially loaded Battle 4 Atlantis tournament has spawned another holiday tournament in the same region.
Global Sports Management, in partnership with Caymax Sports LTD, announced Thursday it will hold a new eight-team tournament in the Cayman Islands beginning Nov. 2017. The Mountain West is sponsoring the Cayman Basketball Classic and will have a team in the field every year.
How much partnering with this event will help the Mountain West depends on the quality of the field Global Sports Management annually attracts and what sort of TV deal gets negotiated.
If power-conference programs flock to it and ESPN or another major network airs it, it could be a boost in exposure and strength of schedule for the Mountain West. If the event struggles to attract top teams or a prominent TV network, it could be more of a hassle than it's worth given the cross-country flight required for a Mountain West team to participate.
The blueprint for the Cayman Basketball Classic will surely be the Battle 4 Atlantis, which has brought some of the nation's elite programs to Paradise Island in the Bahamas the past few years.
Last November, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Georgetown were among the participants and seventh-place game combatants UCLA and UAB ended up meeting again in the Sweet 16. Next November, Syracuse, UConn, Michigan, Gonzaga and Texas will be among the eight participants.
A strength of schedule boost would be welcome for the Mountain West given the schedules every team in the league besides San Diego State and UNLV have assembled in recent years. Boise State and Colorado State suffered in particular because of their schedules last March, the Broncos landing in the First Four despite earning a share of the regular season conference title and the Rams missing the NCAA tournament altogether despite a 27-win season.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!