The 2023 Maui Invite field is the best in 40-year history

Anytime I read a headline that declares something is “the best” I reflexively cringe. Even in sports, there is too much subjectivity, so by trying to claim something as objectively better, I feel like it’s just an attempt to draw hate clicks and start arguments.

With that being said, there is 0 doubt in my mind that the 2023/24 field for the Maui Invitational is the best in the tournament’s illustrious 40-year history. It simply has never had as many top end teams involved at once, with multiple national title contenders and a bevvy of talented squads.

But don’t just take my word for it, let’s look at the numbers.

Current Field

With the bracket released on Tuesday morning, it only confirmed what we imagined would be the case, there are mouthwatering, high stakes matchup right from the jump.

Of course since it’s not even August, we don’t have an objective ranking for which to measure this field, so I did the next best thing and grabbed as many preseason rankings as I could to get a “consensus” ranking, assigning 25 points for 1st place down to 1 for 25th.

That left us with 5 of the 7 D1 teams in the field in the top-11 of these very very early rankings, with those teams highlighted below. Purdue is 2nd, Kansas 3rd, Marquette 6th, Tennessee 9th, and Gonzaga 11th. UCLA doesn’t show up here, but it’s also at 28th in the rankings.

Want to know how crazy that is, last season’s Elite 8 only had 3 KenPom top-11 teams in the field. Simply put, this is a collection of multiple national title contenders the likes of we rarely see in one early season tournament. Even one as vaunted as Maui.

Average Fields

This will the 40th consecutive year in which the Maui Invitational is played. That history alone puts this Holiday Tournament on a pedestal as we see early season tourneys drop out frequently. But what makes it special is that it always has some of the best roster of teams competing each November.

There was a 7 year stretch from 2005 to 2011 where 3 national champions came through Maui, and then another in 2017. It should then come as no surprise that all 4 of those teams won the invitational as well.

But taking a look at just a baseline of the 40 previous iterations, I wanted to see how those fields measured up at the time it took place. Obviously that means it won’t be an apples to apples comparison to this season, but it occurs early enough where there hasn’t been a ton of movement in the AP rankings, so I grabbed those for each of the teams that have competed since 1984.

On average, there are 0.7 top-5 teams in the field, 1.3 top-10 team, 2.3 top-20 teams and 2.5 top-25 teams. Again, that’s over 40 years of tournaments. You can bank on there usually being at least 1 top-10 team and nearly 3 top-25 teams. That’s why Maui has the reputation it does.

Compared to what we normally see in Hawaii, this season’s field just blows away the average competition.

Best Fields

But to be able to declare this the best, it isn’t enough to be better than average. Just looking for the outliers at each arbitrary cutoff point, 2 top-5 teams is tied for the most we’ve ever seen, with 1989, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2019 and 2020 all boasting 2 as well.

However, no field before this one has ever included 4 top-10 teams. Only 2019, 2009, 2002, 2001, 1998 and 1989 ever had 3. With Purdue, Kansas, Marquette and Tennessee all in the top-9, we are seeing an unprecedented level of top end talent.

Similarly, no other field has ever had 5 top-20 teams, with 7 other seasons boasting 4 at most.

So this season will have not only the most depth, but also the most elite field.

Get Your Popcorn Ready

The caveat to all this is that we might still see roster changes/injuries/transfers so it is not set in stone. Once we get to Feast Week and get those AP ratings we can make a more conclusive comparison.

But for now, just know that we are being treated to a true spectacle.

There have been 12 Final 4 teams in the previous 20 editions of the Maui Invite, with 2017, 2011 and 2005 each having multiple Final 4 teams (and all had a national champ).

Don’t be surprised to see a few more join that list come March.