Miami adds Cancun event

OXFORD, Ohio--Miami University is one of eight men’s basketball teams which will participate in the 2014 Cancun Challenge this year. The tournament field was announced by tournament organizers Thursday afternoon.

This year’s Riviera Division features Miami (Ohio), Northern Iowa, Northwestern and Virginia Tech. The Mayan Division includes Elon, Liberty, Morgan State and North Florida. Both Morgan State (2010) and North Florida (2010) are playing in the event for the second time. 

The tournament format includes eight games played in the United States between Nov.19-30 as the four teams in the Riviera Division, which includes the RedHawks, host the four schools in the Mayan Division. All eight teams then travel to Mexico for two games played in their respected divisions (Nov. 25-26). All four games of the Riviera Division will be nationally televised live in HD from the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya on CBS Sports Network. The Mayan Division games will be webcast live on CBSsports.com, ULive.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the 2014 Cancun Challenge,” said Miami University head coach John Cooper. “This is a great tournament field, which will challenge us early in the season, and also will allow us to host some games in Oxford for part of the tournament.”

Tournament pairings will be announced at a later date.

Previous champions include Vanderbilt (2008), Kentucky (2009), Missouri (2010), Illinois (2011), Wichita State (2012), and Wisconsin (2013).