As we reported last month, the Tigers will open up the Puerto Rico Tip-Off with Chattanooga; the irony being that Memphis will travel all the way down to San Juan to play an intra-state opponent. Obviously, Memphis is expected to win that game — I don’t think the Tigers would have agreed to play in Puerto Rico unless they were guaranteed an “easier” first-round opponent, by the way — which would set up a semifinal with either USC or Seton Hall.

If it’s USC, it would be a match-up between arguably the top two freshmen in the country in Tyreke Evans and DeMar DeRozan. It would also be a rematch of last year’s Jimmy V Classic, which was one of the most painful games to watch between two good teams that I’ve ever seen.

The other side of the bracket also offers interesting possibilities in a championship game or consolation game matchup. With Virginia Tech, you’ve got Seth Greenberg, an old Calipari nemesis when he coached at South Florida (in the old C-USA). With Missouri, you’ve got Mike Anderson, the former UAB coach, and freshman Laurence Bowers, who was the second banana on Elliot Williams’ team last season at St. George’s. And finally, you’ve got Xavier, who is coached by the man Calipari calls his “cousin,” Sean Miller.