The Washington State Cougars will be spending their 2019 Thanksgiving in a place that’s probably better than where you and I will be spending it as it was announced today that the Cougs will be participating in the Cayman Islands Classic from Nov. 25-27 as part of their non-conference schedule.
Joining them will be the Nebraska Cornhuskers, New Mexico State Aggies, Colorado State Rams, George Mason Patriots, Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, Old Dominion Monarchs, and South Florida Bulls. The bracket has not yet been announced.
These tournaments are fun little rewards for the players and also a chance to play some non-conference games against some competition that might stretch you a little bit ... but not too much. This tournament isn’t loaded, but there are some teams in there that should definitely give WSU a handle on where it stands a handful of games into the season.
“The nonconference tournaments are great opportunities for teams to find out where they stand,” WSU head coach Kyle Smith said via news release. “With this field, we will be tested to say the least. In addition, I love to snorkel … It is always great for our young men to experience different climates and cultures. No one on our team has ever been to the Cayman Islands, which should offer up life-long memories.”
Here’s to guessing that Smith is using this as part of his recruiting pitch.
As long as we aren’t scheduled to play New Mexico State until the final, I’m cool with whoever the Cougs end up facing; WSU lost to NMSU twice this past season — once in a non-conference road game, once in another tournament, the Las Vegas Classic.