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Posted on Thu, Oct 14, 2010 : 1:58 p.m.

Maui Invitational to expand field in 2011, will include Michigan

By AnnArbor.com Staff

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — The 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational will have its usual impressive field and four more teams.

Next year's tournament will feature defending national champion Duke, a four-time Maui Invitational champion, along with past national champions Kansas, UCLA, Michigan and Georgetown.

In addition to the 12 games played at the Lahaina Civic Center from Nov. 21-23, there will be 11 games played on the U.S. mainland, the first expansion for the Maui Invitational since it went from four to eight teams in 1986.

The four teams that will play in the mainland games from Nov. 11-17 will be announced at a later date.

The other schools playing in Maui next year are Tennessee, Memphis and Chaminade, the Division II host school.

"We are excited for the growth and expansion of the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational," said tournament chairman Dave Odom, the former coach at Wake Forest and South Carolina. "More teams from more conferences will now have a chance to show their best among the nation's top teams in the premier early season tournament.

"The 2011 field has the potential to be the best field in tournament history. The combination of rich basketball tradition and recent success should make for incredible competition."

Starting with 2011, the tournament will be played in three parts.

The opening games will be played at the seven Maui-bound schools with three of the four mainland teams playing two games and the other playing one.

The four mainland teams will play two doubleheaders at one of those schools on Nov. 19-20.

The championship round will remain the same at the Lahaina Civic Center with all 12 games shown on one of the ESPN networks.

This year's Maui Invitational will be Nov. 22-24 and features Kentucky, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Wichita State, Michigan State, Virginia, Washington and Chaminade.