Broncos in Palm Desert for Acrisure Series in Palm Desert over Thanksgiving
Ole Miss, Iowa, Washington added to Acrisure Classic as 2025 basketball field takes shape
Shad PowersAs the 2024-25 college basketball season draws to a close, it’s a good time to look ahead to next year and for desert college hoops fans that means the new Thanksgiving week staple – the Acrisure Series college basketball tournament at Acrisure Arena.
Some of the teams in the 2025 Acrisure Series have already been announced and more will be solidified in the coming weeks, but here’s what we know so far.
The 2025 Acrisure Series, which is Nov. 25-28, the Tuesday through Friday of Thanksgiving week, will feature more teams from “power conferences” than last year’s edition. Also there will be more men’s teams in general as the plan is to have four four-team mini-tournaments of men’s teams as opposed to three last year.
The field is rounding into shape and some of the teams that organizers are excited about are Ole Miss from the SEC and Iowa, Washington and Minnesota from the Big Ten. Mississippi was one of the top teams in the nation this year, advancing to the Sweet 16. Iowa and Minnesota will both be coming to Acrisure with a new coach and a new direction as they look to compete in the Big Ten, and Washington returns after having won a trophy at the 2024 Acrisure event.
Other teams that are confirmed to be in the 2025 field include multiple former Pac-12 members Stanford, Utah and Colorado, as well as top mid-major programs Northern Iowa, Tulsa, Loyola Chicago, Nevada, Santa Clara and San Francisco, as well as Southern California schools University of San Diego and Cal Baptist.
Grand Canyon, which made the NCAA Tournament and played in a spotlight game at last year’s Acrisure Classic, will return in 2025 as well.
“We’re excited about the field we’re putting together as Palm Springs has clearly become one of the top destinations in the country for holiday college basketball,” said co-tournament director Dan Shell, who added that primary sponsors Acrisure, Spotlight 29 Casino and Visit Greater Palm Springs have been integral to the event’s success. “And we expect to keep attracting strong fields in the years to come.”
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The field is not finalized as more teams will be added and the format will crystalize in the coming months as well as ticket availability.
Taking a look back at last year’s field in the context of the NCAA Tournament, eight of the 21 teams that participated in the 2024 Acrisure Series made this year’s NCAA Tournament. That group includes Saint Mary’s, New Mexico, Colorado State and Grand Canyon on the men’s side and USC, Michigan State, Vanderbilt and Cal in the women’s tournament.