It’s official. Providence basketball will be part of the Battle 4 Atlantis games in the Bahamas

Thursday brought a major update to the non-conference men’s basketball schedule for Providence.

What was known in recent weeks has become official. The Friars will replace Big East rival Creighton in Battle 4 Atlantis, one of the sport’s premier events over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Providence joins Arizona, Davidson, Gonzaga, Indiana, Louisville, Oklahoma and West Virginia in the expected eight-team field in the Bahamas. The Friars will play three games from November 27-29, with exact matchups and broadcast times on ESPN television and streaming channels yet to be announced.

CBS Sports first reported the possibility of this move to Providence. The Bluejays appear to have secured a spot at the Players Era Festival, a Las Vegas event focused on funneling name, image and likeness money to attendees. Creighton’s departure from the Atlantis camp left a vacancy for another member of the league.

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The Friars will also make negotiations regarding their exposure in several games. They were originally included in a four-team event with Boston College, Temple and Massachusetts at Mohegan Sun. It seems unlikely that this short trip will happen now, with a first visit to Paradise Island available.

The Wildcats, Bulldogs and Sooners all finished in the top 50 nationally last season, according to KenPom.com. The Hoosiers cracked the top 100, while the Wildcats and Mountaineers rounded out the top 150. Multiple wins against the field could help Providence reach its first NCAA Tournament under coach Kim English.

The Friars lost to Oklahoma as part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle in 2023-24, a 72-51 road loss that featured a particularly difficult final 10 minutes. That was the only top-50 road or neutral game Providence played before conference action. The Friars ranked 230th on the NET’s non-conference strength of schedule, a sore point that could have been used against them when deciding the final bubble spots on Selection Sunday.

It will be the second year in a row that Providence has traveled to the Bahamas. The Friars participated in the Baha Mar event in November, losing in overtime to Kansas State and beating Georgia. The Wildcats were coming off an Elite Eight appearance – they regressed to just a 19-15 mark in their encore attempt.

Providence tells a considerable story featuring several members of the Atlantis camp. The Friars experienced bitter postseason disappointment against Arizona and Indiana, called Louisville and West Virginia conference rivals in a previous version of the Big East, and faced the Hoosiers and Davidson as part of a relocated 2020 Maui Invitational in Asheville, N.C.

Mike Bibby, Miles Simon, Jason Terry and Michael Dickerson were among the Arizona stars who overtook Providence on their way to the national championship in 1997. The Wildcats earned a 96-92 overtime win in the Elite Eight, stopping the Friars one step closer. shy of a third Final Four in program history. Providence beat Arizona in their most recent meeting, a 69-65 grinder at Wooden Legacy in November 2015.

Indiana also capped off one of the best seasons in Friar history. The Hoosiers took care of Providence, 97-79, in the Final Four consolation game in 1973. The Friars fell to Memphis State and Indiana was defeated by eventual champion UCLA in the national semifinals, leaving the two in a head-to-head matchup. in St.

Providence is 6-12 all-time against the Cardinals, including league games between 2005-06 and 2012-13. The Friars are 11-17 all-time against West Virginia, another conference opponent after the Mountaineers jumped from the Atlantic 10 to the Big East in the 1995-96 season. Providence suffered a 2011-12 overtime home loss to West Virginia before the Mountaineers left for the Big 12 in a football-driven move.

Ticket information will be available at atlantisbahamas.com/b4a It is frades.com.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared in The Providence Journal: Providence Basketball will be part of Battle 4 Atlantis games in Bahamas