It’s so close you can smell it. Students, we are only a couple hours away from a five day break to celebrate turkey time. Obviously, we have the three NFL games on Thursday, but what else will be on the tube if you get bored on your three extra days off from school? That’s where college basketball comes into the picture. If you  need a break from some non-stop family action–or even want to watch a game with your family–you will be happy to know that college hoops has your back with a stacked lineup of week long thanksgiving tournaments. Personally, I’m thankful for the fact that I don’t have to wait until March to watch some of the best teams in college basketball battle it out in a tournament format. Some of the action has already begun, but the best is yet to come. Here are the top three must watch college basketball tournaments over this year’s break.

The Legends Classic: Colorado vs. Notre Dame / Northwestern vs. Texas

Go ahead, make your argument. Only one of the four teams in this tournament is ranked,  but that doesn’t mean that the Legends Classic is going to be brutally competitive. In fact, every team–including the Northwestern Wildcats, who are off to a fantastic start–have a reasonable shot at making it to the NCAA tournament. Colorado, Texas and Notre Dame are all expecting to make a return to the NCAA tournament at the end of this year. Last night the semifinals occurred and some of the results were unexpected. Notre Dame took command over Colorado thanks to some sharp shooting from players like Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, V.J Beachem and Steve Vasturia. They will advance to the Legends Classic Final tomorrow night while Colorado will play in the consolation game. Nobody saw this next one coming last night, either. Texas, being strong favorites coming into this tournament, got massacred by Northwestern. The #22 team in the nation let up 78 points to Northwestern and had trouble defending perimeter shooting.  Thanks to Scottie Lindsey, Derek Pardon, and especially Brian McIntosh, the Wildcats coasted by Texas leaving them embarrassed. Tomorrow, Northwestern squares off against Notre Dame at 6:00, while Colorado plays Texas tomorrow afternoon. The championship game will be closer than many would expect tomorrow given the talent Northwestern showed us today, but Notre Dame has more all around talent than the Wildcats do leading me to believe that Notre Dame will be champions of The Legends Classic.

Overall Tournament Grade: B

Winner: Notre Dame

Battle 4 Atlantis: Wichita State vs. LSU / Baylor vs. VCU / Michigan State vs. Saint John’s / Louisville vs. Old Dominion

This tournament has always kind of bugged me and if you have ever watched it, you may have the same problem that I have. It’s not because of the teams that the committee selects to play in it, but rather the venue that hosts the event. Many of you are familiar with the resort in the Bahamas they call Atlantis, but I’m sure only a handful of you know where they host the tournament on their property. Instead of building a basketball arena, they empty a ballroom that is practically used year round for weddings, parties or even dinners and put a basketball court inside. The worst part about it though is that the ceiling is extremely low making it seem very possible that a player’s shot may get hit down by the ceiling before reaching the hoop. Besides that, however, the tournament is always a much watch especially with the teams that are competing in it this year. Just like in the Legends Classic, most of these 8 teams have a strong potential of making it to the big dance at the end of the year and nonetheless have strong potential to be a ranked team at some point this year (excluding Michigan State/Louisville who are already ranked). Led by Jaylen Johnson, V.J King and Donovan Mitchell, Louisville is the favorite in this tournament. Other underrated teams to keep an eye out for in this tournament are Wichita State and #20 Baylor who both have title aspirations and the talent to follow through. Of course, like every NCAA men’s basketball tournament there is a team is always on upset alert. This tournament it is Michigan State. Sparty’s first two games were against Arizona and Kentucky, which are two top ten teams who are no easy matchup, but last night they welcomed Florida Gulf Coast, a small Atlantic Sun team, to the Breslin Center and nearly lost, winning by only one. For this reason and a 2-2 start, I’d put the Spartans on upset watch as they look to turn their season around in the right direction in the Bahamas. Otherwise, I see no shocker here. #10 Louisville is the strongest team in the Bahamas and will defeat #20 Baylor to take the title.  The games begin on November 23 and go through the 25 of November.

Overall Tournament grade: A

Winner: Louisville

The Maui Invitational: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee / Georgetown vs. Oregon / Oklahoma State vs. Uconn / North Carolina vs. Chaminade 

The Maui Invitational houses some very memorable college basketball moments, like Rodney Clark of the Butler Bulldogs one handed buzzer beater to knock off Marquette in the quarterfinals. Now, with this year’s array of teams the potential for a fantastic Maui Invitational is greater than ever. This year, three of the eight teams participating are currently ranked along with some teams that are on the outside looking in like UConn and Oklahoma State. The North Carolina Tar Heels, Wisconsin Badgers, and Oregon Ducks are the top teams to watch as the tournament opens. The Tar Heels, who are currently ranked fourth in the nation are led by Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks. They open up to be one of the favorites to win the tournament, but I beg to differ. An early season loss to #12 Creighton won’t bring down the Wisconsin Badgers. This year, their team is stacked all around with some of the best talent the NCAA has to offer. Nigel Hayes is the first name that comes to mind when you think who has the potential to have a breakout season for Wisconsin. Players like Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ can also pose a threat to some of the other Maui Invitational teams as well, and who doesn’t love a good upset? The #16 Wisconsin Badgers will upset the #4 ranked Tar Heels to conclude the Maui Invitational. This tournament should be thrilling and I would expect to see more than half of these teams in the March Madness tournament at the end of the year.

Overall Tournament grade: A+

Winner: Wisconsin Badgers