Now, ASU takes a short flight from the island of Oahu to Maui for one of the most prestigious preseason tournaments in college basketball.

The Sun Devils are part of the eight-team field at this year’s Southwest Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center in Lahaina, Hawaii.

The last seven tournament champs all received top-3 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The lone exception is 2019 Kansas, which ranked No. 1 in the nation before COVID-19 cancelled the season two days before Selection Sunday.

ASU head coach Bobby Hurley doesn’t need an introduction to the Maui Tournament, as he took home tournament MVP honors as a player after leading Duke to an 89-66 victory over BYU to win the Maui title in 1992.

Although the tournament is known for loaded fields and marquee matchups, this year’s field is not expected to be as strong as in previous years.

The only ranked team in this year’s tournament is No. 23 NC State, led by first-year head coach Will Wade. The Wolfpack, who are on the opposite side of the bracket from the Sun Devils, kick off the tournament against Seton Hall.

Some of ASU’s old friends from the Pac-12 are making the trip to Maui as well. USC, fresh off a ridiculous 108-107 win in three overtimes over Troy, and Washington State are both in this year’s field.

The Trojans face Boise State in the first round of action. After a perplexing 79-78 loss to Division II Hawaii Pacific on the first day of the season, the Broncos have gotten back on track, winning four games in a row.

The Cougars start their run against host school Chaminade, a local Division II team that has become a staple for college basketball fans during the Thanksgiving season.

As for the Sun Devils, their road to the title starts with one of the most notable brands in college sports. ASU takes on Texas in the Day 1 nightcap tonight, Nov. 24, at 9:30 p.m. MST at the Lahaina Civic Center.

While it appears on the surface that the two teams are quite unfamiliar with one another, there are plenty of ties between the two coaches.

The Longhorns are led by head coach Sean Miller, who is in his first year at the helm in Austin after spending three years at Xavier.

Before that, Miller served as head coach at Arizona from 2009-2021, leading the Wildcats to seven NCAA Tournament berths and two Elite Eight appearances. Miller went 17-7 overall against the Sun Devils during his tenure in Tucson, including a 9-3 mark against ASU teams coached by Hurley.

As for his team this year, Texas’ 4-1 matches the Sun Devils, with the Longhorns’ lone loss coming in their season opener against No. 6 Duke, 75-60.

The winner of ASU-Texas faces the winner of Washington State-Chaminade in the semifinals, while the losers of each matchup meet on the consolation side of the bracket. 

Every team in the field is guaranteed three games over the course of three days, so the Sun Devils face a daunting back-to-back stretch in the tournament.

In a year filled with uncertainty for Hurley’s squad, ASU has a chance to prove it belongs in a stacked Big 12 by making a statement in one of the most historic tournaments college basketball has to offer.