Marquette will play Kansas in the first round of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament Season Tipoff, the event announced Friday morning.
The Golden Eagles’ first-round game will be Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. CST. The winner of the Marquette-Kansas tilt will play the winner of Tennessee and Louisville Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. CST. The losers will play Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. CST.
The addition of Kansas adds to an already-rigorous non-conference schedule. Other high-profile games include Indiana, Wisconsin and Kansas State. Two of the 11 confirmed non-conference foes appeared in the Elite Eight.
The Jayhawks are coming off their 15th Final Four appearance and added the fifth-best recruiting based on 247Sports’ rankings. Longtime Marquette target Quentin Grimes highlights the five-man class.
Louisville and Tennessee are also coming off postseason appearances. Tennessee advanced to the second round of March Madness before falling victim to Loyola-Chicago’s upset bid. Louisville was a No. 2 seed in the NIT but fell into the quarterfinals to Mississippi State.
The Nov. 21 game will be the Golden Eagles’ first matchup against the Jayhawks since Marquette’s 33-point loss to Kansas in the 2003 Final Four. Marquette is 1-6 in program history against Kansas.