Puerto Rico Tip-Off 2013: Teams, Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket, TV Info

The 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off looks to be one of the most exciting early-season tourneys on the schedule.

There are two participants ranked inside the Top 15 of the latest Associated Press poll—Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth—plus a handful of prestigious programs that are looking to gain some ground and possibly earn a ranking of their own by the end of the event.

Let’s take a look at the complete list of programs participating, where you can catch the tournament and some predictions for the possible championship matchup.

 

When: Thursday, Nov. 21, through Sunday, Nov. 24

Watch: ESPN family of networks

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Location: Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, PR

  

Participants

Charlotte

Florida State

Georgetown

Kansas State

Long Beach State

No. 14 Michigan

Northeastern

No. 10 Virginia Commonwealth

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network/Result
Sun, Nov 17	TBD	Long Beach St. at Kansas St. ^	KSU 71 – LBSU 58
Thu, Nov 21	10:30 a.m.	Charlotte vs. Kansas St.	ESPNU
	12:30 p.m.	Northeastern vs. Georgetown	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Long Beach St. vs. Michigan	ESPN2
	7:30 p.m.	Florida St. vs. VCU	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 22	12 p.m.	Consolation #1	ESPNU or ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Semifinal #1	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	5:00 p.m.	Semifinal #2	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	Consolation #2	ESPNU
Sun, Nov 24	11:30 a.m.	7th-place Game	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	5th-place Game	ESPNU
	4:30 p.m.	3rd-place Game	ESPN2
	6:30 p.m.	Championship Game	ESPN2
Fri, Nov 29	TBD	Northeastern at VCU ^	TBD

^ – Non-bracketed game

Bracket

Top Projected Matchup: VCU vs. Michigan

The Rams are playing in the toughest part of the bracket, but have the talent to outlast the competition and shock a few people by winning this tournament.

While VCU is the highest-ranked participant in this tourney, there is a chance that they will be slight underdogs by the linemakers in their likely matchup with Michigan in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

It’s unfortunate because the Rams are one of the most immensely talented teams in the country. They have already proven worthwhile of their lofty ranking after a clutch win over former-No. 25 Virginia, which was sandwiched between blowout victories over Illinois State and Winthrop.

The Wolverines are definitely going to provide the toughest challenge, as they return a number of elite players from their trip to last season's NCAA championship game.

Glenn Robinson III, Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary all contributed significantly during their March Madness run and are back for another season. While the loss of superstars Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the NBA certainly hurts, they have been replaced by freshman Derrick Walton Jr. and sophomore Caris LeVert.

However, the Rams also return three key starters—Juvonte Reddic, Treveon Graham and Rob Bradenberg—from their NCAA tournament squad, which just happened to lose to Michigan in the third round.

The opportunity for revenge is here and VCU head coach Shaka Smart will certainly have his side motivated to get it down in Puerto Rico.

Prediction: VCU 77,  Michigan 75

VCU Tip-Off Champion

Should the Rams knock out the Wolverines, they will be poised to capture the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship.

VCU will ride its momentum, and talent, to a victory over any opponent that steps up to challenge it from the other side of the bracket.

Georgetown is a safe pick to emerge and face VCU, but the Hoyas will ultimately come up short against a well-rounded Rams team that can do everything well and features more players with meaningful big-game experience.

Prediction: VCU 82, Georgetown 75