Battle 4 Atlantis 2015: Teams, Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket, TV Info

The 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis tournament gets underway Wednesday in the Bahamas, featuring six teams that are currently ranked inside Ken Pomeroy's top 50.

That group is spearheaded by Gonzaga, a preseason Final Four contender that has played only two games thus far after its opener against Pittsburgh was canceled. The 10th-ranked Zags won those contests by a combined 84 points, with Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer already looking like one of the best one-two punches in the country. 

"We want to win the national championship," Wiltjer said in October, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today. "I know people don't associate us with the Dukes or Kentuckys of college basketball, but we're fine proving people wrong. We're fine being underdogs."

Gonzaga, widely considered the pre-tournament favorite, opens with a rivalry-renewing matchup with Washington. The two Washington-based programs haven't played since 2006, a stretch that has seen the Zags continue their ascent to national power while the Huskies have struggled just to make the tournament.

Wednesday, Nov. 25	Time (ET)	Matchup	Network	Stream
Thursday, Nov. 26	Time (ET)	Matchup	Network	Stream
Friday, Nov. 27	Time (ET)	Matchup	Network	Stream
	12 p.m.	Gonzaga vs. Washington	ESPN	WatchESPN
	2:30 p.m.	Charlotte vs. Syracuse	ESPN	WatchESPN
	7 p.m.	Texas A&M vs. Texas	AXS TV
	9:30 p.m.	Michigan vs. Connecticut	AXS TV
	1 p.m.	Winner Gonzaga/Washington vs. Winner Texas A&M/Texas	ESPN	WatchESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Winner Michigan/Connecticut vs. Winner Charlotte/Syracuse	ESPN	WatchESPN
	7 p.m.	Loser Gonzaga/Washington vs. Loser Texas A&M/Texas	ESPN	WatchESPN
	9:30 p.m.	Loser Michigan/Connecticut vs. Loser Charlotte/Syracuse	ESPN	WatchESPN
	12:30 p.m.	3rd Place Game	ESPN	WatchESPN
	3 p.m.	Championship	ESPN	WatchESPN
	7 p.m.	5th Place Game	AXS TV
	9:30 p.m.	7th Place GAme	AXS TV

"As I've always said when we played Gonzaga, we're getting ready to play a very good opponent. An opponent that's one of the most successful programs in the country over the years," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said, per Tim Booth of the Associated Press (via the Olympian). "They've been battle-tested, so we know we have a tough road ahead of us."

Washington is off to a strong 3-0 start, taking down Texas in its opener before blowouts over Mount St. Mary's and Penn. 

The winner of Washington-Gonzaga will move on to play the winner of Texas-Texas A&M. The Longhorns bounced back from their season-opening loss to Gonzaga with a strong showing against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and appear to be grasping Shaka Smart's intricate system. The first-year coach, who took over for Rick Barnes, knows growing pains are on the horizon—even if expectations are high. 

"I think the biggest thing is our focus has to be on following our plan," said Smart, per Wescott Eberts of SB Nation. "We got much better with that from our first game to our second game in terms of carrying over what we talked about doing. There's such a focus—and I know it's obviously a huge part of your job—on the results and our guys want the results. I want the results."

Texas A&M is a Top 25 program after getting off to a 4-0 start, thanks in large part to a cupcake schedule. Five players (Tyler Davis, Danuel House, Tonny Trocha-Morelos, DJ Hogg, Admon Gilder) are scoring in double figures for Billy Kennedy, who may finally be building his first NCAA tournament team in College Station.

"This team has high expectations, and this is just part of it," Kennedy said of being ranked, per Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle. "We need to go and take care of business and show that we belong."

In the bottom half of the bracket, Syracuse should get an easy pass through the tournament's weakest team in Charlotte. The Orange are off to a 3-0 start despite some offensive struggles, while Charlotte dropped its first two games before earning a nine-point win over Furman. 

The more interesting of the two matchups is between Michigan and Connecticut, which will close out Wednesday's openers. The Wolverines will be looking to rebound after an 86-70 loss to Xavier. Michigan coach John Beilein has so far been unable to settle on a starting lineup, already shuffling his starting lineup once. 

"We are trying to figure out who we are, and I think we figure out a little more every day so that when we get into the Big Ten season we have a plan of attack offensively and defensively," Beilein said, per Brendan F. Quinn of MLive.com.

Connecticut is coming off three straight strong wins against smaller opponents. This will be the first test for Kevin Ollie's team, which is trying to recover from a disappointing 2014-15 campaign.

"The competition is definitely stepping up, but I like these guys, they've put in the hard work, planted the seeds, they've worked all summer to build up for this. So I think they're ready," Ollie said, per Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant.

Overall, this should be a fun tournament to keep an eye on over the Thanksgiving holiday. Gonzaga is the considerable favorite, but Syracuse and Connecticut could make a real statement if either one is able to pull off the upset.