The Beavers will play in the 2017 AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
— Oregon State Hoops (@BeaverMBB) November 25, 2016
Release: https://t.co/DmbtC8kkra#AdvoCareInv #GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/1mtDiCXuxj
Lost in the excitement of the Civil War win, Oregon State announced that hoops will be heading to Florida next Thanksgiving to play in the AdvoCare Invitational. For those that don’t know, AdvoCare is a company that sells nutritional supplements, which is why the title of this post is what it is. I just felt like that pun needed to be reiterated.
The AdvoCare Invitational has seen better years than 2017, talent-wise. Gonzaga won the 2016 tournament over the weekend. A tournament that has hosted schools such as Kansas, Michigan State, Xavier, and Florida State has fallen victim to the “College Bowl Game Phenomenon.” Now that everyone in the country goes to a tournament over the holidays, it’s gotten harder and harder to attract talented teams to travel to a tournament that might end up hurting their RPI later down the road. West Virginia will likely be the only team in the Invitational that will spend any time in the AP top 25 this year.
The brackets haven’t yet been announced, but barring a recruiting miracle elsewhere, West Virginia and Nebraska will be the teams to beat for the Beavers. The field also includes Marist, Central Florida, Long Beach State, Saint John’s, and Missouri (Missouri might end up being good next year but who knows. They lost to North Carolina Central last night.)
The Beavers travelling to Orlando and having the experience of playing against unfamiliar teams in a tournament format will be paramount to the youth of this squad should they end up in the tournament next March. Especially given what should be three winnable games, leaving Florida with a tournament win would be incredible momentum to ride into Pac-12 play in 2017. If nothing else, Drew Eubanks will hopefully leave with a few tubs of protein powder to reduce his salmonella risk from his 16 eggs a day.