Welcome to Bubbleville, home to the University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team, among others.
UMass will participate in regular-season tournaments inside a bubble at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., at Thanksgiving time. The team will be part of a pod with Siena and the University of Delaware. The Minutemen will play both teams, with a third game scheduled. CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein reported on Twitter that UMass would play Iona in the third game, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
Dates, times and television broadcast details will be released at a later date.
Vermont, Iona and Buffalo make up Pod Three, while Towson, Saint Bonaventure and Stephen F. Austin make up Pod Four.
Bubbleville includes 29 different teams playing in different events. One of the regular Mohegan Sun tournaments is the annual Basketball Hall of Fame/Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament, which included UMass last year. This year’s roster features Rhode Island, South Florida, Temple and Virginia Tech.
Of the nine teams making up Pods Two, Three and Four, there are two each from the Atlantic 10, the Colonial Athletic Association and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. There will be one team from America East, the Mid-American Conference and the Southland.
“It is a very talented group,” UMass Coach Matt McCall said. “We needed this class to elevate and help us get to the top of the (Atlantic 10 Conference), and we feel like we’ve done that with this group.”
Mohegan Sun and Bubbleville will host several events due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The casino complex provides “a controlled environment with teams and event staff adhering to tribal, government and NCAA health and safety protocols and testing requirements.”
In addition to the aforementioned tournaments, the Legends Classic and the Empire Classic have both been moved to Mohegan Sun. The Legends Classic, featuring UConn and Notre Dame, had originally been scheduled to be played at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Empire Classic benefitting the Wounded Warriors Project, was set for Madison Square Garden and features Villanova and Boston College.
