Money is the driving force in college athletics—that much is obvious. From mass conference realignments, NCAA tournament expansion and multi-million dollar roster budgets, that much is clear. However, the effects this drive for money has had on college basketball has slowly begun to trickle down to affect the regular season, and particularly multi-team events (MTEs).

Early season MTEs are a crucial part of the magic that is felt when college basketball finally gets underway in November. The Maui Invitational, Charleston Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis all felt like a small preview to the bigger dance in March. The anticipation these MTEs created was unmatched in the month of November, whether it be waiting to see what teams made the field or what matchups were going to be played.

Not long ago, those three events felt like giants amongst a sea of varying MTEs. The best teams in the sport—both at the high-major and mid-major levels—would battle it out in impactful matchups that would almost certainly play a major role on Selection Sunday. 

Now, those events feel like a shell of those former selves, with events like the Players Era Festival and the newly founded Diamond Cup taking center stage. While these events undoubtedly will bring forth some incredible early-season matchups, it has left their older counterparts in the dust.

Part of the allure of tournaments like the Maui Invitational were the impactful matchups in small-packed gyms at exclusive locations, creating a feel that most normal non-conference games couldn’t match. The Players Era Festival feels sterile in contrast, despite the field of teams it draws in comparison. The energy and environments produced by the Players Era Festival’s counterparts felt as if it couldn’t be matched, regardless of the big time names in the the Players Era Festival.

However, events such as the Players Era Festival and the Diamond Cup offer big-time payouts for participants—while many programs afford a net financial loss to compete in older events like the Maui Invitational. What can keep some of the older MTEs relevant as these “super” MTEs continue to grow in relevance?

I believe the very allure I mentioned earlier of those older events can do just that.

With many of the top power-four programs ditching the older model to grow their war chests in these newer super MTEs, it leaves the fields of these previously regarded events wide-open for some of the top mid-major and even lower-level high-majors to stake their claims.

A lack of blue-blood history and big names doesn’t make the matchups that could be present in these events any less impactful. Sure, they may not draw the audiences that the projected field for the Diamond Cup will, but I wouldn’t underestimate the fanbases of some of these mid-major teams.

These older MTEs should remain just as impactful—and maybe even more so with many teams fighting to build the foundations of their resumes with the matchups these events could now present for mid-majors.

Plus, these older MTEs may just one day just adopt the model that both the Players Era Festival and Diamond Cup are using to draw teams in—but for now, the reputation they have built as some of the most exciting early-season events will have to suffice.