Michigan basketball to play in 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off

The Michigan Wolverines will be one of the eight teams to play in the 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament, Nick Baumgardner of Michigan Live reported.

The tournament, held annually in San Juan, Puerto Rico, will last from Nov. 21-24 next season. Match-ups have not been determined, but VCU has announced that it will participate along with the Wolverines, Auburn, Charlotte, Florida State, Georgetown, Kansas State and Long Beach State.

This year's Puerto Rico Tip-Off is currently underway, which each participant playing three games.

In the past, Wolverines' coach John Beilein has expressed a desire to have his team play in one early-season tournament annually, preferably in the Maui Invitational whenever possible.

"It's a bit of a crapshoot at times, because you're two or one year out," Beilein said at Big Ten Media Day in October. "What happens is, they're only going to take one Big Ten team in every one of those things. The plan is always to (have them lined up) four years out. I'll get a call now from someone saying 'are you interested in coming to our 2017 Cancun Challenge?' That's the way it goes. Our hope is to (always) have a year to go back to Maui, and have that always part of a cycle. We're always trying to get those things (scheduled)."

This season, Michigan is playing in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden in New York City and plays a semifinal game against Pittsburgh on Wednesday.