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Fairbanks, AK - Hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, seven Division I teams from the “lower 48” will be joining UA’s Nanooks in the spectacle held at the Carlson Center which has become a popular D-I event.

Akron, the Mid-American East regular-season champion and an NCAA tournament team except for a last-second desperation shot, won 26 of 33 games last season and will be considered an early favorite in the TOWC with three of its first five scorers returning.

ESPN is promoting this week as Rivalry Week.. though outside of Texas/Texas A&M tonight, and Duke/UNC, there's nothing that really gets me that excited. What I'd like to see is an in-state Rivalry week that included teams for all 50 states (well 50 minus Alaska, but substituting the District of Columbia).

Not every state (like Vermont or Maine) can really accommodate an in-state rivalry.. so in select situations I've resorted to out-of-state rivalries. In these situations, I've always matched up a team in a neighboring state (I counted Hawaii and California as neighboring). Also in states where there are 3 major schools, I've had to resort to out-of-state games, or where there is 1 school in a specific state that is simply out of the others' league.