Who BYU basketball will play in its Thanksgiving tournament

It’ll be a Thanksgiving to remember this November for Kevin Young .

BYU basketball’s new head coach will take his team down to San Diego over the holiday to compete in the Rady Children’s Invitational tournament, with the Cougars’ opponents being announced Friday morning.

BYU will open its invitational action on Nov. 28 (Thanksgiving Day) against SEC foe Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. MST.

Based on their result against the Rebels, the Cougars will then play either the winner or loser of a 2024 Final Four rematch between Purdue and NC State on Nov. 29.

Ole Miss finished its first season under Chris Beard with a 20-13 record and No. 86 national KenPom ranking in 2024, though the Rebels are expected to be much improved heading into the fall. ESPN has them ranked No. 20 in their “Way Too Early Top 25.″

BYU last faced Ole Miss in the 2015 NCAA Tournament’s First Four action, falling 94-90 in a heartbreaker.

The Cougars have not met with Purdue since the 2014 Maui Invitational, where they lost in overtime by an even tighter 87-85 margin.

BYU did defeat NC State last year over Thanksgiving to clinch the Vegas Showdown championship, but the Wolfpack emerged as one of the more improbable recent Cinderella stories in March to advance all the way to the Final Four.

Young’s Cougars will open the 2024 regular season on Nov. 5 against Central Arkansas and play five total contests before heading to San Diego for Thanksgiving.