KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island will face Towson in the opening round of the 2025 Terry's Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational at Walt Disney World Resort, it was announced Tuesday afternoon.

The game is the first in the three-day, eight-team bracketed tournament that also includes Bradley, Liberty, Princeton, UC San Diego, Temple and Vermont.

The Rams and Tigers - who have never met on the hardwood in men's basketball - will tip off at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The game will air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The tournament is a true bracket format. The winner of the Rhody-Towson contest will play against the winner of Liberty-Vermont. The Liberty-Vermont contest will be played immediately following the URI-Towson game. The winner's bracket semifinal will be held Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 12 pm. on ESPN2, while the consolation game will be Nov. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

On the other side of the bracket, Temple will face UC San Diego in the opening round, while Princeton will battle Bradley.

Towson head coach Pat Skerry, who spent three seasons at URI as an assistant coach, led the Tigers to a 22-11 record last season. Skerry's staff includes associate head coach and former Ram point guard Parfait Bitee, who is entering his 10th season with Towson. Towson finished last season with a 151 in the NET rankings.

Potential second-round matchups Liberty and Vermont ended last season 60th and 232nd, respectively in the NET. Both were 20-game winners a year ago. Liberty was 28-7 and earned a bid to the NCAA Championship, while Vermont was 21-12.

This is the 19^th year Walt Disney World has hosted the ESPN Events Invitational at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, and the first time three different tournaments been held at the site. All the games will once again be played at State Farm Field House, a venue that has been the site of world-class basketball competitions including NBA games and elite youth tournaments.
 
Tickets for all three brackets are now on sale here!
 
All tickets include two back-to-back games within the same bracket. A complete schedule with session names can be viewed above/below. New in 2025, all tickets will include reserved seat assignments. There will be no general admission tickets. Fans can select their seats using Ticketmaster's interactive map.
 
Experience Kissimmee is offering discounted rates at nearby hotels for the ESPN Events Invitational.

About ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In the 2025-26 academic year, the 35-event schedule includes three early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 10 college basketball events, two college volleyball events, the premiere regular season college softball and gymnastics events, as well as the Band of the Year National Championship. Collectively, these events account for over 400 hours of live programming on ESPN platforms, reaching 60 million viewers and attracting more than 650,000 annual attendees. Each year, the portfolio of events features more than 20 Division I conferences and hosts over 4,000 participating student-athletes. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
 
Follow ESPN Events on Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube pages.
 
About Terry's Chocolate
Terry's Chocolate is more than a chocolate, it's an experience. Tap it, unwrap it and enjoy it: this ritual has been tempting the United Kingdom since 1926 and has become popular in the U.S. market with several million balls sold each year. This unique and interactive format has made the Terry's Chocolate a must-have Christmas stocking-stuffer and the perfect token gift all year round. Terry's, time to have a blast!
 
About ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, located at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, is the home of Disney Soccer and Disney Spring Training and one of the premier sites for amateur sports in the nation. The complex hosts dozens of events each year and has accommodated 70 different sports featuring athletes from 70 different countries. Designed to provide professional, amateur and youth athletes with experiences synonymous with the names Disney and ESPN, the 220-acre facility features multiple competition venues, including 12 baseball/softball fields; a 9,500-seat stadium; a state-of-the-art indoor arena in addition to two field houses for basketball, volleyball, eSports and other indoor sports; and 17 multi-purpose outdoor fields for soccer, football and field hockey. The complex also contains a professional production center that produces content for the Disney family of networks for global distribution. For more information, visit www.disneysportsnews.com for news releases, photos and videos and www.espnwwos.com for the latest calendar of events.