Maryland basketball to play four games as part of Cancun Challenge

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The full 2015 Cancun Challenge schedule was released on Wednesday afternoon, with Maryland slated to play four non-league games as part of the event.

The Terps will play two games in Cancun and two in College Park as part of the challenge. It will host Rider on Nov. 20, then will travel to Cancun to play Illinois State as part of an eight-team tournament on Nov. 24. The winner of that game will meet the winner of TCU or Rhode Island on Nov. 25 – the two losing teams will play in a consolation game that day.

The two-day tournament was launched in 2008 and played at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya. Maryland will return to College Park to close out the challenge on Nov. 28, hosting Cleveland State.

Maryland, which is considered by many a betting-favorite to win the national championship next season, announced last week that it would meet North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It also has non-conference games scheduled against Georgetown (Gavitt Games) and Connecticut (Jimmy V Classic).