Northwestern to play in 2015 CBE Classic

Northwestern will join North Carolina, Missouri and Kansas State as the four "featured" teams at the 2015 CBE Classic, according to Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com.

According to Rothstein, it hasn't yet been determined which of the other three teams Northwestern will play. But regardless, the tournament, which will be played Nov. 23-24 in Kansas City, is a big step up for Northwestern, and should present two enticing matchups.

The CBE Classic will be the most prestigious early season tournament the Wildcats have been to in a while, perhaps ever. NU went to Las Vegas last year for the Las Vegas Invitational, where it lost to both UCLA and Missouri. This year, Chris Collins will take his team to Cancun, where they'll take on Miami (OH) and either Virginia Tech or Northern Iowa.

This report comes as somewhat of a surprise, because Chris Collins has said explicitly that he wants to keep his non-conference schedule somewhat manageable. This year, the headliners of the non-conference season for Northwestern are Georgia Tech and Butler. Neither of those teams can compare to UNC, Missouri or Kansas State.