Northwestern will play alongside three other teams in the Legends Classic, one of college basketball’s most prominent early-season tournaments, next season.

The Cats will join Notre Dame, Texas and Colorado — all power-conference schools that participated in the NCAA Tournament this spring — in the event at Barclays Center, the home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, on November 21 and 22, the program announced Thursday.

Prior to the event in Brooklyn, NU will host a pair of games in Welsh-Ryan Arena against two of the tournament’s four minor participants: Bryant, Eastern Washington, Louisiana-Monroe and Seattle. The exact opponents and game dates have not yet been announced.

After a 2015-16 season, the Wildcats won 20 regular season games for the first time ever but were weighed down by a poor strength of schedule and failed to receive an NCAA Tournament or NIT invitation. Inclusion in the Legends Classic should increase the difficulty NU’s non-conference schedule next season.

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