Report: Villanova will be in the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis

An NC State whiteboard gave us the tip about 55 weeks ago that the Villanova Wildcats would be returning to the Bahamas. All was quiet on that front until Wednesday night when CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein provided the report that the 'Cats will be heading to the Battle 4 Atlantis in November 2017.

'Nova will be joined by the Arizona Wildcats, the Big Ten's Purdue Boilermakers (for the second consecutive pre-season), a 2015 NCAA re-match against the North Carolina State Wolfpack, the Tennessee Volunteers, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, and Northern Iowa Panthers.

Founded in 2011, the Battle 4 Atlantis is a relatively young preseason exempt tournament, but its offering of unprecedented riches to participants has advanced it into one of the elite early-season events in college hoops. The Battle awards over $2 million to participating teams annually.

Villanova won the 2013 Battle 4 Atlantis by defeating Southern California, Kansas, and Iowa.