By Nick Veronica

Canisius will play in the 2015 Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic, an eight-team event that promises four games, with the final two at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on December 22 and 23.

Other teams in the event include SMU, Colorado, Penn State, Kent State, Louisiana-Monroe, Nicholls State and Hampton. Opponents will be announced at a later date.

Each school’s first two games will be held on campus sites, with SMU and Penn State already announcing both of their games will be at home.

Tickets for the Las Vegas portion of the event, sold only in two-day packages, begin at $47. (This event should not be confused with the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, a similar event held in November.)

Third-place and championship games of the tournament — on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 9 and 11:30 p.m. EST — will be shown live on Fox Sports 1. Past winners of the event include Kansas State (2008), Alabama (2009), New Mexico (2010), Baylor (2011), Colorado State (2012), UNLV (2013) and Loyola (Ill.) (2014).