Four teams that reached the 2018 NCAA Tournament headline the six-team field of the 2018 Sunshine Classic in Winter Park, Florida. 

Creighton, Miami, USF, and Virginia were all part of the field of 64 a season ago and each harbors similar aspirations in 2019. Of the quartet, Miami is positioned the most favorably: The 9-2 Hurricanes sport a No. 24 Associated Press ranking. 

But while Miami may have enjoyed the best prelude to the Sunshine Classic, the depth of the field can elevate any of the six teams that leaves with two wins.

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The Hurricanes draw the Classic’s two SEC participants, Vanderbilt and Alabama, on Thursday and Friday, respectively. Since a late-November loss to Purdue, Miami has won three in a row, and victories over Vandy and Bama would stretch the Hurricanes’ win streak to five straight.

“We had really good conversations with the team after the Purdue loss and I think it all showed up,” Hurricanes coach Katie Meier said to HurricaneSports.com following the win over Colorado that kicked off the streak. 

Meier has made some lineup adjustments throughout the last three games, including bringing leading scorer and rebounder Beatrice Mompremier off the bench in a rout of Maryland Eastern Shore. 

Mompremier is the only player in the Sunshine Classic averaging a double-double, at 15.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, but she and her Hurricanes teammates close out the first day of the Classic facing one of the highest scorers in the field, Vanderbilt’s Mariella Fasoula. 

Fasoula’s continued to carry the Commodores’ flag in a trying early portion to the season. Vanderbilt is without guard Chelsie Hall, its second-leading scorer through seven games before she went down with an injury. 

Vanderbilt can improve its prospects heading into SEC competition with two games against 2018 Tournament participants. The Commodores draw Creighton, with the leading per-game scorer in the field Audrey Faber, on the Classic’s second night.

Faber and Jaylyn Agnew combine for a potent one-two scoring punch that yields 42 points per game for the Bluejays. The tandem helped key a first-round upset of Iowa in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. This season, they are central to Creighton’s March aspirations, which begin amid a challenging stretch of games now. 

Big East openers against favorites DePaul and Marquette await. Meanwhile, the Bluejays faced an outstanding Florida State team before embarking for the Classic, and they will conclude the tournament against USF. 

USF has played its own demanding schedule, including last month’s U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Bulls coach Jose Fernandez told FloHoops.com ahead of the Paradise Jam that scheduling tournaments like the Jam and Sunshine Classic were integral in preparing his team for the conference season, and USF has indeed come on strong since going 1-2 in the Virgin Islands.

The Bulls are winners of five straight, having adjusted to life without star Kitija Laksa, who sustained a season-ending injury three games into the campaign. USF has since thrived with a balanced approach, led by Laura Ferreira’s 16.1 points per game. 

USF concludes its portion of the Classic on Friday against Virginia, another of the 2018 NCAA Tournament participants in the field. The Cavaliers have struggled early in 2018-19, however, dropping four of their last six and failing to reach 70 points in a game since Nov. 18. 

Virginia’s first game of the Classic, meanwhile, comes against an Alabama team averaging 70.7 points per game. The Crimson Tide trio of Jasmine Walker, Cierra Johnson, and Jordan Lewis combine to account for 36.9 of those points.

ALABAMA

Names to Know: Jasmine Walker (12.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1 SPG); Cierra Johnson (12.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1 SPG); Jordan Lewis (11.7 PPG, 4 RPG) 

CREIGHTON

Names to Know: Audrey Faber (16.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2 BPG); Jaylyn Agnew (15.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1 BPG); Tatum Rembao (8.1 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.1 SPG) 

MIAMI 

Names to Know: Beatrice Mompremier (15.1 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 1.1 BPG); Emese Hof (12.6 PPG, 9 RPG, 2 BPG); Laura Cornelius (10.2 PPG, 4.3 APG, 2.4 RPG) 

USF

Names to Know: Laura Ferreira (16.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1 SPG); Sydni Harvey (14.4 PPG, 3.7 APG, 2.7 RPG); Beatriz Jordao (12.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG); Alyssa Rader (9.1 PPG, 8.7 RPG) 

VANDERBILT 

Names to Know: Mariella Fasoula (16.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG); Autumn Newby (7.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG); Cierra Walker (12.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG)

VIRGINIA 

Names to Know: Jocelyn Willoughby (12.2 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.1 SPG); Dominique Toussaint (10.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.5 APG); Mone’ Jones (9.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG)

Kyle Kensing is a freelance sports journalist in southern California. Follow him on Twitter @kensing45.