Mexico 2015 FIBA Americas Schedule, Groups & Where To Watch Games

By Maria Quinto First Posted: Aug 31, 2015 11:20 AM EDT

The 2015 FIBA Americas Championship will kick off on Monday in Mexico City, where 10 teams will try to earn a ticket to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The United States basketball squad are perennial favorites in the tournament, but they will not see action this year. USA already earned a spot after winning the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

The 10 participating teams were divided into two groups of five teams. The top four teams will advance to the second round and face the qualified teams from the opposite group.

The eight teams will be ranked after the second round and the top four teams will move to the semifinals. The two finalists will automatically get a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Group A

Host nation Mexico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Panama and Uruguay were drawn into Group A.

Mexico are favorites to top the group. Aside from their homecourt advantage, they are tipped to win the group since they are the defending champions of the tournament.

The host should be wary of Brazil, though, since the Brazilians will play without pressure on their shoulders. They have already earned a spot as host of the 2016 Summer Games.

Group B

Argentina, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Venezuela were drawn into Group B.

Argentina will still be bannered by veteran stars Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni. However, Argentina will face a big test when they collide with Canada, arguably the most exciting team in the tournament.

Canada will parade 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins alongside fellow NBA players Anthony Bennett, Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicholson, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Robert Sacre and Nik Stauskas.

Schedule & Where To Watch

The 2015 FIBA Americas Championship first-round schedule can be seen below. All games will be shown live on ESPN3 and through online live stream via WatchESPN.

August 31 - Monday