March Madness in October? Top programs using exhibitions to cash in and check team chemistry – Hartford Courant

By TERESA M. WALKER

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee coach Rick Barnes saw a chance to bring Duke to campus for the first time in nearly 50 years and jumped at it.

His No. 18 Volunteers host sixth-ranked Duke on Sunday in an exhibition that sold out minutes after tickets went on sale despite the result not counting. It’s much more important to the coaches as a preseason checkup for a pair of programs that finished in the top five last spring.

“I wish we played more of them,” Barnes said. “I really do. I think it would help all of us.”

Barnes has lots of company. The last weekend of October now looks like the second week of the NCAA Tournament with a bunch of games between power conference opponents providing a fresh revenue source along with a chance to test team chemistry during this time of roster overhauls through the transfer portal and players cashing in on their athletic fame.

The star-power games start up on Friday, with No. 1 Purdue at No. 9 Kentucky, No. 25 North Carolina facing No. 8 BYU in Salt Lake City and No. 19 Kansas at No. 11 Louisville. The next day, No. 5 St. John’s plays No. 7 Michigan at Madison Square Garden and on Sunday No. 2 and national runner-up Houston plays Mississippi State while the No. 9 North Carolina State women play No. 10 Maryland

There are more games like this before the season opens Nov. 3, like No. 22 Michigan State against No. 4 UConn in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 28 and the No. 11 North Carolina women taking on No. 2. South Carolina in Atlanta.

Growing value in exhibition games

Exhibitions had been allowed before this season if the proceeds went to charity.

Memphis hosted a doubleheader last October benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the Tigers play Arkansas on Oct. 27 with the women hosting No. 19 Vanderbilt in the second Hoops for St. Jude Classic.

The NCAA men’s basketball oversight committee approved a rule change in January allowing Division I programs to play two exhibitions without a waiver. Also eliminated was a requirement that the proceeds be donated to charity, and now schools now can split the proceeds however they want.

Smaller programs see a change

Belmont coach Casey Alexander initially hoped that all D-I programs would play two exhibitions, giving midmajors like his Bruins a chance to bring an opponent from a power league to campus for an exhibition. The rule change was designed to help programs offset expenses from revenue-sharing.

Yet the only exhibition Belmont has scheduled is Tennessee Tech.

“That’s the reason why you’re seeing the high-profile teams playing each other,” Alexander said. “It’s one more game for them to draw 10- or 15- or 20,000 at home, and therefore a lot of revenue that they can put in their pocket to offset what they’re spending.”

Duke last visited Tennessee on Dec. 7, 1976, and the Volunteers beat the Blue Devils the last time they met in the first weekend of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer was looking for the toughest game possible to prepare for a challenging nonconference slate. Visiting Tennessee gives him a chance to learn about his reshaped roster after losing all five starters from a Final Four team, including Associated Press national player of the year and No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg.

It’s also a game, even if it doesn’t count in the standings, that could resonate all the way to March in preparing the Blue Devils.

“I’m anxious to learn,” Scheyer said. “Without trying to shoot every bullet in the chamber that you have, either. That’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re just trying to make sure we’re true to who we are. It’s going to be interesting.”

Balancing games that don’t count

Kentucky coach Mark Pope said coaches thought the rule would pass in 2024. He is grateful to finally have the chance to test his Wildcats against No. 1 Purdue and Georgetown in the preseason. Pope even has a number in mind after expanding to 33 games: eight more for 41 a season would be nice.

“It’s fun for our fans. I think it’s elite for us,” Pope said.

There are some power programs playing second exhibitions against neighbors outside the blue blood lines. Purdue hosts Division II Indianapolis on Oct. 29. Indiana scheduled a game against NAIA program Marian while Kansas State will host D-II Newman on Halloween a week after an exhibition against Missouri.

Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said playing a Southeastern Conference program on the road is a great preview for what his Wildcats face this season during the nonconference slate with the likes of Creighton, Mississippi State and Indiana ahead of the Big 12 schedule.

“We might as well start preparing for it early,” Tang said. “Every night in the Big 12, we’re going to play a team with a number next to their name.”

The exhibitions also help replace the secret scrimmages where teams experimented with potential rule changes. Those aren’t all gone, with Vanderbilt facing Virginia this week playing by NBA rules with four 12-minute quarters.

Just how vanilla the exhibitions wind up in terms of schemes and sets remains to be seen.

“You get a chance to experiment a little bit more,” Scheyer said. “I think in this, you know it’s going to be seen. You try to not show everything you have. So it’s a tradeoff.”

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AP Basketball Writers Aaron Beard and Dave Skretta and AP freelance writer Keith Taylor contributed to this report.

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Originally Published: October 16, 2025 at 11:54 AM EDT