Four weeks from tonight, the Arizona Wildcats will open the 2019-20 college basketball season at home against NAU. Six days prior to that they will have play Chico State, the only exhibition the NCAA allows Division I teams to schedule.
But it won’t be Arizona’s only preseason competition, just the only one anyone is allowed to watch.
Per Jeff Goodman of Stadium, the Wildcats and the Saint Mary’s Gaels are set to face each other Oct. 19 in Phoenix in what’s unofficially referred to as a “secret” scrimmage.
Almost every major college team plays at least one of these during the lead up to the regular season as a way to get some good competition in while not violating any NCAA rules.