It used to be that you got two exhibition “warm-up” games before the college basketball season started in earnest. Back in the day that meant touring teams like Athletes in Action would go around and play college teams in exhibitions. One time the Harlem Globetrotters even came to Mackey Arena and played a serious game (it was my junior year). Eventually, smaller colleges took over this role.
Now teams still get two exhibitions, but many have turned to the “secret scrimmage”. Normally the policy is that WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT SECRET SCRIMMAGE, but for the purposes of this post, we’ll at least give some background.