When Kentucky Basketball Tournaments in Lexington Actually Meant Something

The Kentucky basketball schedule is officially complete. This year, Rupp Arena will host the BBN United Tipoff Classic, an illustrious event that features the likes of Valparaiso, Eastern Illinois, and Nicholls.

The BBN United Tipoff Classic is a new name for the BBN Invitational, which has also gone by the name of the BBN Challenge, the Wildcat Challenge, the Tribute Classic, and the Kentucky Classic

Why so many names? And why are they doing all of this anyway?

This year’s namesake is for the new BBN United revenue-sharing platform, and will serve to promote the organization that moved Kentucky’s NIL collective in-house. This three-game series falls under the umbrella of the NCAA’s “multi-team event” rule. These MTEs allow schools to play three different teams, but it only counts for one against the regular season maximum. In short, every team gets in an MTE to play 31 regular season games instead of 29.

Before MTEs against low-level non-conference foes, Kentucky held its own annual tournament in Lexington. The University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament (UKIT) wasn’t built for the Cats to log some easy wins. The UKIT was a four-team tournament that featured the best teams in college basketball.When Adolph Rupp’s Wildcats rose to the top of the college basketball world, the Kentucky head coach often scheduled games in New York City against some of the country’s best.