Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball, Other Local Colleges Setting Up Exhibition Event Ahead of 2025-26 Season

A big local basketball event is reportedly brewing for a few teams in the area. 247Sports's Rick Broering of the Musketeer Report noted on Tuesday that an announcement is coming soon to roll out an exhibition basketball event involving Cincinnati, Xavier, Dayton, and Ohio State.

The event would not count toward regular-season records to start, as more details are pending ahead of the announcement.

"I'm hearing a big announcement involving Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio State, and Xavier is on the way. The schools are expected to unveil a unique college basketball exhibition event," Broering posted on X.

UC head coach Jerrod Calhoun has not been shy about aiming to play the best teams in the area more consistently as he begins his tenure leading the program.

He discussed wanting to play at Ohio State earlier in the spring.

“We enjoy scheduling; we think it's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle that we have to put together,” Calhoun said. “There's a strategic play in there, but personally, I think we should play Ohio State, home and home, every year for the next 30 years. I think it's great for the state."

The Cincinnati alum knows what it's like when Cincinnati is the top dog in Ohio, and he made their presence known by landing top-ranked Ohio player Kam Mercer early in his first few months.

"This year, we went and spent $2.4 million on a roster, and we won a regular-season title. We won a conference tournament title. We won a first-round NCAA game, and we took Arizona to the final four or five minutes. Not here to say we don't need money by any means. We need a lot of it, and that's for sure, but I think what it shows you is our ability to evaluate the right people," Calhoun noted at this introductory press conference. "You have to have the right people. The University of Cincinnati deserves a winner in men's basketball. This city deserves to be rocking and rolling again. People need to fear us in the state of Ohio; it's the best basketball job in the state of Ohio, I think it truly is."

We will update this article further when more information on the exhibition setup is available.

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