March Madness in October? Top programs using exhibitions to cash in and check team chemistry | Sports

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — 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.

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