INDIANAPOLIS — A million-dollar basketball tournament tips off Friday at Butler University.
Hinkle Fieldhouse is one of eight sites across the United States hosting a total of 64 teams competing in The Basketball Tournament — or TBT. Teams of college alumni compete in the tournament for a $1 million prize.
Butler's team, "The All Good Dawgs," will be joined in the tournament by some familiar in-state foes. Indiana University's "Assembly Ball" team and Purdue's "Men of Mackey" are among six Indiana-based teams playing in the competition.
RELATED: View the TBT bracket
For a state that bleeds basketball, the games against Indiana opponents have more weight than the cash prize.
"You know, there's a little bit of bragging rights," said All Good Dawgs head coach Emerson Kampen, who played at Butler and currently an assistant coach for the Bulldogs. "I think there's been different eras between Purdue, IU, Butler in the last 10-15 years of kind of dominance of the state, so for a bunch of us old guys to kind of get out there and kind of settle some old scores and play against different generations, I think it's probably fun for everybody."
There are four games Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, starting at 1 p.m. The second round of the single-elimination tournament will be held on Sunday, July 21, with the third round on Tuesday, July 23. Tickets start at $10 for the games at Butler University and can be purchased online at the TBT website.
The TBT championship is scheduled for Aug. 4 in Philadelphia.