The Basketball Tournament is looking to capitalize on the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry with a revamped format for its 2026 event.
Instead of the 32-team, single elimination format that has existed since the TBT’s inception, the event is switching things up to a 16-team format that will now feature a $2 million, winner-take-all prize.
The event will feature a pair of 8-team brackets, one featuring alumni teams and the other featuring non-alumni teams. The first round will be a best-of-3 series, with the winners advancing to a single-elimination tournament.
Naturally, one of the first round series will pit Louisville’s alums against Kentucky’s.
Honesty, this is a smart move by the TBT folks. Local interest in the event has dwindled since U of L turned back into a competent men’s basketball program, but the games against the Kentucky alums will still draw interest. Unfortunately for both sides, the teams have lost before setting up the showdown in each of the last two summers. This is a guaranteed way to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
So far, Russ Smith, Edgar Sosa and Malik Williams have all signed on to be a part of this year’s The Ville squad.
