This spring, the NCAA passed a rule that allows men’s and women’s college basketball programs to participate in an international summer trip every year, rather than just one every four years.

These trips are important as they most importantly allow teams to have extra practice time, but they also allow teams to face true competition and aid in team bonding. For the fans, the trips allow the unique experience to travel with the team or watch them on TV, building excitement for the upcoming season.

In his first press conference of the summer, Mark Pope talked about his hope for an additional rule change to summer trips, allowing them to be done in the states.

“There is one of the things that we’re excited about, potentially coming down the pipeline that we’ve been pushing for, is now we’re allowed to take international trips every single year. We’d like to actually make that something that could be done domestically,” Pope said on Friday

Pope argues that this is a way to bring more attention to college basketball in the summer.

“We’re always trying to take up windows of time with college basketball, in terms of the way we are in the public sphere, and I hope that that change goes through,” he said. “The opportunities that we’re exploring right now with that would be game-changing. I’m hopeful.”

There is also a financial aspect to this.

Foreign trips cost money for the program and the fans. Typically, a program works with the resort or tour operator at a discounted rate, as they aim to make more money from fans’ travel. Yet, there is still a cost, and in a college landscape where money is at a premium and needed to be competitive, every dollar counts. Cost was even something mentioned when Mark Pope was asked about why Kentucky did not take a summer trip this offseason.

Whereas, if a summer trip can be done domestically, that first reduces the cost for the program, and second, eases the barrier of entry for fans.

Let’s say Kentucky is able to organize or join a multi-team event in Indianapolis. This is close enough for many Kentucky fans to travel at a lower cost than, let’s say, the Bahamas, increasing ticket sales. There is also potential for TV deals. In short, increased revenue and reduced costs.

At the end of the day, Pope is just asking for more freedom for summer trips. In turn, that would mean more accessible summer college basketball.

“If you talk to the guys on our team, they would like more time on the court together and with us. They like more opportunities to play more games,” Pope said. “Our staff feels the same way. I think that’s probably a common theme throughout college basketball. So the more freedom we have to actually get work done, I think the better.”

Also posted on A Sea of Blue.

Game three between La Familia and The Ville was everything you could ask for as a bystander in the middle of the summer. From vintage performances, to big-time plays, BBN had a variety of reasons to get loud and support their alumni.

On Wednesday, July 22, La Familia (2-1) took down The Ville (1-2) by a score of 63-57, eliminating the rival Louisville Cardinals from the alumni bracket. The Wildcats officially advanced to the alumni semifinals, now just three wins away for a shot at $2 million.

The main story of this one was the debut of Archie Goodwin, who was under the social media light heavily after the Kentucky alumni suffered a blowout loss on the road. Aaron Harrison, who is inactive this tournament run due to his newborn, took to Twitter (X) to express his feelings on Goodwin and the other players who pulled out of TBT this summer.

“I don’t see how you can say you will show up and committed …then don’t show up at all the week of??? We could’ve gotten different players that wanted to play and not play with ppl time. Sucka sh*t”

Seemingly though, business was handled before he made his debut, confirmed by Goodwin after the game. Families fight, and that’s ok, but having a good performance will certainly clear all the bad energy surrounding an issue. He did just that.

La Familia rolled out a new starting lineup, moving Chris Coffey to the bench in trade for Goodwin and starting Willie Cauley-Stein, who only played 24 total minutes in the first two games.

From a honest standpoint, La Familia came out extremely sloppy in the first half, shooting 10/27 from the field and 1/11 from deep. Montrezl Harrell had tallied 12 points and seven rebounds by the break, continuing his domination from the previous game.

Every Wildcat fan was thinking the same thought with their team trailing 30-25.

The second half was all Kentucky, and it sure was satisfying. Goodwin started hitting shots and getting into a rhythm, Darryl Morsell was hitting shots left and right and Cauley-Stein looked like his younger self after his injury.

Goodwin would call game in his debut, hitting the Elam score of 63 and finishing the night with 22 points. Morsell dropped 20 points and Cauley-Stein had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Up next, Kentucky will host the winner of Boeheim’s Army (Syracuse) and Hall In (Seton Hall) on Sunday, July 26. Tip is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET and will air live on FOX.

On Monday, July 20, La Familia traveled to Louisville, KY to take on The Ville in the historic Freedom Hall. With a 1-0 series lead, the Kentucky alumni had a game to give before returning home. Unfortunately for them, they fell by a score of 82-62 in a dominant showing from the Cardinals.

Heading into this matchup, there was yet again some drama with the injury report, as Willie Cauley-Stein was listed as questionable, Marcus Lee was listed as out and Archie Goodwin was marked to make his debut on Monday for the Wildcats.

However, as the day went on, TBT officially announced that Cauley-Stein will play but that Goodwin will not, sending Big Blue Nation into another frenzy of question marks. Nonetheless, no matter if it’s a Marquette alum balling out for you or if it’s the Wildcats’ own, the show must go on.

The majority of the first quarter showed a competitive ballgame, with La Familia holding an 11-9 lead at the media break. James Mainor-Bell banged in two threes to start the game, with Andrew Harrison joining in on the three party after an ankle breaker. The Ville was doing their best to play bully ball with Montrezl Harrell, but the Wildcats held him to only two points in his first quarter of action.

Harrell scored five straight for the Cardinals to start the second quarter, giving them their first lead of the game at the seven-minute mark. From then on, it would be complete and utter domination from the star forward, dropping 16 points in the quarter alone on perfect shooting.

Harrison, Chris Coffey and others did their best to stop the bleeding, but words cannot describe how quickly The Ville took control and did whatever they wanted on the court. La Familia only shot 8/30 from the field in the first half and nothing could go their way.

At the break, the alumni from the bluegrass trailed 36-22.

From poster dunks, lobs and threes, there was no idea of a comeback in any Kentucky fans’ heart, with The Ville having fun while they could in front of their fanbase.

Harrison and Coffey would combined for 34 points, but in response, Harrell finished the night with 35 points and eight rebounds to tie up the three-game series.

Up next, La Familia will host The Ville on Wednesday, July 22 for the third and final game of the series. The winner will take home the bragging rights and send their in-state rival on a one-way exit out of the TBT tournament. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. ET and will air live on FS1.