Vanderbilt men’s basketball has a couple of closed matchups this fall. The first took place Saturday at preseason No. 1 North Carolina and the second will be at home against No. 6 Virginia on Nov. 8.
The conditions with these scrimmages are that they must remain closed to the public, and that only athletic department staff whose help is directly needed to run the event can be present. The NCAA theoretically prohibits teams from publicizing or discussing scrimmages before they happen, but bits of news and statistics routinely leak anyway.
Many coaches feel that these scrimmages provide an edge over the traditional exhibition games against non-Division I opponents that the NCAA provides as an alternative option.