The BBN helped La Familia lock up home court advantage against Louisville's TBT team

You’ve outdone yourselves once again, members of the Big Blue Nation.

Thanks to you all, Kentucky’s alumni team in this summer’s edition of The Basketball Tournament, La Familia, has locked up home court advantage for the first round.

The group of former Wildcats will take on Louisville’s alumni team, The Ville, in the opening round of TBT, a three-game series set to begin in July. Game one will take place at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington on Saturday, July 18, at 12 p.m. ET (FOX). Game two will be played at Freedom Hall in Louisville on Monday, July 20, at 7 p.m. ET (FS1).

If the series is split at 1-1 after those two games, a decisive game three will return to Lexington. Since Kentucky fans bought more tickets than Louisville fans within the first 24 hours of the release, the ‘Cats have gained the right to host the final game of the series. Game three, if necessary, will be played on Wednesday, July 22, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1.

We’ll all be hoping that third game isn’t needed in the first place, but it’s nice knowing that the home fans can help push La Familia into the second round if it gets to that point.

BREAKING NEWS: Big Blue Nation has done it!

Kentucky fans bought more tickets than Louisville fans in the last 24 hours and now La Familia WILL HOST GAME 3 (if necessary) in Lexington at Memorial Coliseum!

🔵👏Impressive (but not shocking) stuff from BBN! pic.twitter.com/mJI0VoTyi5

— TBT (@thetournament) May 19, 2026

TBT unveiled a new format for this year’s event, going away from the usual bracket of 60-plus teams by cutting it down to just 16 — but with higher stakes. The $2 million, winner-takes-all grand prize has returned for the first time since 2020. Eight alumni teams will make up one side of the bracket, with eight non-alumni teams filling the other. All first-round matchups are three-game series, then single-elimination the rest of the way.

La Familia has already announced a trio of players for this year’s roster: Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin, and Reid Travis. More will be announced in the coming days/weeks. Jon Hood will serve as head coach while Twany Beckham is back as the general manager. The last time La Familia took on The Ville in 2024, over 13,000 people filled Freedom Hall in a contentious battle that saw La Familia win 70-61. What will this year’s rivalry showdown bring?

For more information on the Kentucky-Louisville series or TBT’s new format, visit TBTHoops.com.