MASON — The CareSource Invitational, an outdoor college basketball exhibition doubleheader, tips off Wednesday, Oct. 7 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. It will be the first basketball event ever staged at the venue, played on the same Center Court used for the Cincinnati Open, following the facility’s $260 million campus transformation completed in August 2025.
Game 1 pits the Cincinnati Bearcats against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 3 p.m., followed by the Xavier Musketeers against the Dayton Flyers at 5:30 p.m. — all four of Ohio’s high-major men’s programs sharing one roofless court.
Now in its fourth year, the CareSource Invitational raises awareness and funds for mental health and suicide prevention under the theme “It’s OK to not be OK.” More than $500,000 has been raised to date. There is no TV or streaming broadcast; radio broadcasts will be available and tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster. If weather interferes, the games move indoors to UD Arena in Dayton.
UC first-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun plans to play 12 or 13 Bearcats in the exhibition. “It’s a chance for us to get a little dry run and see where we’re at,” Calhoun said. The Bearcats last faced Ohio State in an exhibition in October 2024 at Fifth Third Arena, an 80-62 UC win.
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler has pushed for years to create an annual in-state doubleheader modeled on the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. Wednesday’s event brings that vision to life in Warren County.