Below are the actual rules. The idea behind it is that any contest that is being used to generate money or press should count on your record. If you want to get some competition without it having being counted you can have a closed door scrimmage with another D1 team (a joint practice session) or you can scrimmage a non-D1 team in your regular home arena and charge admission while making it open to the public. These contests do not count against a team's total number of contest limit.
The reason for this is sound.
bonabandwagon.proboards.com/thread/12488/top-freshman As you see in the other thread (linked) it can be a huge advantage to play a team with a lot of one-and-done type players early in the season. If the games could serve for development and money generation without counting as an official contest, you can be sure programs like Kentucky would be filling them with 30k fans without any penalty for a loss.
17.3.3 First Contest. An institution shall not play its first contest (game or scrimmage) with outside competition
in basketball prior to the second Friday of November (see Figure 17-2). (Revised: 4/27/06 effective 8/1/06)
17.3.3.1 Exceptions. The following basketball contests (games or scrimmages) are permitted prior to the first
contest dates specified under Bylaw 17.3.3:
(a) Practice Scrimmage. An informal practice scrimmage with outside competition exempted per Bylaw
17.3.5.3-(h) may occur at any point during the permissible playing and practice season (see Bylaw
17.3.1), provided it is conducted in privacy and without publicity or official scoring. Individuals other
than athletics department staff members and those necessary to conduct a basketball practice scrimmage
against outside competition may not be present during such a scrimmage. The institution shall ensure
that the scrimmage is free from public view. No class time shall be missed by basketball student-athletes
in conjunction with such a scrimmage, including all associated activities (e.g., travel, pregame and postgame
activities); and (Revised: 10/27/98 effective 8/1/99, 5/12/05, 1/17/09 effective 8/1/09, 3/2/09)
(b) Exhibition Against a Non-NCAA Division I Four-Year Collegiate Institution. An exhibition contest
exempted per Bylaw 17.3.5.3-(g) may occur after the date on which an institution may commence
on-court preseason practice (see Bylaw 17.3.2). (Adopted: 1/10/95, Revised: 1/11/97, 4/22/98, 10/28/99,
238
4/29/04 effective 8/
