A battle of first-year head coaches will face off to begin ‘Ballin in Boutwell’ in October.

Samford and Alabama A&M will face off in an exhibition matchup to open the event at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham on Monday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m.

The matchups were officially announced at a press conference inside the Boutwell Auditorium lobby on Tuesday.

The game will tip off an event that also includes Auburn’s men vs. Oklahoma State on Oct. 15 and Alabama’s women and men facing Florida State the following day.

Last season, the event was called ‘Bama in Boutwell,’ with Alabama facing Wake Forest in a 98-77 exhibition win for the lone game of the event. Now, the event will expand to include four games and five in-state teams.

Tickets for each of the four games can be found here.

The matchup of two in-state mid-majors will feature a pair of new coaches for both programs, including new Samford coach Lennie Acuff and Alabama A&M coach Donte’ Jackson.

Acuff, a Huntsville native who led Lipscomb to an NCAA tournament appearance this season and was the head coach at UAH for 22 seasons, was hired in April to replace Bucky McMillan, who departed Samford to take over as the head coach at Texas A&M.

Alabama A&M hired Jackson in April after eight seasons as the head coach at Grambling State, where he led the program to a 2023-24 NCAA tournament victory in the First Four over Montana State and was a three-time SWAC Coach of the Year honoree.

Samford is 6-1 against Alabama A&M, including a 97-90 victory in Huntsville on Dec. 21, 2024.