College basketball exhibition games have spanned several eras.

Who remembers Athletes In Action – the wild group of former college players who traveled the country for practice games?

The Harlem Globetrotters did the same. Then it was the Division II schools that came to visit; For example, UA-Huntsville would play in Tuscaloosa.

Now we're at the charity exhibition days and they look very different.

For Auburn, that means facing Furman on Oct. 27 in Greenville, S.C., and FAU on Nov. 1 at Neville Arena.

Alabama is taking its show on the road.

The Crimson Tide will play Wake Forest in Birmingham on Friday at 7 p.m. CT and Memphis in Huntsville on Oct. 28.

These are opportunities with three beneficiaries. Teams get to compete against teams at their level, fans get experiences they wouldn't otherwise have, and of course there's a charity component required by the NCAA.

Auburn's game with Furman benefits park renovation projects in Greenville, while the home game with FAU benefits the school's Melton Scholars Program to increase access for underrepresented students.

Alabama's games will generate money for Children's of Alabama and the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

Of the four, the Birmingham game against Alabama stands out.

Instead of playing at a traditional venue, the Crimson Tide and Wake Forest will meet at Boutwell Auditorium – a 100-year-old multi-purpose arena that can accommodate just over 2,300 fans on Friday night.

Birmingham-based Knight Eady is tasked with taking over game management and operations.

Company president Michael Eady said they explored several venues for the game, from airplane hangars at the airport to Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Knight Eady is already organizing Alabama's game against Illinois on Nov. 20 at the spacious BJCC Arena, so they wanted a more intimate setting to separate the experiences. They chose Boutwell.

This facility has hosted concerts ranging from Billy Joel to Queen and Willie Nelson to the Foo Fighters, KISS and Nirvana.

It was also the home of sumo wrestling at the 2022 World Games.

But not much basketball.

From 2004 to 2005, it was home to the Birmingham Power, a professional women's basketball team, but the 1924 building was not equipped for modern college basketball.

“We wanted to do something different,” Eady said. “Fans play basketball most of the time in 10,000- to 20,000-seat arenas, and that’s fine. But we'll have 2,316 people in Boutwell Auditorium. And it's not traditional. So we literally have to bring everything in.”

This means that you have to rent everything from the playing floor to the game boards and rims to the LED boards, scoreboards and the sound system. Construction of the arena began on Monday and should be ready for teams to train on-site on Thursday.

It also increases the cost of the charity event. Michael Eady said they would present a check to Children's of Alabama during the game. You guarantee that the donation is at least $10,000.

“And depending on how ticket sales go, we might give more,” Eady said.

Players from Alabama and Wake Forest will also visit Children's of Alabama Hospital on Friday morning to meet with patients and their families.

To support the donation, Knight Eady has two major sponsors in addition to ticket sales, which were going well on Wednesday afternoon. When tickets went on sale Sept. 12, seats ranged from $450 courtside to $120 in the end zone. Two days before tipoff, there were only a few board options left.