Craig Thomas | NCAA.com | October 6, 2015 The countdown to Midnight Madness Share There is a bit of chill in the air in some parts of the country as the calendar flips to October and that can only mean one thing – the countdown to the Madness is on. But before the madness of March grabs you by the collar you must first experience the Madness at midnight. Midnight Madness started 45 years ago when Lefty Driesell made his Maryland Terrapins go for a run a few ticks after midnight. It’s evolved into coaches being shot out of cannons, riding a Harley onto center court, dressing like gladiator and joining a KISS cover band – and that’s just Tom Izzo! Midnight Madness Date Team Event Time Oct. 9 Pittsburgh #ZooAfterHours 10 p.m. ET Oct. 9 Kansas Late Night at the Phog 8 p.m. ET Oct. 10 Gonzaga Kraziness in the Kennel 7 p.m. ET Oct. 16 Syracuse #OrangeMadness 7 p.m. ET Oct. 16 Iowa State Hilton Madness 9 p.m. ET Oct. 16 Kentucky BIg Blue Madness 10 p.m. ET Oct. 16 UConn First Night 7 p.m. ET Oct. 17 Duke Countdown to Craziness 7 p.m. ET Oct. 23 Michigan State MSU Midnight Madness 8 p.m. ET Oct. 23 North Carolina Late Night with Roy Williams 7 p.m. ET Lefty Drisell and the first Midnight Madness (published in 2011) College basketball rankings: Gonzaga, UCLA, Kansas lead men's basketball preseason AP Top 25 poll Here's everything you need to know about the preseason men's college basketball poll. READ MORE The best, worst and most likely finish for each AP Top 25 ranking A comprehensive breakdown of the AP preseason college basketball poll, including how many NCAA tournament titles each spot has won and how many March Madness games a team is likely to win based on where it's ranked. READ MORE Watch NC State women's soccer take down No. 4 Duke with a 2OT golden goal NC State's Jameese Joseph scores a late goal in double overtime to give the Wolfpack the win over No. 4 Duke. READ MORE