Jack Freifelder | NCAA.com | October 20, 2016 College basketball: Midnight Madness 2016 times & dates More than 16,000 fans showed up for Kansas' annual Late Night in the Phog event at Allen Fieldhouse. Share With the college football slog in full swing, it's easy to forget that college basketball season is quickly approaching as well. Teams around the country are gearing up for early action with invitational tournaments galore, but the harbinger of season's tipoff is and always has been a school's first open practice — colloquially known as Midnight Madness. The name of the event may change a bit from campus to campus, but the message is the same: Basketball is back. More to the point, schools hosting the events look to generate some extra excitement ahead of the start to a long season. RELATED: Allen Fieldhouse hosts 16K at Late Night in the Phog In short, Midnight Madness is a series of events held around the country a few weeks before teams begin to take the floor in the regular season. Former Maryland Terrapins head coach Lefty Driesell is credited with ushering in the tradition in 1971, but other well-known programs have helped promote and popularize the event — which normally features practice drills, scrimmages, hype videos, player introductions and a bevy of other activities. The tradition originates from teams holding open practices on the earliest day permitted by the NCAA. In 2013, a new rule established some extra flexibility about when team's could hold their respective event. Most teams still tend to hold their events on or around the Friday before Oct. 15. MORE: Kentucky basketball — Big Blue Madness campout reaches capacity Take a look below at the Midnight Madness schedule that has been announced to date. More info to come. Date Program Event Name Saturday, Oct. 1 Kansas Late Night in the Phog Friday, Oct. 7 Florida State Jam with Coach Ham Saturday, Oct. 8 Gonzaga Kraziness in the Kennel Saturday, Oct. 8 Pittsburgh #ThrowbackThrowdown Friday, Oct. 14 Arizona McDonald's Red-Blue Game Friday, Oct. 14 Kentucky Big Blue Madness Friday, Oct. 14 Iowa State Hilton Madness Friday, Oct. 14 Maryland Maryland Madness Friday, Oct. 14 Connecticut UCONN Basketball First Night Friday, Oct. 14 North Carolina Late Night with Roy Williams Friday, Oct. 14 Michigan State Michigan State Madness Friday, Oct. 14 Harvard Crimson Madness Friday, Oct. 14 Georgetown Hoya Madness Friday, Oct. 14 St. John's Red Storm Tip-Off Friday, Oct. 14 Stephen F. Austin SFA Midnight Madness Saturday, Oct. 15 Providence Late Night Madness Saturday, Oct. 15 Oregon Block Party Thursday, Oct. 20 Wichita State Shocker Madness Thursday, Oct. 20 Texas Texas Tip-Off Friday, Oct. 21 Syracuse Orange Madness Saturday, Oct. 22 Indiana Hoosier Hysteria Saturday, Oct. 22 Xavier Musketeer Madness Saturday, Oct. 22 Duke Countdown to Craziness Sunday, Oct. 23 Virginia Pepsi Blue-White Scrimmage Sunday, Oct. 23 Wisconsin Red/White Scrimmage Colleges with the most players in the 2022 NBA Playoffs Kentucky leads all schools with 15 former Wildcats in the 2022 NBA Playoffs. READ MORE 50 states ranked by all-time DI men's college basketball victories These are the 50 states (and D.C.) ranked by all-time DI men's basketball victories. READ MORE Where Kansas' 2022 team ranks among the greatest men's basketball champions ever The 2022 Jayhawks were great — but how great? Here is where they rank among all of the sport's national champions based on margin of victory, winning percentage and advanced metrics. READ MORE