It's only mid-October, but it’s time for college basketball to tipoff. Midnight Madness will be celebrated at various schools around the country on Friday. They need to really change the name of the event because very few teams actually hold the event at midnight anymore. Then again March Madness extends into April so might as well leave as it is.
↵Midnight Madness signifies when teams are allowed to begin practice for the upcoming season. Some schools hold huge events with famous alumni, while others will do nothing more than a simple pep rally. Here is a list of the events planned at the local universities.
↵DePaul: October 14th 9:00 P.M. at the McGrath-Philips Arena. Contests will be held with grand prize being trips to the men and womens conference tournaments. The evenings events will include three point and dunk contests, and scrimmages. Fans will also be invited to attend an open practice on Saturday at 1:00 for both the men and women’s squads.
↵Illinois Fighting Illini: October 15th 12:45. The Illini will be hosting their annual scrimmage at Assembly Hall prior to the football game against Ohio State. Doors will open at noon to allow the fans a chance to watch the end of practice. The scrimmage will be done by 1:30 to allow fans plenty of time to head over to the football game.
↵Loyola: October 14th @ 9:00. The Ramblers will be offering free pizza and soda at 9:00. The first 1,000 fans to attend will receive a free t-shirt. Starting at 10:00 the team will begin basketball events, give away prizes, and allow fans to meet and greet players and coaches from the men and women’s teams.
↵Northern Illinois: October 15th @ 10:00. The Huskies will host an open practice. Doors will open at 9:00 and practice will conclude by 12:30 allowing enough time for fans to head to the NIU/Western Michigan football game.