Midnight Madness is an annual event celebrating the upcoming college basketball season in which a team opens its first official practice to the public, often combining it with a pep rally and other fan-friendly activities.

Maryland Terrapins head coach Lefty Driesell began the Midnight Madness tradition at 12:03 a.m. on October 15, 1971, by inviting the public to a 1.5 mile team run.

[1] The early practice session was attended by 3,000 fans at the track surrounding Byrd Stadium on the University of Maryland campus.

[2] Driesell continued the annual midnight practice session throughout his tenure at Maryland, and brought the tradition with him when he became head coach at Georgia State University.

Hall and the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team began to officially promote a celebration dubbed "Midnight Madness" as a school event with formal entertainment acts and an invited student audience.

[5] Another of the more famous events is "Late Night in the Phog" at Kansas, which was started in 1985 by Larry Brown and is now broadcast in live streaming video via the Internet.

[6] The event has caught on on most campuses; various programs have given away T-shirts and allowed players do stunt dunks and half court shots.

Often, there is significant publicity surrounding the event, which may include televised broadcasts, published press releases and various new media exposure.

[14] Usually a prescribed number of fans (such as the first 1,000) receive a gifts such as t-shirts, posters, autographs, road game vacation packages, and other free paraphernalia.

[20] One celebratory function of the evening is often to raise NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or Final Four banners to the rafters in an official ceremony.

[20] The National Association of Basketball Coaches asked the Southeastern Conference to force Kentucky to adhere to the traditionally scheduled practice to no avail.