Pac-12 Midnight Madness Events
Posted by KDanna on October 10th, 2012While players have been participating in individual workouts off and on since the summer, official practice begins this Friday for the NCAA Division I men’s basketball season. As always, the onset of the new season is ushered in by Midnight Madness on many campuses throughout the country. Here’s a look at what’s going down on October 12 and beyond to ring in 2012-13 in the Pac-12:
October 12 Events
Oregon will be having its Matt Knight Madness at the conclusion of the Ducks’ 6 PM women’s volleyball contest. If the past and this year’s promo video is any indication, it looks like there will be some snazzy introductions for both the men’s and women’s teams, followed by a slam dunk contest, a scrimmage and perhaps even a little dancing. As only Oregon can do, the Ducks will be raffling away custom Pit Crew Air Jordans and jackets, in addition to giving away t-shirts and autographed basketballs from both Paul Westhead’s and Dana Altman’s squads.
Midnight Madness events kick off with the start of practice on Friday.
There will be ZZUMania at Bohler Gym for Washington State with activities starting at 9 PM. Included in the festivities are a three-point contest for the women’s team and a scrimmage and dunk contest for Brock Motum and Co. If you’re a current Coug, you have a chance to win $500 for spring semester books; if not, you still have a chance to win a couple of courtside tickets to the Gonzaga game on December 5.
Colorado will be holding Buffs Madness immediately following the finish of the women’s volleyball match against Arizona, so things should get started there around 8:30 PM. In addition to the men’s and women’s team introductions, scrimmages and contests, the Buffs are giving away arguably the second best prize of any Pac-12 school: A trip for two to accompany Tad Boyle’s boys when they play at Kansas on December 8.
The Weekend After (October 19-21)
The No. 1 prize given away by a conference school goes to Stanford, which is dishing out an all-expenses paid trip for two to the Bahamas to watch the Card play in the Battle 4 Atlantis. This will take place at the annual Cardinal-White scrimmage on October 19. The men’s and women’s teams are doing a joint kickoff to the new season with a Friday Frenzy that starts at 6 PM before the men’s scrimmage an hour later. Friday Frenzy will include fan contests, a showcase of the women’s team and a dunk contest for the men’s side. The commercial for last year’s Cardinal-White scrimmage proved to be an omen of things to come, as Mark Madsen is now an assistant coach.
It will be an early start for you on October 20 if you’re a Sun Devil follower, as Arizona State will be scrimmaging at 10 AM, according to the athletic department. The football team plays on Thursday night that week, so there shouldn’t be any conflict of interest in trying to decide between Todd Graham or Herb Sendek.
Arizona’s annual intrasquad scrimmage, the McDonald’s Red-Blue Game on October 21, will honor the 1987-88 men’s basketball team in its 25th anniversary of making the Final Four. Many ’87-’88 team members will be in attendance, including coach Lute Olson, Steve Kerr, Sean Elliot, Jud Buechler and Tom Tolbert.
Also of Note
According to the Utes’ and Trojans’ sports information departments, Utah will preview the hoop team with a Runnin’ Utes Night on October 24, while USC is setting up a Salute to Troy luncheon kickoff to introduce the men’s and women’s teams at the end of the month. UCLA is dedicating a week of ceremonies to the re-opening of Pauley Pavilion, and on November 2, the Pauley Student Spotlight will feature the men’s and women’s basketball teams to celebrate Homecoming weekend and also to gear up for the first two contests in the renovated Pauley Pavilion — the men’s game against Indiana State on November 9 and the women’s game against San Diego State the day after.
Oregon State, Washington and Cal will not be holding any such kickoff events, though the Cal sports information department wrote in an e-mail to Rush The Court that there might be an event on Halloween.
