A preseason tradition will return to campus for the first time in six years.
On Oct. 11, Midnight Madness will take over the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
The event has been held at the Pyramid or the Coliseum the past two years but is returning to the field house, which was its original home.
“We wanted to do something on campus because so many of our teams play off campus,” said Kevin Grothe, associate of athletic external affairs. “We really wanted to have an activity that was of significance on campus.”
Grothe said the fieldhouse was chosen because of its quaint surroundings and its ability to attract students.
“(The field house) will give the fans a really close and intimate setting,” he said. “We hope that by doing Midnight Madness on campus, it will help to get more students to attend.”
The event will kick off at 10 p.m. with activities and games for the crowd along with an autograph session. The finale will be a midnight scrimmage between two squads of the men’s basketball team.
Of the almost 2,800 seats at the field house, only 500 student tickets will be available.
The tickets will be free and will become available Oct. 3.
Season ticket holders will have first rights to the other 2,300 tickets beginning Oct. 3 as well.
Tickets will be hard to get given the limited amount of space, according to Grothe.
“With the tickets being free of charge, it’s obviously going to be a premier ticket,” Grothe said.
The Tigers are still hopeful that the game will be broadcast on a local television station and said that they are currently in talks with local networks.
Memphis will also conduct a practice at the Pyramid on Oct.21 that will be open to the public.
“Midnight Madness is just a hyped promotional event,” Grothe said. “Basketball fans that want to see how the Tigers are really going to look can go to the practice that’s open to the public.”
The Tigers begin regular season against Syracuse Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden .
