College basketball: Midnight Madness 2016 times & dates

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.

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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.

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Take a look below at the Midnight Madness schedule that has been announced to date. More info to come.