Big Blue Madness has been scheduled for Friday night, Oct. 13, at Memorial Coliseum. The annual event is the UK men’sbasketball team’s first official practice for the 2000-01 season. Doors open at 10 p.m. and the program begins at 10:30 p.m. Theteam will be introduced at midnight.

The UK women’s volleyball team will battle Florida earlier in the evening at 7 p.m. in the Coliseum. Should the time of thematch run longer than 9:30 p.m., the gym will be cleared and the doors will open 30 minutes after the volleyball game’s conclusion.

This is the earliest Madness in school history. NCAA rules recently changed to permit Division I college basketball teams tobegin practice “the closest Saturday to Oct. 15.” Since the rule changed, this is the first time that Saturday fell before the 15th.

Once again, free tickets will be offered to the public. On Saturday, Oct. 7, tickets will be distributed at 10 a.m. at the frontwindows of the Coliseum. Two tickets will be allotted per person. For fans unable to pick up tickets in person, a limited number ofseats will be available on Friday, Oct. 6 at 5 p.m. via UK’s official website, ukathletics.com. A service charge of $3 will be assessedper Internet order.