Madness returns to normal time

INDIANAPOLIS – Midnight Madness is going back to its regularly scheduled date next season.

The NCAA’s board of directors passed emergency legislation Thursday to prevent basketball coaches from holding opening-night festivities earlier than the normal start date.

President Myles Brand said the proposal was made by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, who originally asked the NCAA to allow coaches up to two hours of additional practice time per week beginning in mid-September. The rule was intended to help players and coaches work on skill development. Instead, Kentucky, West Virginia and several other schools took advantage of a loophole and scheduled their Midnight Madness party a week earlier than other schools, which waited until Oct. 17.

The board made sure there wouldn’t be any questions next year.

“If we wanted it to start a week earlier, we would have scheduled it a week earlier,” Brand said in a conference call.