Oct. 8, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M men's and women's basketball teams will officially tip-off the 2008-09 season by hosting Maroon Madness in conjunction with Midnight Yell Practice on Friday, Oct. 17 at Kyle Field.
The preseason No. 4 nationally-ranked A&M women, fresh off a school-best NCAA Elite Eight run and back-to-back Big 12 Conference championship titles, will be introduced and perform prior to Yell Practice at 11:30 p.m. The Aggies are led by sixth-year head coach Gary Blair who returns three starters, nine letterwinners and six newcomers.
Following Yell Practice at approximately 12:30 a.m., the A&M men will have a brief exhibition and second-year head coach Mark Turgeon will address the crowd. The Aggies are coming off a 25-11 campaign in 2007-08, which marked the third-most wins in school history.
Maroon Madness has the potential to be the largest-attended preseason college basketball event in the country. A regulation-size basketball floor will be set-up on the track and sideline of the East side of Kyle Field. When the Aggies last held the event at their football venue, more than 26,000 fans attended in 2006 and more than 28,000 fans attended in 2007 to break the national attendance record. Last season, the A&M men and women hosted Maroon Madness headlined by hip-hop artist Soulja Boy, before a sold-out crowd of 12,500 at Reed Arena.
Midnight Yell Practice will start off a reunion weekend for the Aggie Yell Leaders, who are celebrating their 100th anniversary. Over 100 former and current Yell Leaders will attend the weekend's festivities, which will include a recognition ceremony during pre-game festivities of the Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech football game on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Kyle Field.