Kentucky sets date for Big Blue Madness. And the campout for tickets will return.
The beginning of the 2022-23 Kentucky men’s basketball season is right around the corner.
UK announced Tuesday night that the program’s annual Big Blue Madness event will be held Oct. 14 in Rupp Arena, and Wildcats fans will once again be able to camp out for tickets.
The Madness campout, which draws droves of overnight fans to the Memorial Coliseum grounds, did not happen the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time fans were permitted to sleep over as they waited for tickets, an estimated 300 tents were pitched on the sliver of campus around the Coliseum before UK started turning people away due to maximum capacity.
Tickets for Big Blue Madness can also be obtained online, but some fans still prefer the social experience of the campout, and Kentucky players and coaches often mingle with the gathered crowd at various times during the event.
John Calipari said over the summer that he was working on bringing the campout — an annual hype generator for the men’s basketball team — back to begin the 2022-23 season.
“It is unacceptable to not have a campout,” Calipari tweeted in July. “It is part of what makes UK Basketball special. We have some great ideas on how, where and when that will make it tremendous. Unless there is some sort of road block, campout will return!”
UK Athletics announced Tuesday night that the campout will occur at Memorial Coliseum on the weekend of Oct. 1, with fans permitted to start setting up tents at 5 a.m. on that date. Tickets will be distributed at 9 a.m. on Oct. 2.
The campout will also incorporate a couple of additional UK sporting events. The Kentucky volleyball team will host Alabama inside Memorial Coliseum at 4 p.m. on Oct. 1, and the UK football team’s road game against Mississippi is also set for Oct. 1, with a watch party planned for the Big Blue Madness campers. The time for the UK-Ole Miss football game has not yet been set, but it will mark the return of star running back Chris Rodriguez.
Calipari has also said he wants Madness itself to be a can’t-miss event this year, and more details on Madness and the campout will be revealed soon, according to UK.
The Kentucky men’s basketball team is expected to start the season as a top-five team nationally, led by the return of reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe and a mix of talented returnees and highly touted newcomers.
The annual Blue-White Scrimmage, which is expected to be played in Pikeville this year, is tentatively planned for the week following Madness, and UK will play two exhibition games after that before starting the regular season the week of Nov. 7.
The first major game on Kentucky’s schedule is the Champions Classic matchup with Michigan State, set for Nov. 15 in Indianapolis.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 8:07 PM.
