(AP) - West Virginia, Kentucky and some other basketball teams are planning an early start on Midnight Madness by taking advantage of an NCAA practice rule.

The official opening of practice for the 2008-09 season is October 17th. But the NCAA has allowed two hours of team workouts per week since mid-September.

National Association of Basketball Coaches spokesman Rick Leddy says the intent of the rule was for coaches to work on skill development, not to raise the rafters. But that's exactly what's going to happen.

Tomorrow night, both West Virginia and Kentucky will ring in the upcoming season with fan-oriented events.

Marshall and Illinois will conduct practices Saturday.

In Champaign, Illinois, the men's and women's basketball teams will head onto a court set up behind one of the end zones after the conclusion of Illinois' game with Minnesota. The basketball practice will be canceled if it rains.

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