Kentucky Big Blue Madness 2014: Recap and Twitter Reaction for Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats have national title aspirations, but Friday night's Big Blue Madness was all about enjoying the arrival of basketball season and entertaining their legions of fans.

If there was any doubt just how big basketball is in the state of Kentucky, every ticket to the event was snatched within the first 30 minutes of availability on Saturday morning. Steve Jones of The Courier-Journal set the stage:

Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio noted that the Wildcats players weren’t the only big names in attendance Friday:

The women’s team was announced first, and Kentucky Athletics provided fans who weren’t in attendance a glimpse at the accompanying video:

Women’s head coach Matthew Mitchell attempted to steal the spotlight right away when he came out after his team. Writer Jerry Tipton and Alex Forkner of Rivals described the scene as the coach serenaded the crowd with Bruno Mars songs. It was something you only see at Midnight Madness events:

UK Hoops shared a picture of the entertainment and pointed out that the country took notice:

While the ceremony and crowd involvement is certainly a worthy aspect of an event like this, the real value lands in the recruiting department. Kentucky basketball always puts on a show, and Friday's Big Blue Madness was no exception.

Kentucky sophomore Aaron Harrison recalled his experience at Big Blue Madness as a recruit, via Steve Jones of The Courier-Journal, "It just gave me the whole idea of how serious Kentucky basketball is, and it was just a great feeling, exciting feeling. Once you witness something like that, there's no way you can not want to play in an atmosphere like that."

Matt Jones and Steve Jones shared some rather interesting developments:

Back on the actual floor, Steve Jones and Forkner shared the most interesting moment during the women's scrimmage:

Then it was time for the main event, as the men's team came out. As to be expected, there was quite the introduction with a video of the program's greatest moments followed by a hype video for this season's squad. 

Forkner described the scene, which was capped off by digital national championship banners hanging from the rafters:

Kentucky Athletics provided fans who were not in attendance a glimpse at the video used:

After the players were introduced, Drake took the stage and addressed the crowd before introducing Calipari. Matt Jones and Forkner described the proceedings: 

After the histrionics, the team hit the floor in a number of three-on-three games. It split the crowd's attention a bit before the five-on-five scrimmage, but the recruits were likely already impressed. The team then transitioned to a five-of-five scrimmage, which let the players demonstrate their incredible ability.

Kentucky Athletics provided some early updates:

"

White leads 21-17 at halftime of the five-on-five scrimmage. Alex Poythress has eight points to lead all scorers.

— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) October 18, 2014"

The game actually came down to the wire, but Alex Poythress put it away with a three-pointer in the final minute. It put the white team up 40-36, and it eventually won the contest 42-36. Jeff Drummond of AllWildcats.com provided one final update:

Honestly, the most important thing of the entire evening was the fact that the team remained healthy throughout the scrimmages.

Now that Big Blue Madness is in the rearview mirror, it's time for Calipari's Wildcats to focus on the upcoming season. If the No. 1 ranking in the initial coaches poll didn't give it away, this is one of the nation's best teams.

The freshmen will clearly play a major role, as they almost always do in Kentucky, as Karl Towns, Trey Lyles, Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis should all see significant minutes. However, this team will have a veteran presence as well since Willie Cauley-Stein, Dakari Johnson, Poythress and the Harrison brothers all returned.

Kentucky has so many pieces that it will have more talent on its bench at any given moment during a game than most teams will have on the floor. It truly is national championship or bust this season for Big Blue Nation.

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