Years before we moved to Ripon, Ripon College used to host a day it called “Basketball Mania.”

Ripon College’s Storzer Center was the site for four basketball games — Ripon Tiger girls’ and boys’ games, followed by Ripon College women’s and men’s games — on one Saturday.

(That’s as opposed to what I did last weekend — two college basketball games Friday followed by two college games Saturday. That was four games — and by the way 627 points — in about 25 hours, but we’re talking about something more concentrated here.)

Though I never went to one, the Riponites who did remember the quadrupleheader fondly. The local radio station broadcast all four games, and it apparently was well-attended not just by fans of the Tigers or Redmen, but by those looking for something to get them out of the house on a typically wretched Wisconsin winter day.

Basketball Mania is not only an event Ripon College and Ripon High School should bring back — it’s an event that colleges throughout the state could and should host.

The high school teams benefit by having an opportunity to play on a college-size (94-foot) floor. This is helpful not just because the state tournament is played at UW–Madison’s Kohl Center, but because pre-state games are also played on college floors. Last season, for instance, UW–Oshkosh, UW–Stevens Point, UW–Whitewater, Marquette University and Wisconsin Lutheran College hosted sectional games. The ancient Brown County Arena in Ashwaubenon hosted games for years.

The host benefits from the opportunity to show itself off to an audience that may not have seen the college before then — not just the locals, but the visiting high school teams. That would particularly benefit the state’s 20 private colleges,  which have to work harder than the UW schools to attract students. The costs to the host would not be significantly greater since the college would be hosting a basketball doubleheader that day anyway.

There are some obvious local tie-in opportunities. UW–Oshkosh could host North and/or West games (including a North vs. West game), and UW–Platteville could host two Hillmen games, for instance. St. Norbert College in De Pere could also host two Green Bay Notre Dame games. (What now is Notre Dame includes the former De Pere Pennings Catholic high school.) Wisconsin Lutheran College could host two Wisconsin Lutheran High School games. Edgewood College in Madison could host two Edgewood High School games. When Marian University in Fond du Lac gets a modern athletic facility, Marian could also host the two basketball teams from St. Mary’s Springs Academy.

The additional benefit besides postseason preparation is giving the players a different experience to look forward to. Basketball seasons start in November and run into March — the longest seasons according to the calendar and the schedule. Teams can use an on-campus game, scheduled around Feb. 1, as the start of their preparation for the postseason, where your next loss is your last.