The countdown is on the way for Midnight Madness at Sacramento State.

“At the stroke of midnight, when it is officially Oct. 13, the NCAA allows all college men?s and women?s basketball teams to begin official team practice,” said Damon Dukakis, Director of Marketing & Promotions.

This tradition actually begins on the night of October 12 to celebrate and begin the countdown to the first official basketball teams? practices.

Midnight Madness was created by former University of Maryland coach Lefty Driesell, who is now at Georgia State University, in 1970. The idea caught on like wild fire by other NCAA coaches and is currently celebrated by most NCAA schools.

The evening starts at 9:45 p.m. and lasts through the following day, ending at 12:30 a.m. Midnight Madness will take place in front of the Main Gym sponsored by Green Thunder and the athletic department. KBMB “The Bomb” (103.5) will also be there to provide musical entertainment.

Free t-shirts will be awarded to the first 500 people.

To make things more exciting, the pre-events include an all-you-can-eat barbecue with free Pepsi giveaways, which goes on until 11 pm.

“They will also give away free stuff such as shirts, stickers and other goodies,” Dukakis said.

The Midnight Madness events will be comprised of several contests with gifts and prizes, stomp-group performances, musical performances by Karriem and Abdul Rashied and a chance to participate in a dating game with both men?s and women?s basketball teams.

Performances by the Cheer Team and the Extreme Dance Team will also be held.

“This certainly sound like a fun event to me, even though I?ve been here for four years now and never heard of it before,” said Jason Alexshir, a Sac State student.

Sac State senior Susanne Shirley mirrored Aleshir?s thoughts on the event.

“I?m getting excited just hearing about it. Ill definitely be there,” she said.

When the clock strikes midnight, the Sac State basketball teams will begin practice to shut out the night.

“We hope to continue the momentum that started over the past couple of years here in Sacramento,” Dukakis said.