Prizes, dorm competition and an introduction to the basketball teams are among the many things to expect at the annual Midnight Madness this Sunday night. The doors of Chase Gymnasium will open at 10:30 p.m. for the event, and the first 500 people to enter will receive a prize to be revealed at the door.

Every year Midnight Madness kicks off the basketball season during University Day, a two-day event for prospective students to get a sense of what Biola is like. Midnight Madness was organized through the collaboration of Spirit Board, the Alumni Association and Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). It’s a night to introduce the men and women’s basketball teams before their season starts and a chance for different dorms to show school spirit and watch different performances.

“This is the reason I came to Biola! I noticed there was popular music and people had personality and were quirky and fun,” said Spirit Board Chair Amy Seed. “It means Biola to me. It’s why I’m here; it’s what I do.”

The night will begin with the men and women’s basketball teams warming up. Members of the team will be introduced, the captains will be interviewed, and the men and women’s teams will compete in a three-point shooting contest.

The dorms will compete for points in a soft chalk competition. The representative from each dorm, chosen by the residents of the dorm, will be dressed all in black. Each will be given stockings filled with soft chalk, and each representative will attempt to hit the representatives of the other dorms and smear their outfits with chalk. At the end of the game, the representative with the least amount of chalk on their outfit will gain 400 points for their dorm, and the two second place winners will receive 150 points.

For the past two years, there has been a competition during the night in which the student who yells the loudest wins a spot during the first game of the season on the “fan couch,” a couch set in the middle of the bleachers. However, the competition will no longer be held to make room for more fans.

“The couch was taking up too much space,” said Sports Information Director Jeff Hoffman. “In a place where 30 people could sit, only three people were sitting. It wasn’t serving its purpose very well.”

Though the “fan couch” competition will no longer exist, other performances will make up the night. There will be a performance by Biola’s dance troop XOPOC and a debut performance by the university’s newly assembled cheerleading team.

“I was surprised at how big and elaborate it was and how many people were there,” sophomore Erin Watts said. “I will be going this year. It was really fun.”

Before the night ends, one student will walk away with $500, a gift from the Alumni Association. Spirit Board will reveal how to enter during the night.

Leading up to the event, Spirit Board planned this week as “Spirit Week,” an opportunity for students to show school spirit by dressing up according to a theme each day. On Monday, the theme was “Cowboy,” Tuesday was “Nerd” and yesterday was “Twin.” Today the theme is “Superhero,” and tomorrow the “Spirit Week” will wrap up with the theme of “Extreme Red, White and Blue.” Photos of those dressed can be taken at the front desk in the AS office in the Upper SUB for a chance to gain 100 points for the dorm. Each day the points will be awarded to the dorm of the student who is selected by Spirit Board as the best dressed.

Spirit Board’s goal for Midnight Madness is also to drive students to support the teams in the first home basketball game on Thursday, Nov. 29, when the women’s team will play Point Loma at 5:30 p.m., and the men’s team will follow at 7:30 p.m.