A night of school spirit    

Friday night, UTRGV Athletics hosts its signature event, Madness, an annual tradition during which members of the university community gather to kickoff basketball season.

“Historically, it used to be the night before the first official basketball practice,” Sara Hernandez, associate athletics director for Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, told The Rider. “But now, as things have changed a little bit in the last decade, I would say now it’s just a big celebration of the start of basketball season.”

A celebration of school spirit, Madness takes place from 9 to 11 p.m. in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus and consists of several performances and activities, including musical chairs, the Texas Tornado money machine, UTRGV Basketball trivia on the social media platform X, basketball shot contests and a dance competition.

This year, prizes for the various events include cash and two tickets to Western Athletic Conference Vegas, a tournament that takes place in Las Vegas during spring break, Hernandez said. There will also be a T-shirt giveaway open to the first 700 students. Student IDs are required to receive a free T-shirt.

“If you’ve come to Madness before, you know that your glow sticks sometimes have stickers and that’s how you get selected for a lot of things,” Hernandez said. “So, if your glow stick has a sticker, whatever it is, just hold on to it. Don’t give it to your friends because you’ll get the chance to participate in any of those things.”

She said Student Activities collaborated with Athletics to put together a carnival-style pre-party with free food, goodies, music, giveaways and a haunted bus provided by Parking and Transportation Services outside the Fieldhouse. 

The pre-party starts at 7 p.m. and the doors to Madness open at 8:30 p.m.

Stephen Hirst, associate vice president for Student Affairs, told The Rider a parade from the Dining Hall to the Fieldhouse directly precedes the pre-party.

Hirst said the event is a chance for students to “connect with fellow Vaquero students.”

He said he loves university traditions, adding that not only do they “promote school pride,” but they also create “shared experiences” between students and their friends.

“Hopefully, they’re the ones that make them reflect, years from now, back on their college days with a smile on their face, and our UTRGV Athletics has … an important role to play in creating those meaningful memories,” Hirst said.

The event, which had 2,518 people in attendance last year, will be packed with performances from the pep band, cheer and dance teams, he said.

Hernandez described Madness as a “big party” or a “safe rave.”

“What we want is our students to be proud to be part of UTRGV … and I think events like this really help not only bring students together, but also help them make new friends and have fun together,” she said. “And, really, the bottom line is this school spirit.”

Hernandez said transportation will be available to Brownsville-based students who want to attend. The shuttle departs at 5:30 p.m. from the Casa Bella apartments on the Brownsville campus.

“[Students] can still register,” she said. “From what I’ve heard, there are still open spots and the cool thing about that is they get a goodie bag and they get a guaranteed T-shirt.”

To check for open spots, visit utrgv.campuslabs.com.