e Physical Activites Center and stretched down the sidewalks and onto the streets in the 68-degree weather.

The cause of the crowd this past Friday was Midnight Madness.

“Midnight Madness is intended to promote the men and women’s basketball teams” Turner Baehl said.

Baehl, a junior accounting major is the physical activities student worker for Archie’s Army.

Archie’s Army is the organization that puts on Midnight Madness every year.

“Basically I set up everything you see in the gym,” Baehl said, “I set up the bleachers, the games, and the blow-up Archie.”

Whitney Moiser, a junior special education elementary education major sat in the stands at Midnight Madness for the third year in a row.

“My favorite part is watching the cheerleaders,“ Mosier said as she dipped her free hotdog in ketchup. “I think it is incredible they can do all those lifts and flips.”

Mosier said watching the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams run onto the courts made her miss being an athlete.

Gabi Baker, sophomore exercise science pre-occupational therapy major, is a member of Archie’s Army.

Baker stood behind the t-shirt laden tables, passing out free red Archie’s Army shirts as the line made its way into the gym.

“Our job was basically just to count the number of people that came tonight” Baker said. “I love watching the hype before the basketball stuff starts. So many people came out tonight and it was so fun to watch them get excited.”

In addition to running the t-shirt stand, Archie’s Army provided free food and games such as cornhole and spike-ball.

Archie’s Army’s goal is to encourage students to take pride in their school and support the athletics, and Midnight Madness is just one way to achieve that.

“We encourage students to stand in the pep block with us and cheer on our team,” Baker said. “We have recently started having pep-blocks for volleyball and soccer too. Being in Archie’s Army is a great experience for college students to have to just be goofy and take pride in your school.”