History Making at Midnight

The 2010-11 college basketball season began with a bang at Caltech as the university hosted its first Midnight Madness in history. As the clock struck 12:01 am this past Friday, more than 550 undergraduates and 100-plus other fans were there to take part in the festivities.

Prior to the varsity teams being introduced, SCIAC high jump champ Alex Lapides nailed the half court shot and won a basketball signed by the five Nobel Laureates on campus (in addition to a year's supply of sundaes). The band roared, the Beaver danced, and the varsity players' adrenaline pumped.

The event was covered by Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times and then appeared on ESPN's College Basketball Nation Blog.

Check out the highlight reel from the evening.