For the Aggies, it was Maroon Madness at Kyle Field, and the women were the first to tip off the season with a showing that began just before Midnight Yell Practice on a basketball court set up on the sidelines.

"We have the most unique experience going in college basketball by already having a tremendous tradition of Midnight Yell Practice that no other college in the country has," women's head coach Gary Blair said. "When you can combine basketball and football together, it is a win-win situation."

The Aggie women, coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight and with a No. 4 preseason ranking from Athlon Sports, are expected to feature one of the most prolific backcourts in the nation with returning seniors Takia Starks and Danielle Gant. Last season, the duo combined for more than 1,100 points, almost half of the team's total.

Blair, who has six incoming freshmen this year, credits last season's Maroon Madness with starting the season off right.

"It is great for our fans, great for our kids and great for recruiting," he said. "Our players look forward to it every year, and it fires them up for practice the following day at 7:30 a.m.

"The explosion of what we did last year in the NCAA Elite Eight against Duke and Tennessee has helped our exposure. We have become a basketball power. The only way you can stay there is if you can do it on a consistent basis. I love the growth of our program and the growth of our fan base."

In men's head coach Mark Turgeon's second season in Aggieland, the team will be centered around senior 3-point specialist Josh Carter and juniors Bryan Davis and Donald Sloan. But Maroon Madness gave Aggie fans the chance to preview a group of newcomers that features two of the Top 100 national recruits for the class of 2008, according to Rivals.com.

Dash Harris and David Loubeau, both highly coveted Floridians, join 7-foot power forward/center James Blasczyk from Houston Friendswood to make up Turgeon's first full-season recruiting class.

"We are both Top 25 programs, have good players that are already here, have great coaching staffs and have top recruits coming in," Blair said of the men's and women's teams. "Right now, as a basketball coach at Texas A&M, I feel like the luckiest person in the whole world. We were able to use our new locker rooms this week at the Cox-McFerrin Center for Aggie Basketball. Every day, there is something new and exciting happening here in College Station. I am excited that the men and women are doing it at the same time."