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ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Missouri State University Sugar Bears dance team and cheer squad will both be competing for national honors in their respective categories at the 2020 College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship here, January 17-19. The national event is held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort.

On Friday, the Sugar Bears will participate in the Division 1 Game Day semifinals with a 12:01 p.m. performance. The top seven semifinalists will advance to the finals later Friday afternoon.

The competition continues Saturday, when the Cheerleaders compete in the DI Cheer semifinals at 2:11 p.m., with the top 3 finalists advancing to the finals Saturday evening. Missouri State's cheerleaders finished fifth at last year's UCA nationals with Morehead State winning the competition for the fourth straight year.

"We actually start preparing for it in September and October," said MSU cheer coach Nikki Love Adkins. "As soon as they are done with finals, we start two-a-day practices. In addition to that, they're showing up, cheering for games. They know how important it is to maintain the energy, even when they're tired."

The Sugar Bears will also compete Saturday with semifinal runs in the D1 Jazz category (5:48 p.m.) and D1 Pom competition (8:03 p.m.). The top 12 Jazz scores advance to Sunday afternoon's finals, while the top seven in Pom compete in the national finals on Sunday afternoon.

"Sometimes, at a normal game, you might not be able to see what our dancers can really do and what our cheerleaders can really do," said Emily Dryden, MSU Sugar Bears coach. "As we're going into this nationals season, we've been practicing 30-plus hours a week to get ready for this, because there is a lot that goes into it."

A year ago, the Sugar Bears finished sixth in their first-ever appearance in the D1 Game Day competition, finished 10th in the Jazz division in 2019, and took ninth place in D1 Pom.  

Video footage of the competition can be seen on VarsityTV again this year.

The prestigious competition, which showcases the country's best college cheerleaders, dance team performers and mascots, is marking its 37th year.