The students of Southern Methodist University braved the winter weather on Sunday night in an attempt to be first in line for the basketball tickets that have become so coveted around campus.
“The first tent was pitched at 7p.m.,” junior Monica Finnegan said. Finnegan was one of the most dedicated fans, and spent the night Sunday in a tent with her friends to get tickets to the next three home games.
After the last pick-up date on Jan. 27, when the tickets were gone by 9 a.m., students and faculty alike were prepared for Monday morning.
“The majority of the people started arriving at 5 a.m.,” Finnegan said.
Despite the 34 degree weather with wind and sleet, people stayed to get tickets to see the Mustangs take on the University of Houston, the University of Central Florida and the University of Connecticut.
The SMU basketball program has had a winning season and the team is ranked for the first time in 25 years. Fans and alumni from all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area want to come watch them play in Moody Coliseum, especially since they are undefeated at home.
An email was sent to the faculty and students of SMU on Feb. 9 explaining the procedure for waiting in line for tickets. Students were permitted to set up and spend the night in tents 24 hours ahead of the ticket office opening. They could bring two SMU IDs to the ticket pick-up office at Ford Stadium.
Despite this preparation, many students were still unable to get tickets. Katherine Montgomery, a senior at SMU, arrived at Ford Stadium at 6:15 a.m. to wait in line behind approximately 200 other students. Most of them had brought two student IDs to pick up two tickets. Another big rush of students arrived at 6:30 a.m., pushing the line back to Bush Avenue.
Montgomery said while it may have been disappointing to not get tickets, she was excited about meeting SMU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Larry Brown.
“Larry Brown came down the line and shook every person’s hand,” Montgomery said. “He’s such a down to earth guy. I’ve never heard of a coach doing that.”
Other students did not have as positive of an experience. Junior Sarah Tuohy arrived at Ford Stadium around 5:30 a.m. to wait in line. The last of the tickets were given to the group of people ahead of her.
“I can’t feel my fingers and I’ve been waiting for hours,” Tuohy said. “I still don’t even have any tickets! This new system is so annoying.”
Many students are becoming frustrated with the new system for getting tickets to the basketball games. Some claim that student tickets are guaranteed as a part of their student fees and don’t like that there are limited tickets available.
Most students are ecstatic to have a team to cheer for and games to go to. School spirit is increasing rapidly. Larry Brown and the SMU Men’s Basketball team is to thank, even if camping out in tents is the only way to see them play at Moody Coliseum.
