SMU football kicks off its first season in Conference USA this Saturday against the Baylor Bears, and ticket sales may prove beneficial for the inaugural C-USA game.

Ticket box office assistant manager Russell Durrant said that change from the Western Athletic Conference to C-USA has caused ticket sales to increase, thanks to more regional conference opponents.

While an exact figure has not been predicted, Durrant said the opening game against Baylor is going to bring in a great amount of people.

“It’s going to be packed,” he said.

Ford Stadium, which seats 32,000 people and has additional tickets for standing-room only, saw only one sell-out last year when the Mustangs opened the season against Texas Tech. That marked the third sell-out in the stadium’s history and the first since the 2002 football season.

In fact, the 34,689 fans who came to watch the Mustangs play the Red Raiders broke the previous stadium record, which was 32,267, set in the 2000 season opener against the Kansas Jayhawks.

Though not everyone attends each game, Durrant said there are those true fans that are regulars, regardless of the team’s record.

“The ones we have are faithful,” Durrant said. “You see a lot of the same people at every game.”

Durrant predicts the games likely to sell the most tickets and draw the biggest crowds are those against Baylor and cross-town rival Texas Christian University. Still, Durrant encourages Mustang fans to attend every game, not just those which might be the most popular.

“Come to both and come to all,” he said.

With six home games for the 2005 season, students have plenty of opportunities to come out and support the Ponies. Four of the games are conference games.

Durrant encourages students to go pick up their tickets at the Mane Desk in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center or the ticket office at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Kick off against the Bears is set for 7 p.m. Saturday evening.