For students, last year's quest for Orange Bowl tickets meant early mornings, long lines and wristbands. But, this season, all that's being replaced by the Internet.
As in most road games this season, a lottery for full-time students is currently being held online at gopsusports.com to determine who will receive an opportunity to purchase a $60 student ticket for Penn State's Jan. 1 Outback Bowl appearance in Tampa, Fla.
The random drawing will be decided once the lottery closes at 5 p.m. Friday. Winners will be notified Sunday evening and can purchase tickets next Tuesday at the Bryce Jordan Center.
In its first two hours, the lottery, which officially opened at noon yesterday, already boasted more than 200 applicants.
"I'm not quite sure what to expect," said Greg Myford, associate athletic director of marketing, regarding student interest in bowl tickets. "The one thing we can rely on is Penn State students always rise to the occasion, and pretty much regardless of where we go, the response from our students is always nothing short of remarkable, frankly."
The online process is identical to the handling of this season's high-demand road games, such ase Notre Dame and Ohio State -- with one particular exception.
Instead of being able to purchase one ticket per ID, students will now have the opportunity to buy two tickets.
"Anytime we can allow our students to travel with a friend, that makes everything a little bit easier," Myford said. "A little bit easier on the pocketbook by sharing expenses and, more importantly, sharing the bowl experience with friends is real important."
According to Myford, some 11,000 tickets were made available to Penn State this year -- and students will receive 10 percent of that allotment, or 1,100 tickets. Normally, students receive only 5 percent of allotted tickets during away games.
"Based on how demand unfolds for the New Year's Day Outback Bowl, we'll play it by ear," Myford said. "And if the demand's there for the students, and we can make additional tickets available, we'll make every effort to do that."
Students such as Chuck Bowman (senior-finance) might be happy to hear that. But the 11 a.m. kickoff time isn't the most convenient, especially considering the New Year's Eve parties the night before.
Still, while Bowman wasn't thrilled about the start time -- he said he didn't plan on sleeping that night -- he said the early kickoff wouldn't prevent him from attending, even if the time was "a little obscene."
"I don't agree with it, but the Capital One Bowl starts at 1 p.m.," he said. "So you get what you get."
For Bowman and others who plan on attending the bowl, Outback Bowl President and CEO Jim McVay said Tampa Bay "was built for young people" and compared the city to New Orleans' French Quarter.
Among the city's attractions, McVay listed Busch Gardens, a casino, a cruise ship, parties, parades, fireworks, the aquarium, beaches, and, of course, Raymond James Stadium, the site of the 2007 Outback Bowl.
"It's a beautiful 65,000-seat stadium," McVay said. "[It] has a block party atmosphere, a huge pirate ship in the end zone and a quaint little pirate village. All seats are theater-style seats, and everything is closely tiered to the stadium.
"Believe me, your friends will run out of time before they run out of things to do."
