Penn State fans may have turned out in droves for last year's National Invitational Tournament (NIT), but that exuberance hasn't carried over to this season: the university has yet to sell a single student section ticket for the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament.
This is the first year that students who attend Big Ten Conference schools will be able to buy a ticket at the discounted price of $50.
This ticket is considered an "all-session" pass and will allow students to come to as many sessions as they want, throughout the tournament, which will be held at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
Neither Penn State nor the University of Iowa has sold a single ticket as of press time Monday. All schools in the conference were allotted 75 at the discounted student price.
Both schools are at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, with Penn State in last place as a result of its 0-7 conference record.
"We haven't made any type of significant push on the tournament and typically don't until this time of year," said Greg Myford, associate athletic director for marketing and communications at Penn State. "Typically, there's been very low turnout from a student perspective."
The dates of the tournament, March 11 to 14, could be one reason for the lack of student ticket sales, he said, as it falls during Penn State's spring break.
This gives students the opportunity to travel without missing classes but interferes with other vacation plans.
"A lot of students like to take that time to go to Florida or Cancun or different places like that," said Alex Cohen, marketing chairman of Nittany Nation, a student organization that promotes Penn State basketball.
Transportation and hotel accommodations could also pose a problem for students contemplating going to the tournament, Myford said.
Currently, there are no all-inclusive packages being offered to Penn State students who wish to travel to Indianapolis for the tournament.
But the Big Ten has been trying to arrange a hotel package for students and secure partnerships with various bus companies through Indiana's tourism organizations, said Daryl Seaton, assistant commissioner of marketing for the Big Ten Conference.
"We're desperately trying to create a hotel package right now for students," he said. "I'm not optimistic we will be able to get it together. We'll keep it in mind for next year."
Though some schools organize their own travel packages -- as Penn State did for last year's NIT, held in Madison Square Garden -- Myford said the athletic department currently has no such plans.
"We haven't planned that to date, but if there was any kind of significant demand, it is something we would consider," Myford said.
But don't expect students to suddenly flock to ticketing Web sites by Jan. 31, the last day to secure discounted tickets in Penn State's student seating block, Cohen (junior-marketing) said.
Coming off of last year's NIT win, many students expected Penn State to be competitive in national standings. But the team's recent performance has not done much to encourage student support, he said.
"There's 11 games left and 11 games to prove to the student body why they should travel across the country to go to Indiana for the tournament and give up spring break," Cohen said. "The best marketing tactic right now is for the team to win. They're running out of time."
