At around midnight Monday, Wisconsin Athletics sent out an email announcing that student tickets to the Final Four in Texas were on sale for $40, prompting a flood of interest.
After Wisconsin beat Arizona in the Elite Eight last Saturday, leading to its first Final Four berth since 2000, students are eager to attend the game against Kentucky Saturday.
Since the victory, students have been busy posting inquiries on the UW Madison Ticket Exchange Zone Facebook page, asking questions about available tickets, seeking rides to Dallas and looking for people with whom to share hotel rooms.
Tyler McSweeney, a UW-Madison junior studying marketing, said he opened the Wisconsin Athletics email at 12:30 a.m. and had to make a fast decision.
“I got home and read the email, woke my roommate up and was like, ‘Hey we’re going to the Final Four,’” McSweeney said.
McSweeney, his roommate and three friends plan to drive his car the 15 hours to Texas nonstop overnight from Friday to Saturday.
Before Wisconsin’s win, McSweeney said he checked prices for flights out of Madison to the Final Four, but quickly ruled out the option of flying upon realizing round-trip tickets cost $700.
Costs aside, McSweeney said he is very excited for this weekend’s game. He was with friends in Mount Horeb when he watched last Saturday’s game.
“There’s nothing like Badger fans,” McSweeney said. “After the game, we literally, as fast as we could, got back to Madison and headed to State Street… it was nuts how packed it was.”
McSweeney said he thinks Wisconsin and Florida will end up in the championship Monday.
“It’s gonna be a heck of a matchup,” he said.
