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LSU enjoys season sellout in spite of price hike
SI.com: Sunday July 18, 2004 1:56PM


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Half of a national championship can still sell a lot of football season tickets.

Buoyed by the Tigers' 2003 BCS National Championship, LSU fans have bought every available season ticket for the first time ever, in spite of a price hike that landed LSU in court.

LSU sold a record 66,495 season tickets for 2004, ticket manager Brian Broussard said.

The previous record was 63,763 in 2002, after LSU won the 2001 Southeastern Conference title.

Both the season ticket prices and the championship caused a ruckus.

A law student took LSU to court after the athletic department, with an OK from the LSU Board of Supervisors, added a mandatory "donation" of $80 to $400 per ticket to the basic price of $252.

More money bought better seats.

A district judge and three-judge appeal court panel agreed: the surcharge wasn't a fee increase, and did not need approval from two-thirds of the state House and Senate.

The money will pay for renovations and new construction on a variety of athletic facilities, and some will go toward academics.

Then LSU won the Sugar Bowl -- also the Bowl Championship Series title game -- while Southern California won the Rose Bowl to keep its No. 1 ranking in the writers' poll run by The Associated Press.

That split national championship prompted the BCS to change its formula for choosing the champ.

It announced last week that the AP writers' poll, the coaches' poll and a combination of computer rankings will each count for one-third of a team's overall BCS ranking.

Strength of schedule, team record and quality wins, three components used under the old system, were all eliminated.

Had BCS been using its newly adopted system last year, USC and LSU would have been in the title game.

The Tigers open the 2004 season Sept. 4 at home against Oregon State.

It sure does. If SMU could go 6 or 7 wins out season ticket sales would double. I know, still not that many but sales would be way up and students would be in their seats.

Ride your pony and stay on the trail.

I would agree. I would add that getting more of students at the games is crucial, as well as encouraging them to leave the Boulevard and be in the stands before Kick-off.

I suggest the fraternitiy show some leadership in this area. Screaming students as the team takes the field can only help the players, the atmosphere and infect the fans with enthusiasm. The game should be a happening. Recruits will love it as well. For me Notre Dame sets a great standard.

I was at the Notre Dame/Navy game last year. I was on bus with 40 guys. ND has guys on horse back that actually make you go into the game. They made our bus leave the campus becuase we left at halftime to drink. If you are on campus at Notre Dame- you have to be in the stadium or they write you a ticket for loitering during the game & a fine!