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Saturday's USF-UCF Game Is A Hot Ticket

CHRIS URSO / Tampa Tribune

University of South Florida fans walk from the ticket sales booth at the Sun Dome on Monday.

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune
and KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

Updated: 10/08/2007 10:21 pm

High Five: Bulls No. 5 in both polls

Photos | Bulls Wallpaper | Bulls Coverage

TAMPA - Saturday's football game between the University of South Florida and University of Central Florida likely will draw a full house, box office officials said Monday.

As the Bulls, along with their fans, gear up for the noon game, USF administrators were busy dealing with an e-mail that went out to Ticketmaster customers, telling them the game had been postponed.

The miscue was made by Ticketmaster, which had tried to alert customers of the noon kickoff but sent the wrong message, USF officials said.

About 8,000 USF student tickets were handed out Sunday on the Tampa campus.

More than 1,500 student tickets were expected to be handed out between Monday and today, a box office spokeswoman said.

Monday, student tickets were distributed at USF's three branch campuses.

The remaining tickets will be handed out at the USF ticket office at the Sun Dome beginning at 6 p.m. today.

It's first come, first served, and no companion tickets will be available.

Game tickets for the public are sold out, although there are a few package tickets available. Those packages include admission to remaining home games.

The Bulls are ranked fifth in the nation after Saturday's victory over Florida Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale. UCF is not ranked but has established a heated rivalry with USF over the past several years.

The bogus e-mail said the game was postponed and a new date had yet to be announced.

USF Assistant Athletic Director Chris Freet sent out an e-mail to the media titled: "UCF Game Not Postponed."

Ticketmaster discovered the e-mail and sent out a correction in about an hour.

Long lines formed for tickets at the Tampa campus Sunday.

Freshman Aaron Patacer gave up much of his day to get tickets. "I stood in line for four hours doing nothing," Patacer said. "It should be worth it."

Emily McDaniel noted there were no more companion tickets, allowing a student to bring a friend or relative for $15, and predicted the Bulls will keep winning with their late-game play.

"It's a sneak attack," she said.

Ben Albeit came away with a student ticket and some criticism.

"It's mainly unorganized," he said of the distribution.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 249-7760. Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at bmcmurphy@ tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7928.

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