Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO -- They brought their tarps, blankets and lawn chairs to camp outside of Brigham Young University's Marriott Center.
"There's kind of this big game tomorrow night," said student Andrea Riggs. "We want to be there. We want to be a part of the action."
That big game: A showdown between ninth-ranked BYU and fourth-ranked San Diego State University in men's basketball Wednesday night.
The game is sold out to the public, but the Marriott Center prepared to hand out colored and numbered wristbands as part of creating order for entry into the game. A total of 5,000 seats are reserved for students.
The university told students not to line up until noon Tuesday, but students like Trent Boulter have been staking their spot in line for days and even camped out since 3 a.m. Tuesday.
"We even formed ourselves into a line based on who was here first, and then anyone that came afterwards just kept coming into the back of the line," says Boulter. "And now it's just turning into this mass exodus pushing up into the barricade."
Despite the instructions from university officials, many students planned their strategies to grab those coveted game tickets despite the rules -- and a bit of chaos ensued Tuesday morning when the students who had camped out were told their line would not be honored.
Related
BYU, San Diego State ready for showdown
BYU and San Diego State have earned respect around the country. Now the country gets to see them battle each other.University Police Lt. Arnie Lemmon said that while the students were breaking the rules by waiting in line in the first place, at this point there isn't much that can be done.
Eventually, the overnight line was honored. The first 500 students in line who hold all-sports passes were given colored wristbands. After that, the next 500 with all-sports passes were given unnumbered wristbands. All will be eligible to line up Wednesday to get tickets to the game that evening.
But the chaos won't end there.
"We're going to have different people on this side, we're going to have different people on that side," says student Peter Hayward. "We're going to try to get different seats all throughout the student section."
Admission to the student area is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Students are not allowed to save seats once they enter the arena, but students have a strategy to get around that rule, too.
"We can sit really, really wide so then we can try to wedge us all into a small area as possible," said Hayward.
Lemmon said there's only so much law and order that can be accomplished in a situation like this.
"We'll deal with it. It's their ball game," says Lemmon. "We're going to make it as pleasurable as possible, but we're going to maintain order."
Student All-Sport Pass holders will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Students must bring their All-Sport Card to get a wristband and to enter the game.
For more information on student admission into the game, CLICK HERE.
For more on Wednesday night's basketball showdown, CLICK HERE.
E-mail: niyamba@ksl.com
