The Student Government Association, the Dean of Students Office and several members of the UT Athletics Board have finalized the new system for reserving UT basketball tickets online.  The system will operate similar to the process for reserving student section football tickets, but it will feature new benefits for the students. 

"Our goal was to find a way for all students to go to the basketball games," Laura Nishida, president of SGA, said. "It will be a beneficial step in getting more people to attend the games and show their support."

The benefits of this new system will hopefully attract more students to the basketball games.   Tickets for home basketball games will continue to be free to UT students.

As with football tickets, students will now login to bigorangetix.com to reserve their place in the student section of Thompson-Boling Arena. 

The system will be set up in different periods lasting from two weeks to up to one month.  Within each period, students will be able to reserve tickets for multiple games within the given time frame. Once students have signed up for the games they wish to attend, the process is over.  Tickets will be automatically updated to each student's Volcard.  Students will only be required to bring their student ID to the games. 

The number one complaint concerning football tickets was the loyalty points system; therefore, SGA, the Dean of Students Office and UT Athletics Board members decided to do away with the loyalty points system, Nishida said.  Season tickets will not be issued for UT basketball games.

Our goal was to find a way for all students to go to the basketball games. It will be a beneficial step in getting more people to attend the games and show their support. Laura Nishida, SGA president

The tickets awarded to students will be general admission tickets, so students will still be able to arrive to the game as early as they desire in order to get good seats.

In order to accommodate the students in this new process, computer stations will be set up in Thompson-Boling Arena.  These computers will provide students with access to bigorangetix.com in order to reserve a ticket for the game;  therefore, no students will be negatively affected by this change.

With the new ticketing system, no student will be denied admission to the game because of a lack of seating.  The Athletics Department guarantee that all students wanting to attend basketball games are able to by reserving allotment seating for games with an anticipated high attendance. 

UT students have already formed very strong and varying opinions on the new ticketing system.  Those in favor say this new system will greatly benefit students, because it is more convenient and will increase attendance.

"I like it," Kendall Downing, senior in journalism, said.  "It's more fair because it's dumb to have to skip class and wait in line all day, just to go to a basketball game."

However, many students are apprehensive about the new system.  With doubts about its convenience and if there is any real difference in the new system, students are hesitant to believe in the benefits. 

"I feel it is not a smart system.  I know most students along with myself don't decide until hours before the game," Kathryn Price, junior in advertising, said.  "The online system is just an extra step and a waste of time."

"I don't think the new system will change anything," Patrick Brown, senior in journalism, said.  "We will still have to wait in line, and that's why people don't go to games now." 

Brown continued, "Students are less concerned with athletics and more concerned with academics now."