Final Four tickets

Ohio State’s student allotment of March Madness tickets for the Buckeyes’ trip to The Final Four sessions on Saturday and Monday have sold out.

OSU was issued 710 student tickets for both sessions – the semifinal session and the National Championship Game – at a cost of $25 for a two-session ticket, granting students admittance to all three games.

The Buckeyes travel to New Orleans to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday at about 9 p.m. The victor will play the winner of the game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats for the National Championship Monday.

Brandon Edwards, a fourth-year in political science, said he and 11 other friends started planning their trip to New Orleans as soon as the final buzzer sounded Saturday when OSU defeated Syracuse, 77-70.

“It’s been a really hectic, stressful process,” Edwards said. “Everything from hotel costs to flights or how much it would cost to drive down has been crazy. But we are all really excited.

“We actually didn’t know what the ticket buying process for students was going to be, so we actually bought our tickets on StubHub on Sunday,” Edwards said.

The OSU Athletic ticket office sent an email out Monday morning with details about student ticket availability. On a first-come, first-serve basis, students were able to log in and purchase tickets to the games.

For the first session, OSU was issued 355 tickets in the lower bowl behind the athletic band, and 355 tickets in the upper bowl. If the Buckeyes win the semifinal game, all 710 tickets for the National Championship will be in the lower bowl, and if they lose, all 710 tickets will be in the upper bowl.

The tickets are electronic, non-transferrable and cannot be resold. A BuckID and the credit card used for the purchase must be presented at the game to be granted entry.

Tickets went on sale at noon Monday and OSU’s allotment sold out shortly after that.

Edwards said once he received the email, his group decided it was going to sell the tickets they previously purchased on StubHub, which he said they bought for $197 a piece, and get the student tickets.

“We were actually able to sell them all back already, and everyone in the group, as far as I know, was able to get the student ticket,” Edwards said.

For the first game the seats in the lower bowl are on a first-come first-serve basis, and Edwards said he plans on going to the arena early to get good seats.

“We’d love to be on the court,” Edwards said. “But we know it will get pretty competitive.”

Edwards and his group plan to make the nearly 15-hour drive to New Orleans, as Edwards said plane ticket prices were “out of this world.” Edwards said that as the Final Four became set, hotel prices in the area were going up every time he checked it.

“The market has really responded to Ohio State and the other schools’ fan bases going to the game,” Edwards said.

Edwards and his group will be joining the more than 700 students who purchased student tickets, in addition to the hundreds of Buckeyes from around the country who are planning their trip to The Final Four.

Staff football tickets

OSU staff members will no longer have to wait three years from the time of their employment at the university to purchase football tickets.

The Athletic Council announced a change to the policy that will allow 2,000 tickets from the current allotment for staff that will be entered into a lottery system. Faculty and staff members not eligible under the current points system for a full or partial-season package are eligible for the lottery.

If chosen in the lottery, faculty and staff will have the option to purchase two tickets to one randomly selected home game.