Another exciting season of Sooner football approaches and with it students scramble for tickets in hopes that they might be able to be a part of it.

With construction forcing the ticket office to relocate and a new, revamped method of ticket purchasing in place, students need to be aware of when, where and how to go about obtaining admission to greatness.

Upperclassmen have probably already noticed some of the many changes to the way tickets are purchased. For the first time in several years, tickets for away games, as well as tickets to the Texas game in Dallas, are to be sold this fall, rather than in the previous spring.

"Last year we had a lot of tickets that were never picked up," said Tom Blubaugh, athletic ticket office manager. "We hope that doing things this way will help avoid that."

Construction to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium has forced the relocation of the athletic ticket office to the east side of Lloyd Noble Center. This presented a few more problems in dealing with ticket sales because some students might find Lloyd Noble to be an inconvenient location.

Partially because of this, the option for students to purchase tickets online, which resulted in much success last spring, is returning this fall.

"We're bringing back the online sale mainly for convenience to students," Blubaugh said. "Students can simply log on, purchase their tickets and be done with it. They don't have to worry about making the trip to Lloyd Noble or camping out or anything."

Tickets for the away games and Texas game will be sold based on seniority. Category I students will get first dibs on tickets. These are students who are returning to OU who enrolled in spring 2002 and purchased season tickets during the spring sale at the beginning of May. Category II students, those who are new to OU such as freshmen and transfer students, have a shot at whatever is left over.

For students in Category I, away game tickets will be sold on Aug. 27 and 28. Any tickets that remain will go on sale to Category II students on the 29th.

"Tickets will be available for all of the away games," Blubaugh said. "Away tickets will have to be picked up at the stadium the game is being played at. Students will be required to present their student ID in order to pick it up."

Tickets for the Texas game will go on sale Sept. 17 and 18 for students in Category I. Should any tickets remain, they will be offered to students in Category II on September 19. Texas tickets will cost $60.

For students wishing to purchase a ticket to a road game or the Texas game who are not already season ticket holders, the left over tickets will be made available for them to buy following the Category II sale.

The home games this season will once again require students to pick up a hard ticket the week of each home game.

With the exception of the Alabama game, students who have purchased season tickets may pick up their hard ticket Monday and Tuesday before the game from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Alabama game falls on the week of Labor Day, so therefore Sept. 2 the office will be closed. To make up for the lost day, the following Tuesday hours will be extended to 8 p.m.

If tickets are not picked up by Wednesday they will be offered to the remainder of the student body for purchase Thursday. If there are still tickets available, the general public will be allowed to purchase them the Friday before game days.

The changes to the way sales are being run this year are mainly due to the influence of the Student Advisory Board, a group composed of students who make suggestions to administration about various topics on behalf of students.

"We've worked very closely with the Student Advisory Board to make sure that this system would benefit everyone," Blubaugh said.

Look for more information about purchasing tickets in Monday's edition of The Oklahoma Daily.
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