Beginning today students can register online to receive tickets for the first three regular-season basketball games.
Registration for the football game against N.C. State also begins today and all four distributions close Oct. 31.
Despite large turnouts at forums regarding the policy last spring no major changes were made.
For each game3000 students are randomly selected from those who sign up in an online lottery and are given two tickets.
This year students who did not receive tickets can enter the game at tip-off through a standby line. Last year" students had to wait until four minutes into the game.
Distributed tickets will still be broken down into five phases of arrival — 30-minute chunks beginning two and a half hours before tip-off.
""We think this is the fairest and most random way to allocate tickets to all interested undergraduate and graduate students"" said Graham Boone, director of ticket distribution for the Carolina Athletic Association.
The group evaluated the policy after last year's basketball season. CAA members spoke with officials in the ticket office and held two forums to solicit input from students.
Boone said the response to last year's policy was mostly positive, which is why CAA decided to keep the policy this year.
He said CAA considered shortening each phase so students would not have to show up so long before tip-off, but basketball coach Roy Williams said he likes having the seats filled while the team warms up.
The major criticism of the system is that it offers casual"" fans the same opportunity as ""hard-core"" fans"" Boone said.
""I think the way it works is kind of stupid"" said first-year student Jon Pipas. People who aren't that into the games still get to go.""
Boone said to accommodate the ""hard-core"" fans" CAA is trying to promote the standby line" which he said was not publicized well last year.
Senior Brian Woodard said he used the standby line last year for several games and always got in.
""You might have to sit up higher" but you still get to go to the game" he said.
Boone said the major failure of last year's system happened for the game against Duke University.
Since fewer than 6,000 seniors registered for tickets, some underclassmen were entered into the lottery and got better seats.
But Boone said they won't let that happen this year.
Freshmen should not get phase one tickets to Duke"" he said. That was a mistake.""
To Register:
www.tarheelblue.com/students
Sign up Schedule:
Start Date: Oct. 22
End Date: Oct. 31
Pennsylvania (Nov. 15)
Kentucky (Nov. 18)
UNC Asheville (Nov. 30)
Winter Break games: No online distribution
Oral Roberts (Dec. 13)
Evansville (Dec. 18)
Rutgers (Dec. 28)
Boston College (Jan. 4)
College of Charleston (Jan. 7)
Start Date: Dec. 22
End Date: Dec. 31
Miami (Jan. 17)
Clemson (Jan. 21)
Start Date: Jan. 22
End Date: Jan. 31
Maryland (Feb. 3)
Virginia (Feb. 7)
N.C. State (Feb. 18)
Georgia Tech (Feb. 28)
Start Date: Feb. 19
End Date: Feb. 28
Duke (Mar. 8)
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
