Perhaps the most disheartening part of game days for many Northwestern football fans has been arriving at Ryan Field decked out in purple only to drown in a sea of red, blue or green. However, with the core of last year’s Big Ten championship team returning and expectations for this upcoming season as high as ever, NU athletic department administrators are pleased with what they described as a significant increase in season-ticket and individual-game purchases for this fall.

Although he would not disclose actual figures for fear of discouraging further ticket purchases, NU Director of Ticket Operations Mark Wesolowski said he expects to eventually sell out several games, possibly all five home contests. While there are still plenty of tickets remaining for each game, Wesolowski said early sales figures suggest that last year’s success will result in a visible increase in purple-clad fans at Ryan Field, which holds 47,130. Last year, the Wildcats drew an average of 34,267 fans in its six home games.

“There will be more NU fans than opposing fans at the games this year, or at least they’ll be more noticeable,” Wesolowski said. “When we’re winning, NU fans buy tickets well in advance so they get better seats. When we’re losing, they don’t think ahead and end up in worse seats.”

Chris Boyer, NU’s assistant athletic director for marketing, said numerous changes have been made to make Ryan Field more fan-friendly, including a pre-game gathering place on the baseball field called Wildcat Alley. In addition, Boyer said the marketing department has advertised in the Chicago Tribune, local Pioneer Press papers and on WGN radio.

This year, the Cats will travel for two of their three out-of-conference games, leaving only five home matchups on the 11-game schedule: Navy, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State and Iowa. Unlike other years, there are no home games before New Student Week, and Wesolowski said he expects a large student turnout for the Sept. 15 Navy contest, one day after freshmen move into dorms.

Noticeably absent from this year’s schedule are Wisconsin and Michigan, depriving fans of what would have been emotionally charged rematches of heart-stopping contests from last year. Some have even called the 2001 home slate boring, but Wesolowski bristles at such criticism.

“I’ve heard from some people that we have a poor home schedule, but I wonder what they’re basing their opinions on,” he said, noting that Michigan State and Penn State have been the hottest sellers so far. “Minnesota has been to a bowl game the last couple of seasons, and Iowa won two of its last three games, effectively knocking us out of the Rose Bowl. If people are just looking for a marquee name like Wisconsin or Michigan, then that’s the only way they should be disappointed.”