Last winter, a Northwestern men’s basketball student section seat became the hottest ticket in town. Seemingly overnight, Wildcat fever overtook the Evanston campus, with students turned away from Welsh-Ryan Arena’s doors just minutes following NU’s January 2023 tipoff against Illinois.
With high demand for student section tickets, NU Athletics implemented a ticket standby line, where students without reserved tickets could better their chances of admission. Every student in the standby line will be admitted 30 minutes prior to NU’s tipoff against Maryland Wednesday, according to a graphic sent by NU Athletics.
“Everything sort of took off during the magical men’s basketball season last year,” Weinberg senior and NU Wildside Programming Chair Vir Patel said.
Flash forward a little more than a year later, students have stormed the hardwood twice in a pair of upsets over AP No. 1 ranked Purdue and sprinkled in two Ryan Field rushes that followed footballs’ overtime comeback victory against Minnesota and bowl-eligibility clincher over the Boilermakers.
The ‘Cats punched their ticket to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, winning 13 contests in front of their home fans. Both improbable and palpable feats throughout NU Athletics came to fruition in Evanston. From the crux of an NCAA lacrosse championship run to the FBS’ largest single season turnaround in 2023, the ‘Cats crafted history in their proverbial backyard.
During this hallmark of home athletic heights, NU Wildside, the organization that runs the student section, has sponsored giveaways to help drum up support for the ‘Cats. Now, Wildside hopes to shatter Welsh-Ryan Arena’s student attendance record of 1,746 — set during volleyball’s matchup against then-No. 1 Wisconsin in September — Wednesday night.
For Wildside president and Communication junior Kayla Cohen, student athletic support has grown leaps and bounds since she was a member of the NU cheer team as a freshman. She said there had been a handful of times when students were turned away from games due to a lack of seats allocated to the student section, but not to the scale that happened last year.
“Too much student attendance was never a problem,” Cohen said. “We’re now at this point where people are acknowledging the importance of the fans. The team, NU Athletics and coaches all want us in attendance.”
With availability in upper deck seating Wednesday night, Andrew Cass, associate director of marketing and fan engagement at NU Athletics, coordinated with Wildside to ensure as many students as possible can attend the night’s game against Maryland.
To Cohen and her peers, every game incorporates plenty of behind the scenes planning to get the wheels churning and maximize student engagement. Of utmost importance — each game’s chosen theme.
“Each game is its own project,” Cohen said. “Every single game is an opportunity for success.”
In what’s been named Student Night, the student section will don neon colors to accompany bright balloons buoyed beside the bleachers. Although the typical ticket amount will remain intact on the claim website, Cohen said students in the standby line will be given general admission tickets prior to tipoff.
Weinberg freshman Lauren Weizer was among the first students on campus when the new points system was announced for men’s basketball ticketing claim windows. She said she attended an event from each fall sport, racking up points but gaining valuable introductions to new games in the process.
Weizer said she looks forward to potentially playing a small part in history and escaping the reality check her first Evanston winter has presented this week.
“It’s been a tough few days — a lot of us are reckoning with the funk of the cold,” Weizer said.
While Weizer and plenty of her classmates have taken full advantage of the school’s sporting events since she arrived on campus, Cohen said she hopes students who haven’t experienced live game action file into Welsh-Ryan Arena Wednesday night.
Cohen and Weizer echoed that anytime approximately one-fourth of the student body gathers behind the team, an electric atmosphere ensues. In the student section’s final shot at the attendance record this season, the fans will look to emulate the on-court fire of a heated conference battle.
“This is a game where people not connected with Northwestern sports — or those who don’t have that many points — can show up and see the game atmosphere,” Cohen said. “This is our last opportunity to go for the record.”
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Twitter: @jakeepste1n
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