The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Free football tickets to be distributed today

For those wanting free tickets to SIU's first home playoff game Nov. 27, the Daily Egyptian hopes you are reading this newspaper before noon.

Five hundred free tickets will be given away at the ticket office in Lingle Hall today at noon, compliments of SIUC Chancellor Walter Wendler and the SIU foundation.

Only one ticket will be given per student, and like past basketball games, you will need a student ID.

"Typically we don't support athletics directly beyond what we do with student fees and all that sort of thing," Wendler said about the SIU foundation, which is independent from the University. "We felt like this was a good way to say we appreciate the student support of athletics."

Unlike in the regular season, when student tickets are free, students are being charged $6 apiece for playoff tickets. Given the NCAA's bidding process and garnishment of profits, the Athletic Department cannot afford to give playoff tickets away.

It's also against NCAA rules for the Athletic Department to comp playoff tickets.

The Athletic Department has been worried about attendance for the first playoff game because it falls over Thanksgiving break, so the ticket giveaway was welcome news to SIU Athletic Director Paul Kowalczyk.

"I'm certainly pleased as heck about it, and the students should be, too," Kowalczyk said. "Hopefully they'll respond in kind."

For those not able to get tickets today, they will be on sale after the playoff pairings are announced on ESPNEWS Sunday at noon. For fans who are not students or high school age or younger, the cost is $15.

The public is invited to watch the selection show with the team Sunday at the Student Center ballrooms.

For those who still don't want to pay for a ticket, it is possible free ones will be available at the gate on game day.

The Athletic Department is attempting to get local businesses to buy up student tickets for game day giveaways, but it's impossible to know what the community's response will be before break.

So far, Kowalczyk said, it's going pretty well.

"From what I understand, we're getting some favorable responses," Kowalczyk said. It is also possible University housing will allow students into their dorm rooms early so they can get back for the football game.

Wendler said the University is doing everything it can to get students to the game because, he said, it has generated a lot of pride for the University. He seems to think quite highly of Jerry Kill and his team.

"I think excellence, however it's manifested, is always a joy to behold," Wendler said. "I don't care whether it's on a football field, in a chess match, at a performance, at a chemistry lab. It makes no difference.

"Excellence is a joy to behold, that's what this University is about and these guys are excellent."