Less than 24 hours later, Penn State announced it would revert back to the first-come, first-served system. "We researched the idea quite a bit, and decided a lottery would give all Penn State students an equal possibility of obtaining tickets," says Greg Myford, Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Communications at Penn State. "But what our students said very loudly, clearly, and quickly, is that there's a difference between equal and fair. They want to control their own destiny--that's what they feel is fair. With a lottery, students felt it would be out of their control and that's where they started to lose faith in the system."

Penn State is one of many NCAA Division I schools struggling with how to divvy up student tickets. The University of Florida changed to a lottery system for its student football tickets two years ago, and so far, so good.

"When we were on a first-come, first-served basis, it didn't seem right that students were wasting so many hours on the phone just to get football tickets when they should be studying," says Mark Gajda, Assistant Ticket Manager at Florida. "It was also a potential hazard to our community. At the start of the sale, phone lines went down in certain areas of Gainesville due to the large number of calls the athletic department was taking. If there was an emergency, residents may not have been able to dial out."

Now, there is a two-week period when Florida students can call at their leisure to register for the lottery and leave their credit card information. The system is weighted heavily toward students with more UF credit hours, giving upperclassmen the best chance at landing tickets. Students with at least 90 UF credits have the best odds, but some tickets are set aside for students in the 60-90, 30-59, and 29 or fewer (freshmen and transfers) ranges. Everyone who enters the lottery has their credit card charged, and those who do not win tickets receive a refund.

Gajda says the key to a smooth change was keeping students informed. "When we switched to the lottery system, we didn't make the decision overnight," he says. "We solicited input from student groups, and kept those groups in the loop throughout the process. Schools need to be up front with their students and let them know, 'This is what's going to happen in six months to a year, this is why, and it's the only fair system we have based on the student population.' If you can avoid simply unleashing a new system without warning, it will really help students to accept it."

The University of Wisconsin uses a first-come, first-served system for football tickets, but men's basketball tickets are distributed through a lottery system that the school is tweaking this year to award tickets to more students. "Of the 2,100 student seats, we're awarding full season tickets to 1,200 of the basketball lottery winners," explains Vince Sweeney, Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Relations. "The other 900 seats will be split into half-season packages.

"When the schedule is finalized, we'll match up the packages to have equal numbers of conference, non-conference, weekday, and weekend games," Sweeney continues. "It's not a full season of games, but this way 900 more students can show their support for Wisconsin basketball in person."