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Week 1 was a glorified exhibition game. The real season starts
Saturday against Notre Dame. The game is usually a measuring
stick for the rest of the season. Two years ago, when Michigan
won it's first night game ever, the Wolverines went to the Sugar
Bowl. Last year, the Fighting Irish won and went all the way to the
National Championship Game. You don't want to miss this one.
Everett Cook, Zach Helfand, Matt Slovin and Liz Vukelich
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Breakdown: The ghosts come out at
night at Michigan Stadium. Who will
step up this year? Here's a look.
The Ticket Issue: The student section is
general admission. Single-game tickets are
"dynamic." What it all means to you.
What to Watch For: Can Devin Gardner han-
dle the pressure? Will atmosphere be like
2012? Michigan's most-pressing questions.
Cover illustration by Amy Mackens and Nick Cruz
2013 Schedule
Central Michigan (Aug. 31): Michigan beat the
Chippewas by their largest opening-day margin
since 1905.
Notre Dame (Sept. 7): The real winner in this
game is the electric company. Lights for days,
yo.
Akron (Sept. 14): Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-
dee-a, the Akron Zips are coming to play.
Connecticut (Sept. 21): No really, this game's
going to be played in Connecticut. Seriously.
Not lying.
Minnesota (Oct. 5): Jerry Kill kind of looks like a
walrus. Happy homecoming!
Penn State (Oct.12): Happy Valley at night
usually isn't so happy for opponents. Kickoff is at
5 p.m.
ID
Liz
Vukelich
Indiana (Oct.19): Long Island Bowl 2013. Win-
ner drinks from the keg of glory and gets the fin-
est bagels and muffins in all the land.
Michigan State (Nov. 2): Michigan State's
defense is really good. Michigan State's offense
is really not.
Nebraska (Nov. 9): The problem with Nebraska
fans is they're much too nice to hate. Unless, of
course, the'Huskers win again this year.
Northwestern (Nov. 16): Don't sleep on this
one: a road game - officially at least - against
one of the Big Ten's best.
Iowa (Nov. 23): Vodka Sam!
Ohio State (Nov. 30): The Game is The Game.
STAFF PICKS
The Daily football writers pick
against the spread to predict
scores for the Top 25 and Big
Ten in the 2013 football season.
Zach Everett Matt
Helfand Cook Slovin
No. 14Notre Daoe (+4) at No.17Michigan
No. 2Oregon (-23) at virginia
No.3OhioState(-28)vs San DiegoState
No.4 Clemson NILvs. South Carolina State
No 5 Stanford (-26.s) vs. San Jose State
No. 6 South Carolina (+3) at No.11Georgia
No.7 Texas A&M(NL)vs.Sam Houston St.
No. 8Louisvile (NL) vs. Eastern Kentucky
No. 9LSU- t5)vs UAB
No.12 Florida(-3i)atMiami(FL)
No.13 Oklahoma State(-27)atTexasS.A.
No.15 Texas (-7.5) at BYU
No. 16Oklahoma(-21)vs.westvirginia
No 19 Northwestern -12) vs. Syracuse
No 21 wisconsin(N vs. Tennessee Tech
No.22Nebrasa(-28)o.Soouthern Miss.
No. 23uByor (-275) on. Buffalo
No. 24 TCU (NLi vs. SE Loiinae St.
Nu 25USCs-15) v.WashingtoooStt
Illinois (+8) vs. Cincinnati
MichiganState (-23.5)vs. South Florida
Peno State -4ivs. EasternMichigan
iowaNL)vs.MissouriState
Purdue(NL)vs.IndianaState
Indiana(-13) iv. Navy
Minnesotao(-3.5) at New Mexico State
PennState(-8.5)vs. Navy
Iowa(NS)vs. NorthernIowa
Lastwnne
overall
Michigan
Oregon
Ohio State
Clemsono
San Jose State
Georgia
Texas A&M
Louisville
UAB
Florida
Oklahoma State
Texas
West Virginia
Northwestern
wisconsin
SouthernMiss.
TcU
USC
Cincinnati
MichiganSato
Peon Sltt
Iooa
Purdue
Navy
Minnesota
PennState
Iowa
t9-1
19-10
Michiean
Oegon
Ohio State
Clemnson
Stanford
South Carolina
Texas A&M
Louisville
LSU
Florida
OklahomaState
Texas
Okihom
Northwestern
wis s on
sc
Cincinnati
South Pioida
Poon Stato
Iowaoo
Purdue
ndiana
New Mexico State
Navy
Iowa
18-11
18-11
Oregon
Ohio State
Clemson
San Jose State
South Carolina
Toxas A&M
Louisville
LSU
Miami (FL)
OklahomaState
Texas
West Virginia
Northwestern
wisconsin
Nebrska
Sayior
TCU
Washingotott
Cincinnati
SouthFliorida
Purdue
Indiana
New Mexico State
Penn State
Iowa
17-12
Michigan
Oregon
Ohio State
Clerson
San Jose State
Georgia
Texas A&M
Louisville
LSU
Miami (FL)
Okiahoma State
Texas
Okiahoma
Northwestern
wisconi n
SouthornM iss.
TCU
Illinois
Michigantate
Penn State
owa
Purdue
Navy
Minnesota
Penn State
owa
14-1
14-15
Josh
Bartelstein,
Former
Michigan
basketball
captain
Michigan
Oregon
Ohio State
Clerson
Stanford
Georgia
Toxas A&M
Louisville
UAB
Florida
Oklahoma State
BYU
West Virginia
Northwestern
wisconsin
Nebraka
Buffalo
TCU
cincinnati
SouthFlorida
Purdue
Indian
New Mexico State
Penn State
Iowa
Michigan students who expected to have seat assignments before the season were disappointed in the new general admission policy.
to get people to understand
how important this was."
The Athletic Department
declined comment for this
story.
To Brandon's credit,
the Daily's analysis shows,
assigned-seating policies
across the nation seem
endangered. Michigan was
the last school in the Big
Ten to use a pure assigned-
seating policy, and just eight
out of 129 schools - none in
the Big Ten - currently use
an assigned-seating poli-
cy. Twelve other schools
employ a hybrid model, par-
tially using assigned seat-.
ing. Wisconsin, for example,
has a general-admission
policy for each section,
but allows students to pre-
select a section so they can
sit with friends.
Brandon named Nebras-
ka, specifically, as a school
the department researched.
Nebraska switched to gen-
eral-admission in 2008,
with one tweak: students
are assigned to sections of
the stadium, and seniors get
to select a section first.
"It gives upperclass-
men priority in their seat-
ing location, and allows
students the freedom to sit
with large groups of friends
at our games," said Keith
Mann, Nebraska's assistant
athletic director for media
relations.
Mann said the policy
has improved attendance
and involvement. Michi-
gan made no such tweaks,
though Proppe had lobbied
for the policy to grandfather
in upperclassmen.
Plus, some wondered
whether the general-admis-
sion policy would actually
solve the attendance issue.
"General admission may
do that, but it is not guar-
anteed to do that," said Dr.
Nod Fort, a professor of
Sport Management at the
University and co-director
of the Michigan Center for
Sport Management. "I have
seen other stadiums where
general admission leads
to 'reservation protection'
behavior. For example, a
campus social group may
simply send four of their
people in early - or in line
- and then require that they
save two blocks of seats."
By 2:07 p.m. before the
Central Michigan game,
though, the department had
handed out all of its wrist-
bands for early-arrivers. To
improve the student expe-
rience and avoid a situation
like Atlanta, the Athletic
Department reached out to
Proppe and others. Chief
Marketing Officer Hunter
Lochmann personally deliv-
ered pizza. There was water
and toilets. TVs showed
College GameDay and disk
jockey's played music. By
the 3:37 kickoff, the student
section was full.
Some upperclassmen
nonetheless expressed
frustration with the policy.
which no longer guaran-
tees them the best seats.
In the first CSG meeting of
the school year, Proppe said
that the resolution - calling
for more student involve-
ment in Athletic Depart-
ment decisions that affect
students - had worked.
"(The Athletic Depart-
ment) got some bad press on
it and now they are turning
it around," Proppe said.
But that's only partially
true. The Athletic Depart-
ment will send representa-
tives to the Sept. 17 CSG
meeting. Proppe said they
assured him students will
be advised on future ticket-
ing issues. But for now, the
football policy seems to be
set in stone.
Before Proppe spoke at
the May Regent's Meeting,
he received an 8 a.m. phone
call from Brandon.
"I think he definitely
understood there was nega-
tive reaction from the stu-
dents and so he, I would
speculate, he wanted to
get buy-in from students,"
Proppe said of the 30-min-
ute call.
Brandon said he under-
stood the complaints,
according to Proppe, but the
decision had already been
made.
Know a student
One alumni said that even though he graduated, he
still knows a few current students and used them to buy
season tickets this year. It's technically against the rules,
but getting a current student to buy you season tickets is
by far and away the cheapest way to get tickets, even if
you only go to a couple games. Technically, your M-Card
will expire anywhere from a year to five years after you
graduate depending on whether you get a new one issued,
but the ushers never check dates and you don't have to
scan anything to get in.
Join the football Saturdays program
through the Alumni Association
If you are too far out of school to pass as a student,
the Football Saturdays program through the Alumni
Association is a great way to get cheap tickets. In the
spring, you have to fill out an application ranking the
games yourwant to go to. Your name is then entered in
a lottery for the games you marked. Get selected, and
you get tickets in the south end zone for face value. Some
games are harder than others to win -there were 6,000
applications for the 1,000 allotted Notre Dame tickets -
but the system is pretty straight forward and not revenue-
driven, which makes everything cheaper.
The program is free as long as you are a member of the
Alumni Association in good standing
Wait
This might be the hardest option, becauseit's basically
a gamble. The. athletic department released the tickets
on July 31, saying to buy them earlier rather than later
because ticket prices would rise the closer the event got.
For Notre Dame this week, that simply wasn't true.
In the middle of August, the cheapest dynamic pricing
ticket was $266. which is about $100 cheaper when they
were when originally released. OnMonday this week,
the cheapest tickets started at $214 on StubHub, but by
Thursday, the cheapest had dropped to around $180.
Tickets might be even cheaper than that is you wait until
after kickoff and go to scalper that is growing desperate to
unload their tickets. It's risky but could ultimately end up
being a lot less expensive than buying in advance.
TheMichiganDaily - www.michigandaily.com 7
2 FootballSaturday - September 6, 2013