About 225 students lined up at Schine Student Center on Wednesday morning to get free bus tickets to Houston to see Syracuse University men’s basketball Final Four game on Saturday.

The tickets went on sale at 10:30 a.m. Five students were permitted to go up to the Schine Box Office at a time, and the line persisted until the afternoon.

Student Association President Aysha Seedat sent an email to the student body Tuesday night that said SA, in partnership with the Division of Student Affairs, would provide buses to Houston free of charge.

Three buses will leave Schine on Thursday at 8 p.m., and the returning schedule depends on the men’s basketball team’s standing in the tournament.

The game will take place on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Jay Partridge, a freshman accounting major, was the first student in line, and said his group of friends arrived at Schine around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

“I mean, it’s a once in a life opportunity,” Partridge said. “… I didn’t think it was going to be a realistic opportunity for us to go to Houston but when the bus came around, we got here on time and it just all lined up perfectly,” Partridge said.

He added that 155 students were already waiting by the time the doors to Schine opened around 7:30 a.m.

“I have been thinking about this for a while ever since we’ve upset (the University of) Virginia, and thinking ‘Oh my God, I might have a legitimate shot of going,’” Partridge said. “Now it’s real, look(ing) at this physical object that says I am going to the Final Four. It’s unreal.”

Inbar Porat, a freshman undeclared major, said she camped outside Schine all night with her friends.

“It was pretty rough but definitely worth it to come early because we know we are going to make it and that’s just very satisfying,” Porat said. “… This is the craziest thing we’ve ever done, probably.”

The last person in line at 10:15 a.m. was Kristine Earley, a junior environmental education major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Earley said she was at work, but her boss let her go to see how long the line was.

“I go to ESF, so I always underestimate how big SU really is,” Earley said.

She added that she’d be willing to go see the women’s basketball Final Four game in Indianapolis if free transportation were provided. In the email sent to the student body, Seedat linked to a survey to determine whether there was sufficient student interest in SA providing free buses to Indianapolis for the women’s game.

SA Vice President Jane Hong said at Schine on Wednesday that many students showed interest in attending the women’s game.

Hong added that she was not expecting such a big turnout for the tickets.

“I think we just underestimated how determined our students are to be going out to the Final Four game,” Hong said. “Honestly, we are just so unbelievably encouraged by this turnout, and I hope that the men’s basketball team is just as encouraged to see students who are willing to camp out for this.”

Published on March 30, 2016 at 1:51 pm

Contact Satoshi: ssugiyam@syr.edu | @SatoshiJournal