CSNbbs

UC-Xavier Crosstown Shootout sold out
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 11:23 a.m. EST January 5, 2015


Cincinnati guard Ge’Lawn Guyn shoots against Xavier University guard Dee Davis on Dec. 14, 2013. (Photo: Enquirer file)

Tickets for the Feb. 18 Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout men's basketball game between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University are sold out, the UC athletic department announced Monday.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at UC's Fifth Third Arena, with TV on either ESPN or ESPN2.

Fans not able to get tickets for the game are encouraged to visit UC's official secondary ticket market at VividSeats.com.

Tickets are available for UC's eight remaining American Athletic Conference home games, UC said. The remaining league home schedule includes East Carolina (Tuesay Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.), Temple (Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.), Houston (Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.), defending national champion UConn (Jan. 29 at 8 p.m.), USF (Feb. 7 at 8 p.m.), Tulane (Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.), UCF (Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.) and Memphis (March 8 at Noon).

Fans can purchase tickets by logging on to BearcatsBasketball.com or by calling 1-877-CATS-TIX.

Game sold out in less than 18 minutes within being available to the public. Speculation in the office was that this is the most advanced game sellout we have ever had. At least since the current staff in the ticket office/sales has been at UC.

Sounds like the prices should have been higher.

Don't get me wrong--I'm glad for UC to have the "internal" sell out for X.

On the other hand, isn't it somewhat disappointing that we didn't sell out a conference game against reigning National Champion UConn first? I don't believe it speaks well for our priorities as a fan base in terms of being a national program when we're so focused on a crosstown game. UConn is among the top two or three elite programs in the nation this past decade.

Of course, UConn has been very disappointing so far this season. Hopefully that sell out can still be announced in the coming days.

So again, congratulations to UC and the ticket office team for their great work--this is really just an aside about fan perceptions.

(01-06-2015 11:43 AM)indycat Wrote: [ -> ]Don't get me wrong--I'm glad for UC to have the "internal" sell out for X.

On the other hand, isn't it somewhat disappointing that we didn't sell out a conference game against reigning National Champion UConn first? I don't believe it speaks well for our priorities as a fan base in terms of being a national program when we're so focused on a crosstown game. UConn is among the top two or three elite programs in the nation this past decade.

Of course, UConn has been very disappointing so far this season. Hopefully that sell out can still be announced in the coming days.

So again, congratulations to UC and the ticket office team for their great work--this is really just an aside about fan perceptions.

UConn might be the defending national champion but they haven't had a team that is ranked every week in the top ten for a handful of years, usually they do their damage in March. There might be some fan fatigue as well with UConn because the Cats have played them ten times in the last five years. Most of the games have been really good but the Huskies are not an historical rival like Xavier or Louisville. It wouldn't shock me to see senior day against Memphis draw a better crowd because that game is on a weekend.

(01-06-2015 11:43 AM)indycat Wrote: [ -> ]Don't get me wrong--I'm glad for UC to have the "internal" sell out for X.

On the other hand, isn't it somewhat disappointing that we didn't sell out a conference game against reigning National Champion UConn first? I don't believe it speaks well for our priorities as a fan base in terms of being a national program when we're so focused on a crosstown game. UConn is among the top two or three elite programs in the nation this past decade.

Of course, UConn has been very disappointing so far this season. Hopefully that sell out can still be announced in the coming days.

So again, congratulations to UC and the ticket office team for their great work--this is really just an aside about fan perceptions.

Don't forget that I'm sure plenty of X fans bought tickets too. There aren't exactly a ton of UConn fans around here.

People in CIncinnati like to buy tickets to events (ie. Opening Day for Baseball). The Crosstown Shootout is an event.

As for UConn- definitely a marquee opponent. They are just on the outside IMO of being considered a basketball blue blood like a Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke etc. I just don't think to the average person in Cincinnati they are that big of a deal. Part of is regionalism and the other part of it is they play in the AAC like we do.

The uconn game last year drew 12,400 when they were ranked #22.

UC sold out their final 3 home games last year and one of those was vs. Houston. If uc is in the hunt for the conference title I would hope for the same this year.