BLOOMINGTON — Indiana University senior Henry Thuss got the email he'd been hoping for on Sunday. He was selected for the opportunity to buy student tickets to the national championship game.
While tickets are selling for around $3,000 on the secondary market, Thuss will pay just $200 for his seat to watch the Hoosiers compete for college football's ultimate prize in Miami on Monday.
"I think that is so special for students. I think the NCAA has done it right, without a doubt," Thuss said.
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A couple hundred Hoosier students will have the chance to cheer on Indiana in the national championship at a fraction of the cost, something student section leaders are thrilled about.
"Seeing those barriers that are put on college sports and just sports in general sometimes — being able to get it at face value and being able to give it to hundreds of students if they just go to enough games like that is something that's really special," said Francisco Caceres, a member of the Student Athletic Board.
But it hasn't always been this way. Both seniors remember when they were freshmen and students had to be begged to come to Memorial Stadium for games when the team was struggling.
"Once we were getting blown out, we just wouldn't care to," Caceres said.
"The student section's leaving at halftime. Everyone's there for the tailgate at the start. I never thought I could have ever seen Memorial Stadium sold out," Thuss said.
Now, as Thuss prepares to sit in that student section in Miami, he's struggling to put the moment into words.
"People are asking me how to describe it, and the only thing I can come up with is this: this is impossible. It's impossible what's happening," Thuss said.
Caceres agreed that the experience will be surreal.
"It's going to be crazy in the best way," he said.
Indiana is set to play the University of Miami in the National Championship on Monday, January 19, on ESPN.
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