Tickets for the 2011 BCS National Championship Game are the hottest in the history of StubHub, with prices currently ranging from almost $4,000 to over $15,000. The site basically ran out of tickets at one point, posting a notice that they’ll be unable to fulfill every order. At the moment, the game between the Auburn Tigers and Oregon Ducks is hotter than the Super Bowl.
What makes this game so much bigger than in years past?
For one, neither school has been here before. Oregon has never won a national title, and Auburn hasn’t won one in decades. This isn’t Oklahoma vs. Florida— while that game was a big deal, it also seems to happen every year or so. Ohio State, USC, Texas…
Looking at previous BCS title games, I think these are just about the first two teams to make it that either haven’t made it before or wouldn’t have made it if the BCS had been around just a few years earlier. Tennessee, Florida State, and Nebraska, for example, had been national powers right before the BCS came along. Virginia Tech and LSU were sort of new blood, and Miami felt newish after a decade off. But this game presents something totally new on both sidelines, for the national fan at least. Auburn hasn’t finished a season ranked since 2007, fer crying out loud.
And they’re evenly matched teams, with neither team losing on the year, and clearly the two best teams in the country. Both teams have been favored to win this game at one point or another, unlike last year when Alabama was expected to pound Texas and pretty much did just that.
Besides, even if you’re not a fan of either team, you want to watch just to see which of these offenses will outscore the other. There hasn’t been a bigger college football star or curiosity than Cam Newton in decades, and that includes Tim Tebow, while Oregon’s entire offense is a star of its own.
And I don’t really know about Oregon fans, but Auburn fans are insane. Alabama’s legal system is on the verge of shutting down for this game.