Sports

Pitt Students Camp Out For Tickets To Duke Game

January 27, 2014 / 12:44 PM EST / CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A national television audience will tune in tonight as Pitt takes on Duke at the Petersen Events Center.

It's been a tough ticket to get because it's the first matchup between the teams since the Panthers jumped from the Big East to the ACC.

As a result, students started camping out over the weekend for a chance to get ticket.

"I love Pitt basketball. I've been coming here forever so when I found out we were playing Duke this year, I was so excited, and I knew I was going to camp out," Sarah Vanselow said.

Pitt fans have circled this date since the Panthers made the jump into the ACC.

"Any time that Duke comes to any school, it's Duke -- one of the most respected basketball teams in the NCAA. Any time that school is coming to your school, you are going to be there," Eddie McCracken said.

The Blue Devils come in to tonight's matchup with an overall record of 16-4 and 5-2 in conference play, good enough for fourth place in the conference while Pitt is 18-2 on the season with a conference record of 6-1, which puts them in a tie for second place with Virginia.

Students camp out to guarantee the best seats in the Pete. But, they still had many of the comforts of home, including televisions and video games.

Some tried to study, but a book about non-verbal communication may not be much help tonight.

"I am 100 percent going to be verbal at the game," Julia Cohen said. "I think it's going to be crazy. The Pete is going to be sold out, and everyone gets so excited and the Zoo is going to be crazy."

Coach Jamie Dixon even stopped by the Oakland Zoo Monday morning with doughnuts before the Duke game.

"It has been fun for me because that's kind of when I got here and watching it grow and watching it become what it is. It's great when you talk to students and they're coming around here visiting the school and they talk about coming to Pitt and being part of the Zoo," Dixon said.

With students lining up for tickets, some want mom and dad to know one thing – that they are still going to class.

CBS Sports has a complete breakdown of the game for you here, while 93.7 The FAN Host and Featured Columnist Colin Dunlap tells you why all the hatred for Duke doesn't make sense since they're one of the few programs that do things that right way.

Tune in to 93-7 The FAN all day for coverage of Pitt vs Duke with pregame coverage featuring Julius Page and Andrew Fillipponi tipping off at 6 p.m.

Mike Krzyzewski