The athletic department has a recurring dream concerning student section seating at Camp Randall. It's an Orwellian dream where students uniformly file into their assigned section, and since Big Brother is watching, students wouldn't dare sit somewhere other than their assigned seat. Unfortunately, this hypothetical euphoria doesn't translate to reality. In the real world, student seating is never going to be perfect, and it's hard to imagine such a situation.
It's obvious this weekend was disastrous, perfectly evidenced by the student corral in the concourse outside the student section and the Fuck the wristbands"" chants, but compromise and progress are needed from both the athletic department and the students.
Fearing the student section would not be able to accommodate a maximum capacity crowd for upcoming Big Ten games against Ohio State and Penn State (only 11,800 students of approximately 13,500 allotted wristbands showed up for Akron, yet the student section was still full because occupants took more than one seat), the athletic department decided to organize the seating to ensure people were filling seats in proper concentration and ensuring no students would be left out of their section. Only sections O and P were open at first in an attempt to guarantee everyone sat in the right place, clogging the concourse and infuriating those who actually came to the game on time.
While hindsight proves the new method of organization failed, the idea of micromanaging how a rowdy, often drunk student section seats itself is fundamentally futile.
Before the new wristband policy, students had assigned seats for games and got to their assigned seat or somewhere reasonably proximate for the game. There were the common complaints of people sitting in the wrong seat, which the new policy intended to prevent. It is now apparent the same problem exists, suggesting an inherent futility in changing the system in the first place.
The athletic department should do itself a favor and keep it simple. It's not going to be perfect for everyone, so instead cater to the fans that arrive on time and place their interests first. There are a myriad of reasons for not sitting where assigned, but the point is it happens. The sooner the athletic department recognizes this, the sooner it can come to the happy realization that the students can bear responsibility for themselves, to some extent. Shutting off certain sections is entirely ineffective and only serves to fuel skepticism toward the new ticket policy. It additionally doesn't reward fans who come early - with only two sections open many of the latecomers get the front of the sections opened later.
It is apparent the people most affected by an improperly concentrated crowd are the very last people to enter the stadium. Thus, open all the sections initially (nobody cares about 'P' and 'O' without the upperclassmen distinction) and let students file in. If you get to the stadium relatively early, you are guaranteed a seat without a problem and it will most likely be in the assigned section. Those who arrive late have no choice but to accept whatever is available.
Athletic department: Stop worrying about putting every fan in the proper place and work on rewarding the early crowd with a problem-free experience. Late-comers should not be disregarded entirely, as order should still actively be maintained, but there should be the understanding that the later one gets to the game, the higher the likelihood one will face a seating inconvenience.
