The season has gone into overtime, even for Old Dominion's marketing people.
In an effort to boost student attendance at tonight's CollegeInsider.com tournament quarterfinal game vs. Mercer, the school is offering a chance to win a trip to Baltimore to watch the Monarchs' football team play Towson Oct. 20, as well as tickets to either a Redskins or Ravens game.
Students must register at the game.
Even with free admission, student attendance has been modest at ODU's first two CIT games, as has attendance overall. With just eight teams remaining, however, the school is hoping interest picks up.
"The NCAA tournament does cast a long shadow, and it's the first thing that grabs peoples' attention, and we all understand that," coach Blaine Taylor said. "But these other tournaments, there are virtues to them, and they typically gain momentum as the others start petering out in terms of the number of teams that are involved."
The 4-year-old CIT is a pay-to-host event that flies under the national radar. What it lacks in name recognition, however, it makes up for in competitive balance, Taylor said.
Take Mercer. The Bears (24-11) may not be a household name, but they beat Georgia Tech, and twice defeated South Carolina Upstate, a team that pushed ODU in a CIT second-round game Sunday.
Like Upstate, the Bears appear to be the sort of hungry program the CIT was made for. Mercer's 24 wins are a school record. Its opening-round CIT win over Tennessee State was the first post-season win in the program's 110 years of existence.
Deliberate offensively and solid defensively, Mercer is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (38.4).
"Everybody we've talked to has nothing but really good things to say about them," Taylor said.
ODU (22-13) is more familiar with postseason play, having gone eight straight years. Tonight's game will be the 36th of the season, tying a school record.
While the Bears won't be lacking for motivation, the veteran Monarchs insist they have plenty as well.
"We didn't have the season we wanted to, obviously," guard Kent Bazemore said. "But to be one of the last four teams in the nation to finish the season with a win would be huge."
ODU, which averaged 7,682 fans during the regular season, drew 2,246 for a first-round game vs. Coastal Carolina and 2,091 vs. USC Upstate. The Monarchs, who have paid about $100,000 to host three games, offered discounted, general admission seats.
ODU's second-round attendance was above average, for the tournament as a whole. Attendance ranged from 731 at Rice to 2,430 at Utah State, with an average of 1,671.
"I've been real pleased with our crowds. I think people get caught up in the numbers, and the quality of our crowds has been really good," Taylor said.
"We've had a really good environment. We're just like everybody else; we're spoiled by sold-out houses."
In an effort to boost student attendance at tonight's CollegeInsider.com tournament quarterfinal game vs. Mercer, the school is offering a chance to win a trip to Baltimore to watch the Monarchs' football team play Towson Oct. 20, as well as tickets to either a Redskins or Ravens game.
Students must register at the game.
Even with free admission, student attendance has been modest at ODU's first two CIT games, as has attendance overall. With just eight teams remaining, however, the school is hoping interest picks up.
"The NCAA tournament does cast a long shadow, and it's the first thing that grabs peoples' attention, and we all understand that," coach Blaine Taylor said. "But these other tournaments, there are virtues to them, and they typically gain momentum as the others start petering out in terms of the number of teams that are involved."
The 4-year-old CIT is a pay-to-host event that flies under the national radar. What it lacks in name recognition, however, it makes up for in competitive balance, Taylor said.
Take Mercer. The Bears (24-11) may not be a household name, but they beat Georgia Tech, and twice defeated South Carolina Upstate, a team that pushed ODU in a CIT second-round game Sunday.
Like Upstate, the Bears appear to be the sort of hungry program the CIT was made for. Mercer's 24 wins are a school record. Its opening-round CIT win over Tennessee State was the first post-season win in the program's 110 years of existence.
Deliberate offensively and solid defensively, Mercer is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (38.4).
"Everybody we've talked to has nothing but really good things to say about them," Taylor said.
ODU (22-13) is more familiar with postseason play, having gone eight straight years. Tonight's game will be the 36th of the season, tying a school record.
While the Bears won't be lacking for motivation, the veteran Monarchs insist they have plenty as well.
"We didn't have the season we wanted to, obviously," guard Kent Bazemore said. "But to be one of the last four teams in the nation to finish the season with a win would be huge."
ODU, which averaged 7,682 fans during the regular season, drew 2,246 for a first-round game vs. Coastal Carolina and 2,091 vs. USC Upstate. The Monarchs, who have paid about $100,000 to host three games, offered discounted, general admission seats.
ODU's second-round attendance was above average, for the tournament as a whole. Attendance ranged from 731 at Rice to 2,430 at Utah State, with an average of 1,671.
"I've been real pleased with our crowds. I think people get caught up in the numbers, and the quality of our crowds has been really good," Taylor said.
"We've had a really good environment. We're just like everybody else; we're spoiled by sold-out houses."
