Tuesday night should have been a night of pure celebration over Florida Basketball. The Gators beat Tennessee by 30 to wipe away any doubts the loss to Kentucky may have created. Florida's win over the top-ranked Volunteers is the most anyone has beaten a number-one-ranked opponent since 1968.
But if you logged onto social media, there was frustration and anger among Gator fans towards Florida's administration as the university once again got caught with its hand in the cookie jar.
Florida Basketball: It Just Means More (Money)
Word started to circulate prior to the game that Florida was selling off seats in the student section to the general public. Students at Florida are still on break until next week and the university wanted to ensure that the O'Dome was packed for the prime time matchup.
The only problem is that students still showed up in droves looking to get in, and the end result was some really poor optics from Florida and the UAA.
According to the Gainesville Sun, 900 student tickets were available for the game. That was nowhere near enough to meet demand, and some students waited in line for two hours only to be turned away as UFPD officers had to start setting up barricades to control the flow of the line.
Those who did manage to get in were also left feeling frustrated. Multiple videos circulated around of officers having to escort students out of the student section because those seats had been sold to the general public. A good chunk of students were relegated to the upper deck.
All while Scott Stricklin looked on.
Feed Me More
The unfortunate part is that the crowd that was in the building was noted for their energy. Todd Golden said after the game that:
"I think I got to the O’Dome at like 12:30, and the line was already around the block with people waiting to get into the gym. We knew it was going to be a great atmosphere tonight, and we knew we’re going to get a lift from the crowd. Obviously, after Year 1, specifically last year and this year, this has become a great home-court advantage for us and one of the best in America."
However, the student ticket fiasco continues to be a theme of greed that keeps popping up across all sports at Florida.
Renovations at The Swamp have been a topic of conversation, and the fear among fans is that Florida wants to reduce capacity and funnel the renovations into fancy skyboxes that 98% of people will never step foot into.
Last year, we noted that concession stand prices at baseball games were out of control.
Add in the attempts to block off tailgate areas this past football season, and there is this constant sinking feeling Gator fans are supporting an institution that is hell-bent on not supporting them back.
College sports are not supposed to be the greed-driven entity that professional sports are. NIL has somewhat altered that mindset, but at the core of what makes college sports special is letting the students who roam the campus daily have the chance to support their school up close.
And any attempt to take that away is simply tone-deaf from an administration that seems content with having hearing loss.