Skipper

Did the Harbaugh to NFL/Kelly to UM rumors die down? Is any coach going to make a move from a comfortable situation to LSU until that is resolved (presumably over the next 2 weeks)?

We had an great meal at Carlos Elegante over the summer as well. Agreed it doesn't feel like a "big night out" kind of place and definitely not Tex Mex but an excellent meal however categorized.

Fuck it. I'm on to next year. I certainly have not done a deep dive on Michigan's roster but a Michigan win likely means more underclassmen turning pro + more likely for Harbaugh to leave. Ann Arbor is going to be a tough W under any circumstances so I'm at if a Michigan win on Monday shifts those odds in '24 slightly, then Go Blue!

Party was great. Do you have a final number on the donation able to make to Texas One Fund from the event?

I like to venture out of the Quarter plenty. But staying at The Monteleone, pre-dinner drinks at Carousel bar and a lunch or at least mid-afternoon snack at Felix's are a New Orleans staple for us I don't ever plan to change.

We had a good trip. Flew in Sun afternoon and went straight to Felix's for some chargrilled and other bites. I didn't even know they had seating on the upstairs balcony overlooking Bourbon but they put us up there which was cool. Did a big group dinner at Luke NYE which was solid but not great although they did have a great oyster selection that night and we had a ton of those pre entree. Did New Years Day Brunch at Miss River which I would put up there with some of the other great brunches I've had. The only downside was they were all out of Crab so that limited the menu. We bar hopped on Bourbon post-brunch then hit the Manning's pregame party but my wife and I snuck out for a couple of dozen chargrilled oysters pregame across the street at Dragos that really hit the spot. Obviously wish the game outcome was better but a great trip. On the topic of too many nights in New Orleans, I ran into a friend at Pat O's early Monday afternoon that had been in N.O.'s since Friday afternoon and was turning 40 that Monday at midnight. He was then flying to Vegas this coming Friday. He was starting to question those plans. Yep - welcome to 40 buddy. I've been here a few years now and not as easy if it used to be. To me perfect N.O. trip is about 50 hours give or take from being dropped off at the Monteleone until being picked up to head to airport. We were a few hours short of that this trip and, while completely exhausted, left late Tues AM wishing we had time for one more NOLA lunch.

That's exactly what I said during the game to my wife. I listen to Sirius XM and read a bunch of the national articles during the CFB season. People tended to forget that THE hot topic those first few games of the season is whether UW was the best team in the country and whether anyone could stop that offense. That was the version of the UW offense we saw. Not whatever version struggled in the middle of the season after the first Oregon game. I was sitting there thinking as hot as Penix was they should have thrown it every single play regardless of down and distance. As a neutral observer, I truly hope Penix stays that hot again next Monday so we see how that elite QB and WR play does against Michigan's (admittedly much better) D.

I had been drinking all day but that was where I came out watching the game from a YL seat in the 300 level. I felt like we tried everything on defense and it didn't really matter. The Defense actually played well enough to win which is pretty shocking considering how elite Penix and those WR's played.

I tend to agree this is definitely how it is going to be going forward. With NIL spreading the wealth around, Bama and UGA can't just stack a roster with 5 stars at every position where anyone else is at a massive talent disadvantage. I think most years will be a lot more similar to this year where any of the final 4 teams can win and it's all a matter of who plays their best game on any given day. It sucks to come so close and lose (particularly knowing we didn't play our A game) but our roster should FINALLY be back in the position that we should be in the 12 team mix most years which is all you can really ask for as a fan.

I can see the semis being where ticket pricing is really dirt cheap. You can still pair the quarters with a NYE trip/vacation a lot of people would be doing anyways. But tacking on another trip with the possibility of a championship and I can see a ton of folks (potentially myself included) that would plan on quarters and finals with semis on TV.

Texas/Michigan would have been the perfect storm. But with this being the last year of the 4 team playoff, we may never see championship game ticket prices reach that potential again. They will continue to jack up face value, and you combine that with travel costs for multiple rounds of playoffs, it will be tougher to reach peak demand. I think if the Championship game is reasonable driving distance from Texas (i.e., any Texas city or NOLA) it would still be a good bet to buy those early. But outside of that, not sure the upside will ever be close to what it was for those that bought early this year.

I went ahead and pulled the trigger tonight in 340. Got a couple on the aisle for $452 each after fees. Probably would have waited a bit more if they weren't on the aisle I read a bit today and it seems like people that attend games regularly there prefer 200/300 level to 100 level from a view standpoint. I think 145 will be the value section though for those looking. I just wouldn't want to be too high up in the 100 level from what I've read. I was looking between rows 10-20 give or take in the 100's.

I mean I wouldn't hesitate buying today. They will figure it out eventually. More like night before or day of. But in your case, I get it. You were ready to hit the road so major pain in the ass.

All is well that ends well but that sucks. That is why the closer it gets to game the more likely i'm only buying on TM. I don't want to deal with relying on someone to do the transfer over to TM.

If you post here approximate time we may try to do that depending on what we have going on. Whether it is 12/31 or on the day of, do we need to print out the tix or if we show on phone does that work? Also, I have a buddy that purchased that is still TBD if his wife is joining him on the trip (they live relatively close to NOLA). If she decides last minute, what is best way to get in touch to secure one of the remaining wristbands (to the extent not sold out at that time).

This AM when I looked, I jotted down number of tix in 143-149 on Ticketmaster. Excluding 145 (which had and still has "100+ available), net tickets for sale in those sections went up by 24 over the course of the day.

For example, there are 4 20YL in 144 priced at $476 after fees on TM. That is about 20% or less than all others. That is almost certainly an individual seller that doesn't want to deal with it anymore.

I'm assuming people that are selling UW sidelines aren't planning to use them. For example, I suspect the vast majority of 143-145 inventory are scalpers. If so, they will likely collude and move prices in lockstep. When inventory gets low in that scenario, I see them hold firm and at times just flat out eat tickets as they have already locked in profits (from those you mentioned that WAY overpaid). But at least as of now, there is enough inventory that it will move down at some point. Also now at the point where anxious individual buyers will start pricing to sell because they don't want to deal with it (particularly those traveling to the game with extras) so you will find one-off great deals if your timing is right.

I think that $2100 get in the door goes down if it is Texas Bama. If UW wins it does down significantly. If it is Bama/UW, I'm pretty confident tix will be well under face (considering face is pretty pricy for this game). If it is Texas/Michigan all bets are off. Hard to know where it would land. Really no precedent other than Texas/USC when digital tickets/online market wasn't really a thing.

It's pretty clear at this point get in price is going to land well under face. What's going to be interesting is where the more premium inventory (lower through 300 level sidelines and corners) pricing lands. I've been too busy to track closely over the last few days but it sure doesn't seem like much of that inventory has moved this week. Prices have come down some off the extremely optimistic pricing that overly anxious buyers purchased at but not to a point I'm ready to buy and be done with it. And with inventory where it is - I'm still not anxious about buying.

I don't blame you. I blame my shitty work IT dept. This shit happens all the time.

Well, as long as they don't mess with the cap again it may end up working out fine. At this point, given the amount of inventory, I don't see spending more than $350 for a pair of decent seats. I set it at $350 earlier and a pair in the 100 level endzone popped up (I think they sold for $420 after fees). It's just as easy way to track how quickly prices are lowering if they fix it back to where it was though.

The ticketmaster search function has always kind of sucked, but typically it lets you put in set price parameters that allows you to track (by highlighted section and highlighted seats) as prices are drooping. For example, you could cap the range at $500 after fees and it will highlight which tickets are available. For me at least, the high end is set at "$355+" so you could drop below 355 but not set a higher number. Is this the same for everyone else? Never seen this issue before so not sure if across the board or something weird on my app.

Glad you posted this. Same thing here once I saw your post.

Tix held by individuals (particularly uppers in team allotted sections) will almost certainly keep gradually going down. Most individuals won't want to deal with it. Particularly once people start leaving for NOLA and want to enjoy themselves and not worry about selling tix. Those will bottom out first. I'm convinced when large brokerages hold a material portion of the inventory they collude with each other to keep prices high until the last minute. We definitely saw this play out with the Big 12 CCG where almost all premium inventory was held by brokers and prices held firm for the most part then starting magically dropping Friday and particularly late Friday afternoon. Obviously the issue in this market is we really have no way of knowing how much of the inventory is held by brokers (although I suspect it's a decent chunk of the non-team allotted seats in the 100, 200's and 300's). But bowls games are different because people may get great seats from their company leading up to the game and try to sell so random great deals may pop up. Unless someone really wants to present tix as a present for Christmas, I don't see any reason to consider buying until next week given the amount of inventory.