With the start of the basketball season comes the stress of getting tickets. Many of us may be already annoyed or disappointed about the first lottery results, which were e-mailed earlier this week. However, before throwing a fit to the athletics department, take a minute to understand the system and consider that Villanova’s lottery systems is actually quite fair.

At Villanova, tickets are distributed through a weight-based lottery system for two to three games at a time. In a system created by UNIT after requests from the athletic department and SGA, “fan loyalty” is the determining factor in equating a student’s weight. “Fan loyalty” is affected by the number of times a student enters the lottery, the number of tickets won, the number of tickets lost, the number of games attended with “won” tickets, the number of “won” tickets picked-up but not used, and the number of “won” tickets not picked up. According to the lottery website, the system is based on three general principles:

1.Students who attend a game should have a greater chance of winning future lotteries.”

2.”Students who lose in a lottery should have a greater chance of winning future lotteries.”

3.”Students who participate in the lottery and do not attend the game should have a lesser chance of winning future lotteries.”

Quite frankly, what could be more fair? This system rewards the students who pick-up and use their tickets, and penalizes those who allow the tickets to go to waste. Sure, it would be nice if seniors were guaranteed tickets, but put yourself in a freshman’s shoes – not very fair to be excluded from one of the most spirited events on campus just because you’re the new guy in town.

Still not convinced that Villanova’s lottery system is actually a good thing? Take a look at the system held by Villanova archrival St. Joseph’s. At SJU, students enter a lottery as well; however, their lottery is completely random, and their tickets are distributed in a season package. Meaning, if an SJU student loses the lottery, he or she can’t go to any games the entire season. So, in addition to the weight benefit of the Villanova lottery, we also have the advantage of having tickets distributed in two to three game packages, making a lottery loss much easier to deal with. The system even goes above and beyond at that point to re-lottery tickets that were not claimed.

Villanova students should be thankful for the effort that the athletic department, UNIT and SGA put into developing such a fair lottery system. Despite the grievance that comes with a lost lottery, the fairness behind the system outweighs that in the long run.