The Illinois-Iowa Big Ten basketball rivalry reached new heights this week when the Orange Krush, a long time group of Illinois supporters and fans, said it’s purchase of 200 tickets for Saturday’s game between the two rival schools was canceled by Iowa athletic department. The decision will cost the groiup more than $6000 it cannot recoup because it’s too late to cancel charter buses and other travel arrangements.
The group initially accused Iowa’s administration of being fearful of its presence in Iowa State.
But Iowa officials have since pushed back on that claim and accused the Orange Krush of purchasing its tickets with a discount rate after claiming the tickets were for a Boys and Girls Club chapter in Illinois.
The school said it will donate tickets for the game to a local Boys and Girls Club chapter in Iowa.
Iowa athletic department became aware of the discounted order and after following up with the organization it said it became clear this was not factual. “When contacting the individuals who made the original order, they admitted to falsely ordering tickets under the non-profit organization. “Iowa athletics has refunded the original ticket order and donated tickets to the Boys and Girls Club in Cedar Rapids,” the Iowa athletic department said in a statement.
We look forward to welcoming these kids to a sold-out Carver-Hawkeye Arena this Saturday.”
Well, this is embarrassing. At least it shows the regular season is still meaningful in college basketball, especially when two good teams are involved. But the optics aren’t good for the Orange Krush, which also released a statement that its tickets were legally purchased.
“It’s highly unfortunate for our group that this trip has been canceled because we were looking forward to it since receiving the tickets in October,” the statement read. “It’s highly unfortunate for the 150 students that collectively raised a total of $2,649.41 for local charitable organizations in order to be invited on this trip. Most importantly, it is highly unfortunate that the University of Iowa and their athletic department refused to face the consequences of the mistake they made in selling tickets to a billing address in Champaign, Ill.
So, I guess deception is okay when NCAA Tournament seeding and regular season finish is concerned.
Iowa star Kris Murray has helped Iowa to a 6-2 record in their last eight games. Illinois, fueled by Texas Tech transfer Terrence Shannon Jr., is 7-1 in its past eight.
