Taking “The Show” on the Road

San Diego State's road to the Final Four starts in Tucson, Arizona and now thousands of Aztec fans are trying to decide if they want to make the six-hour road trip to Tucson.

Let's weigh the costs.

The first SDSU game is on Thursday morning against the Northern Colorado Bears at the University of Arizona's McKale Center and game day tickets are going fast!

The University of Arizona’s ticket office started selling tickets at midnight on Monday, as of 10:30 a.m. they have already sold over 2000 ticket packages and have about 3000 left.

"It gets pretty close to selling out, but that's the past I don't know," said Rebecca Ruiz-McGill, a U of A media relations manager.

McGill says this is the first time the U of A has hosted a March Madness Tournament and one of the teams has been within driving distance of its home campus.

Right now, the school is selling complete session packages only, which means you have to buy two tickets for each of the three sessions -- a whopping $243 for each package. Of course, may I remind you 2000 of these packages were sold in 10.5 hours.

The ticket office says if they don't sell out by Wednesday morning, they will begin to sell single session tickets for $81 a piece.

So, if you are anxious about having tickets, you should buy the $243 package to make sure you have a seat for Thursday's game -- that means one pair is $486. But it also means, if the Aztecs win and go on to play in Saturday's game you will already have your tickets. If you wait until Wednesday and there are tickets left over, you will have to buy all four at once for $324. Of course, there are alternate ways of purchasing tickets, like SeatGeek.com and Ticketmaster. SeatGeek.com already has single tickets available from $91 - $200.

You should probably pull into Tucson the night before the big game. You can try to look for a hotel near the campus, but let's face it Tucson isn't that big.

If you have to stay "far away" from the U of A, it really won't be that far of a drive, maybe 15 to 20 minutes tops. A quick search on Priceline.com shows hotels in the area range from $38 per night at the Econo Lodge, to $269 at the Hilton Tucson East.

The drive from San Diego to Tucson is about 415 miles. Let's say you have an average size 15-gallon tank and your car gets 20 miles/gallon. Gasbuddy.com shows the cheapest gas on the way out of town, as of Tuesday, is $3.84 per gallon at the Arco at W Main St & I-8 in El Cajon. Don't forget that little $0.45 service charge that Arco likes to sneak in there. If you fill up your empty tank in El Cajon, it would cost you about $57.60. The next logical pit stop for gas would be Yuma, AZ, where the cost of gas at the Arco at E. 16th St. and Redondo Ctr. Dr. is currently $3.53 per gallon. Let's not forget as you go further into Arizona, the gas is only going to get cheaper. By the time you reach Tucson, gas will only be an average of $3.19 per gallon according to Gasbuddy.com. Perhaps, you should think about bring a few gas cans so you can bring some back home with you.

If you have never been before, Tucson is a bustling college town. The city's 4th Avenue District has a lot of nightclubs and entertainment all jammed into one place, much like the Gaslamp Quarter. The town is also somewhat famous for their cuisine. Two restaurants, Lindy's Burgers and Teresa's Mosaic Cafe have been featured on the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food and the Food Network's Throwdown with Bobby Flay, respectively.

If you plan on heading to Tucson to see the big show, it could cost you anywhere from $794 - $1718. Food and drink isn't measured in this calculation, because I simply don't know you and how wild you plan to get this weekend.
 

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