SPOKANE, Wash. — 'Twas the day before the North Carolina game and all through the campus, not a student was stirring...that is until 3 p.m.
For the first time ever, Gonzaga's student section, The Kennel Club, had their tent running extravaganza for a Christmas break game.
For this game, though, the students are not tenting due to it being December. Tuesday's running did determine though the order of how students will line up before the game.
In case you're unaware of how the event works, The Kennel Board (The Kennel Club's governing body) tweets out their location. Students then run to that location and then it's a first come, first serve situation. The first student there gets the first place in line, representing the best seats in The Kennel Club. The second person there gets the second place in line and so on and so forth.
"As soon as that tweet comes out, you're booking it," said one student participant.
Each person receiving a number represents a group of six students who rotate out throughout the day reserving the spot in line.
The Kennel Board handed out 147 group numbers on Tuesday and said they expect around 1,000 students at the game. There is also a waiting list for students without tickets to get in.
"It's going to be like nothing that we've had during a break game before," said Kennel Club president Matt Cranston. "Mark Few says that when The Kennel is in full force, we're worth seven points a game on defense. I think that having that is going to up the players' confidence and it's going to make it an easy game for us to do our job."
Christmas break for Gonzaga students started when finals ended last Friday, so that means students will stay an extra five days in Spokane before going home.
"Just Zag pride. It's a huge game. Felt like we couldn't miss it," said a student about staying extra days. "Probably biggest game we've been to here. Seeing a powerhouse like North Carolina...and we hate North Carolina."
The Zags take on the Tar Heels at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Video below shows Brandon Jones' first time witnessing this Gonzaga tradition: