ORLANDO, Fla. — What do college students like more than free food? Free bowl game tickets.
Taco Bell made that a reality for 200 UCF students on Tuesday morning.
The fast-food chain handed out free Fiesta Bowl tickets to the first 200 students in line at Spectrum Stadium, many of whom had camped out in the rain since Sunday night after bowl assignments were announced.
The first 200 @UCF students in line just found out they’re getting their tickets for free!! And @tacobell is paying! @WFTV pic.twitter.com/5jBP7n359Y
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) December 4, 2018
By the time the box office opened at 9 a.m., tents lined the area outside the stadium where students had lined up to land one of the 500 student tickets available for $50 to watch the UCF Knights face the LSU Tigers in Arizona.
"I'm so excited. I can't wait for the first. We're going to win. It's going to be great," said student Emily Adrid, who was the first in line to get a free ticket.
Adrid said she camped outside the stadium for more than 40 hours battling the elements. Students said on Monday the wind blew so hard that it was tough to keep their tents up. Monday night it rained off and on enough to flood many of their tents.
Taco Bell announced Monday afternoon that the first 200 students in line would receive free tickets, giving the students extra motivation to line up outside the stadium during finals week.
As of noon, the box office said there were still free tickets to the game available.
With the cost of flights to Phoenix averaging more than $500, some students plan to put the money they saved on their game tickets toward gas money.
Student John Warren said he and his friends plan to drive the 30 hours between Orlando and Phoenix to be there to cheer on the Knights.
"I just think as we're young, it's time to make life experiences so that way we can reflect on our memories when we're older and say 'Hey, we did something that was actually a lot of fun,'" Warren said.
Follow reporter Lauren Seabrook on Twitter for live updates from campus.
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These are the first two @UCF students to get FREE tickets to the #FiestaBowl! @WFTV pic.twitter.com/2QHS8veHmp
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) December 4, 2018
Almost go time! @UCF students are packing up their camp because the ticket office opens in 15 mins! Some have been out here since Sunday at 4pm, waiting to get $50 tickets to the #FiestaBowl! We’ll talk to them on @WFTV at noon. pic.twitter.com/G4rHOstZ4n
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) December 4, 2018
ALL KNIGHTER: The sun is up and @UCF students are still waiting in line for $50 #FiestaBowl tickets! What they had to deal with during the night on @WFTV at 8am. pic.twitter.com/zD1sOdtfbp
— Lauren Seabrook (@LSeabrookWFTV) December 4, 2018
Congrats to @LSU & @UCF_Football on making the #FiestaBowl!
— Fiesta Bowl (@Fiesta_Bowl) December 3, 2018
Courtesy of @TacoBell, your students are receiving free tickets to sit in the Live Más Student Section. Reach out to your athletic departments to find out more. 🏈🌮#livemasstudentsectionchallenge #TacoBellPartner pic.twitter.com/ZGcVxGdoN4
Yep, it’s true 😏
— UCF Knights (@UCFKnights) December 3, 2018
The 1st 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ students to show up tomorrow at 9am are getting 🆓 tickets to the #UCFiesta 🎉🌵🔥 https://t.co/7A8Nh2lX8E
MOOD when you’ve been here since 4pm on Sunday & you’re the 1st student to get your #UCFiesta 🎟 🤗 pic.twitter.com/uplB9iuUSz
— UCF Knights (@UCFKnights) December 4, 2018
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