Bowl ticket allotment sold out!

Hawks hunker down, prep for Hokies

It's officially time to start talking about the Hokies. Today Mark Mangino and his Kansas football team began to insert a game plan for the upcoming Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech.

For the Kansas football team, it's all about the wait. Kansas last played on November 24. Since then, 23 days have elapsed, and it will be another 17 until KU plays in the Orange Bowl against Virginia Tech.

The procrastinators are going to have to find another way now.

Kansas University sold out its allotment of Orange Bowl tickets Monday, meaning the quadrant of Dolphin Stadium reserved for KU fans should be full Jan. 3 when Kansas plays Virginia Tech.

KU announced that its share of 17,500 tickets all were accounted for Monday afternoon, about two weeks after they went on sale.

“We knew Jayhawks fans would be excited about supporting their team,” athletic director Lew Perkins said. “Miami is not an easy place to get to at the last minute during the winter. But our fans persevered. We’ll have a large, loud and excited fan base in Miami, and we can’t wait to get there.”

Kansas fans will be located around the northwest corner of Dolphin Stadium, extending from the 50-yard line to the west end zone. That accounts for 17 sections in the upper deck and 12 in the lower level.

Virginia Tech will be on centered on the southeast side of the venue. As of Monday evening, the Hokies still had upper-deck tickets available out of their 17,500 allotment.

Kansas fans still looking for tickets have plenty of avenues. Ticketmaster had Orange Bowl tickets available Monday evening, as did a number of online ticket brokers like StubHub.com and TicketsNow.com.

Idol cameo: The Orange Bowl Committee announced Monday that American Idol television star Katharine McPhee will sing the national anthem at the Jan. 3 game.

McPhee was the runner-up on season five of American Idol, with Taylor Hicks winning the contest. McPhee has since signed with RCA Records and released a self-titled album.

In addition to McPhee, rock band ZZ Top will perform at halftime of the Orange Bowl.