Hawkeye fans are excited to see the Iowa women’s basketball team compete in the NCAA Tournament Final Four on Friday, declaring the steep ticket prices worth the cost.

Second-seeded Iowa will match up with top-seeded, undefeated defending champion South Carolina at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on March 31. The winner will advance to the national title game — a feat the Iowa program has never achieved.

Jake Eisenberg, a University of Iowa first-year psychology student, spoke to The Daily Iowan about Iowa fans’ excitement surrounding the team’s postseason success — and Iowa standout junior guard Caitlin Clark is a big reason why.

“I would say fan excitement is definitely at an all-time high because we have the best college player to ever come through Iowa [in Clark],” Eisenberg said. “Our team looks good, and we have a really solid chance at winning a [championship] this year … so definitely exciting.”

Heidi Staudenmaier, who resides in Phoenix and graduated from the UI in 1981 after a stint as sports editor for the DI, wrote in an email to the DI that she is excited that the team is making the trip to the Final Four.

After seeing the team’s 97-83 win over Louisville in the Elite Eight on TV on March 26, Staudenmaier’s husband bought her a ticket to attend the game in Dallas.

Resale tickets for Friday’s games are going for at least $300 in the highest level of the arena and as high as $1,566 and $4,728 in the sections closest to the court on Ticketmaster and SeatGeek, respectively.

On Location is also offering official ticket packages such as the “NCAA Fan Experience – Championship Game Pregame Party” package that includes a pass to all of the weekend’s games, meal tickets, and an NCAA coach or legend meet-and-greet for about $2,462 per person.

Staudenmaier paid $500 for her ticket, but she thought the price was worth it.

“You only live once, and I’d rather buy experiences for memories rather than buy material things,” Staudenmaier wrote. “Also, I turn 64 next week, so it’s an early birthday present to me. The Iowa Hawks are well worth the price.”

With Eisenberg’s experience sitting courtside for a game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season, he understands why the prices would be so high.

“I think it’s important for fans to be able to attend these games, but it doesn’t come as a surprise that the price is high because this is the first time that we are really making a run for it,” Eisenberg said. “Caitlin Clark is going to be one of the best players to come out of Iowa … The tickets are high because we have the best. People want to see that.”

American Airlines Arena, which is home to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, fits 19,200 fans for basketball games. But for those who can’t attend, Cathy Breitenbucher organizes watch parties at McGinn’s Sports Bar in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Area I-Club organizes gatherings for a handful of local Hawkeye fans to watch the team play.

“It’s really great,” Breitenbucher said. “Hawks are everywhere, and we’re definitely excited about it … There’s even a player [McKenna Warnock] who’s from the state of Wisconsin, so we take a little bit of pride in that.”

Although the 8 p.m. tip-off time might be too late for some of the older Hawkeye fans in the area to go out to the bar, the excitement is still there.

Breitenbucher, a 1979 UI graduate, remembers when the women’s basketball team had 1,000 fans in attendance for a game in her time covering the team for the DI. Now, the team is attracting millions of eyes and consistently selling out Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“People who maybe have not watched women’s basketball before, even if they’re Hawkeye alums, they’re definitely checking this out,” Breitenbucher said. “I’m excited to see the recognition coming … The change has been monumental. I mean, it’s taken a long time, but the growth in just the last couple of years is really bringing women’s basketball into the consciousness of sports fans at large.”