Sponsor Note: If you think you've been after me to write this, you should see TicketIQ, our longtime ticket sponsors who've been blowing up my phone with "I will literally pay you to write a Ticket Watch" since Donovan Edwards's long touchdown at Ohio State.

The first one, not the second one. You know, the one that went 75 yards and made Ohio State fans bleed out their eyes, not the one that went 85 yards and made them bleed out their mouths, because sometimes people get those confused. TicketIQ also said "I don't care what you write, we just want to sponsor it!" and I said "Fine but I'm embedding this play at the top" and they said "Fine" so as promised:

lol, "playoff team"

Anyway if you're going to the Playoffs and plan to stick around longer than it takes Donovan Edwards to send you home, use our ticket sponsors TicketIQ, because they make demands that benefit you, and because they're a ticket exchange that doesn't tack on gargantuan surprise fees to every transaction. Price they say = the price you pay.

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Yeesh. Well folks, we wanted to be one of those elite college football programs that plays in the Playoff every year, with a good shot at moving on to the championship round. It cost Michigan a lot of money to put that program together, and the trip's going to cost you an arm if you want to go. Can you save a leg, though? That's what Ticket Watch is here to find out.

Let's get creative.

The Official Route

The best way to get tickets for either of these games is through the university. This has mostly already happened, but there's a catch: These tickets are not all for resale. What that means is people who put in (using their season ticket points) are not all able to put these tickets onto the secondary market online. However, lots of these season ticket holders chose, when given the option, to buy as many as they thought they might need. Either they find someone they know who will buy them, give them away, or eat them. Mostly they'll find someone they know.

That someone could be you! Renew those relationships everybody! 'Tis the season!

FIESTA BOWL

Michigan has an allotment, which sold out immediately for the Fiesta Bowl. If you put in, you heard whether you got in by December 5th. But here's the thing: not everyone who put in is going. A lot of the seats for sale right now were bought up by Michigan fans with a high number of points. If you know one of them, it may be worth a phone call to ask if they bought their tickets. If they say "Yeah, can't wait!" let them know you're in the market; if they say "No, we can't go" say "Yeah, I'm trying to but tickets are expensive!" And if they say "I did but we can't go so I'm just going to sell them on _____" tell them you're not sure they can, but you might be interested.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Alumni Club is again offering their full tour, which if you're over 50 and don't want to putz around finding your own accommodations and tickets is a pretty good way to go. I put the age limit on there because honestly if you're my age group or younger their bowl tours start to feel a little too railroaded. I'm also talking to a company interested in putting together an MGoBlog group, but I'm not ready to announce that yet.

Now, if you're from SoCal, you might be in luck; if Michigan makes the CFP Championship they're going to have a lottery for members NEXT WEEK. You have to be a) A member, and b) in before noon on Monday, December 19th. The cost of joining AAUM is (worth it and) less than the secondary markup is going to be.

[After THE JUMP: Indirect routes.]

The Gamble

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ONLY

There are sites for the CFP and conference championships where you pay a certain price based on your team's likelihood of making it, and that entitles you to buy tickets at face value if your team makes it. It's like buying an option—if your team doesn't make it you lose the option, but don't have to buy the seats. This isn't a great deal for Michigan now because the expectation is we beat TCU. You'll just end up paying the $500 option to get $190 tickets—which is what you can get on the secondary market without much hassle. What you can do is gamble on Georgia ($300) or Ohio State ($115).

This is a good option if you're my best friend who's married to a Georgia fan. It's also a good option if your decision to go is "If it's Michigan-Ohio State again I cannot miss this." Keep in mind either is a gamble that Michigan won't make it. You could end up with the right to purchase Ohio State-TCU tickets. Gross!

The Waiting Game

FIESTA BOWL

If you struck out with the above options, you're joining the rest of us in the secondary market. The bad news is prices right now are ludicrous. The worse news is the tickets are not owned by fans, for the most part, but brokers. Two upper-deck seats in the corner of the endzone of the Fiesta Bowl are going for $588 apiece. Similar seats for the National Championship are over $1,100/ticket right now. TicketIQ's promise to pay for their sponsorship upfront despite my condition of complete editorial autonomy is about to get their CEO in a tiny bit of trouble with his marketing people. Because here's my advice:

Wait.

What we've got here are brokers who've gotten their hands on a huge portion of the get-in seats. Entire rows are sitting in the "Let's make some moooooolah!!!!" edge of the market. Some of them will get sold at that price, but for the most part those seats are going to rest in the market driving up the average cost. This is not the Ohio State game this year where you could only find singles scattered around the stadium (and not even that once the weather turned gorgeous). Also, remember that it's not representative of the market as a whole, because people who got Michigan allotment seats can't put them online.

This is what it looks like when you have supply that's been waiting all year for its demand to show up, and then that demand's name is "Michigan":

Those are groups of 28, 26, 26, 23, 19 and 14 together. The sections that aren't for sale are all of those that go to school allotment's. It's not just the get-in seats either:

The brokers are counting on you not wanting to book your flight and hotel in Arizona before you know for certain that you can get into the event you're coming for. But flights fill up (they already have—and no, I wouldn't tempt fate with that Delta flight that gets in at 11:50 even if Glendale's just 20 minutes from Sky Harbor), and so do hotels.

Seats for the game however will be available until the online markets close, about an hour before the game. The markup now covers what the brokers are going to lose on what they don't sell. You're not the only one waiting until the last minute to buy your tickets, but the way these things go down there's usually plenty of seats left about 24 hours before the event for you to make your selection.

What you want to do is buy from other fans who have to sell their tickets, not from people who know how to play the system to make money off your quiet desperation. This is more true the smaller your group. If you're going alone, you're gonna be fine. Traveling in twos: Watch the prices before you leave for Arizona, and maybe make your purchase when you get to your hotel. Larger groups are going to have to be more conservative, but as you can see, you could ring the whole building with your family right now if you so desired. Wait.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Again, wait. Get-in last year for the day of was about $439, in part because Michigan fans were dumping their tickets. Georgia and Ohio State are two fanbases that travel well, however, and one of them is going to lose. The bad news is Bama fans last year didn't have the novelty that we would. And if it's Michigan-Ohio State, well, I think a lot of people will want to see that. I would target $600 if you just want a seat in the building, $700 if you and a friend are going together. Try the various avenues for tickets at face value, but don't panic.

Seat Selection

FIESTA BOWL

Glendale Arena has a couple of standing-room only sections in either endzone. It has some fancy name to make it sound like it's a lounge but these are just flat areas where you stand around other people. I do not recommend.

via rateyoursets

The upper deck is split into the "Ring of Honor" box seats and Terrace Level, which aren't too bad actually. The upper decks are on a sharp angle so you might feel a little heights-y if you don't have a head for highness, but the tradeoff is a pretty good view of the field.

If your budget's higher, the Club Level is a good deal, though seats on the Michigan side are harder to find because everyone who owns a box got first dibs on these. These give you access to the lounges, with full-service bars, actually decent food, and private bathrooms. Row 12 is as high as it goes, but I think the stadium was designed to make these more desirable than the sideline seats, and for non-Cardinals events they tend to be priced the same as the seats below them.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

I don't know anything about SoFi. It should be in the Rose Bowl anyways.

Parking?

Park in Westgate or just pay for a spot in one of the lots. That whole part of "Glendale" is just a giant parking lot broken up by a few stadiums, a Cabela's, an outlets mall, and a Dave & Busters. Quick shout-out to the D-Backs for playing in actual Phoenix, and for building their (and the Rockies') Spring Training facilities out in Scottsdale near the Detroit Coney Grill, which has Lafayette-inspired chili dogs, and serves Bell's Two-Hearted and Blimpy Burgers.

Getting There?

Traffic for Cardinals games is legendarily horrific. If you're not going early to tailgate you should plan on an extra hour(!) to get off the highway and get to parking.