Making a push

Though men's basketball attendance runs ahead of last year's pace, the folks at Camp Mitch want to make sure there's a not-embarrassing crowd at The Branch for Saturday's Abbreviation Armageddon with FAU. The game will be televised on CSS.

Which is why they're bringing a peck of promotions to pack the place.

Students arriving before tipoff -- instead of straggling in five or 10 minutes into the game, just ahead of Miami time -- will be entred into a free raffle for FIU gift cards. Trying to get the family crowd for the 6 p.m. start, they're offering the Family Four Pack: four tickets, four hot dogs, four popcorns, four soft drinks for $29. Just call the ticket office or log onto http://www.fiusports.com with the promo code FAMILY.

Maybe in a nod to the forever ineligible Ray Taylor, who played three years for FAU and seven games for FIU, they could raffle off a couple of jobs in the Compliance department.