As of last Wednesday, Marquette students can purchase Fanatics basketball tickets for the 2011-2012 season. According to the email sent to students, the student season ticket package includes admission to all 16 home games and the official Fanatics t-shirt for $110. Unfortunately, the package also comes with a number of headaches.

There’s the perennial problem of winter sports: seven of these games take place over winter break. So while Fanatics get admission to all 16 home games, most will likely not make it to at least half of these.

Also, if a Fanatics season ticket holder forgets to print her or his ticket before the game, the Bradley Center Box Office can print it for $5. This is nearly the entire ticket value , and over 70 percent more than it would cost to print the ticket with PrintWise. Hardly the type of gratitude one would hope to be shown to a loyal fan.

But these are all minor in comparison to the greater problem: the price itself.

Sophomores, juniors and seniors will likely note that the cost of tickets is $10 higher than the price last season. While this does not seem overly expensive, evening out to $6.88 per ticket, the 2010-2011 basketball schedule included 19 home games, meaning students get three less games for more money — per game and overall.

Basketball ticket prices for students have continued to go up, with no increase in value apparent. From the 2000-2001 season to the 2006-2007 season, student ticket packages only cost $55. Every season since — save the 2010-2011 season — ticket prices have increased, jumping first to $75, then to $85, $100 and now $110.

And those prices seem to be unreasonably high when compared with other schools in the Big East Conference.

The University of Notre Dame charges $65 for student season tickets, which includes a t-shirt and 15 home games. It does not include games over the semester break, but students have the option of purchasing tickets for those games for $5 each.

DePaul University’s athletic website claims that its athletic fee is the lowest in the conference. This fee is $25 a quarter for fall, winter and spring quarters, and it covers all DePaul athletic events and provides a reduced parking rate.

DePaul’s method seems to speak to what many Marquette students might find more reasonable: options.

We currently have no other student ticket option but the Fanatics package. Thus, Golden Eagle fans who know they can only attend a few games find themselves excluded from the fun. Students studying abroad for one semester or the other have little incentive to buy the package either

The season ticket package does not take into account that students sometimes have many tests or papers due on a day after a home game, or that they may get sick or otherwise have to unwillingly miss a game they’ve already paid for. These scenarios may sound like buyer’s remorse, but in a market where students’ only option is to purchase season tickets, they are very real concerns.

While Marquette may not have trouble selling the Fanatics tickets — they sell out or come close to it every year — it would seem more sensible to offer a few more options to its students. Maybe the non-conference game tickets could be sold separately with a special discount. Perhaps tickets could be sold in packs of four or six, with a higher at-face value but greater appeal.

Marquette is not unfamiliar with different packages. There are a variety of ticket options for the public, albeit more expensive than the student price, including a create-your-own five game package and a variety of price options based on seating. So, offering different options to basketball fans wouldn’t be something entirely new.

Let’s get creative, Marquette. After all, even if the Fanatics tickets sell out, there is still a very real possibility that many season ticket holders will not show up on a given day. When this happens, it only hurts the team and makes Marquette students look spiritless.

If the spirit exhibited at the big rivalry games carries over into the less-anticipated, weekday games because more students are in attendance, the games will become that much more fun.

And if the games are increasingly more fun, it’s easier to justify the increasing prices.