A new season football ticket plan for University of Wisconsin students was driven by multiple factors, not the least of which were safety issues outside Camp Randall Stadium.

The policy, outlined on the UW Athletic Department Web site at www.uwbadgers.com and set to take effect for the 2008 season, institutes a lottery weighted by class standing, the elimination of assigned seats and an individual voucher pick-up system.

While the new format is expected to serve several functions — including a fully populated student section when the games start — at the top of the list is doing away with pregame problems outside Gate 5 in the north end of Camp Randall, where 14,000 students are funneled into sections O through J.

"It's to get (students) in and not to have all the congestion outside," UW athletic director Barry Alvarez said Tuesday. "We just had some issues that we wanted to correct."

In addition to the heavy flow of students, Alvarez said some ticket-holders would be disruptive by sitting in unassigned seats, requiring ushers and security personnel to get involved.

"We think it will be much better and a smoother operation," Alvarez said of the policy, which was drawn up after consulting UW student leaders.

Perhaps the biggest impact from the new policy will be that students probably will be in their seats before the game starts. Sections will be filled one at a time with all seats first-come, first-served.

"We want to get them in (to the stadium) in an orderly way and we want to get them in earlier and get them seated," Alvarez said.