Approximately 1,000 tickets remain available for Friday night's Division I-AA national championship football game between Northern Iowa and Appalachian State at Finley Stadium.

Game director Scott Smith said Northern Iowa returned approximately 1,500 tickets, and 500 of those were sold on Wednesday.

"Ticket sales were steady on Wednesday,'' Smith said. "I think we'll have a sellout. I'd be surprised if we didn't.''

The ticket office at UTC's McKenzie Arena opens at 10 a.m. Thursday and Friday mornings. Tickets can be purchased by calling 266-MOCS.

Tickets will be available on Thursday night at the First Tennessee Pavilion ticket windows as pregame festivities begin.

The pavilion ticket windows will open at noon on Friday, and all ticket windows at the stadium will be open at 4 p.m. Game time is 8 p.m.

APPALACHIAN STATE NOTEBOOK

Appalachian State University football spent its first full day in Chattanooga on Wednesday as it continued preparations for Friday’s NCAA Division I-AA national championship game versus Northern Iowa at Finley Stadium.

While the surroundings were new, the routine remained much the same for the Mountaineers. A throng of media was on hand for interviews at the beginning of session, but Appalachian went on to conduct a relatively normal two-hour practice at Finley Stadium. With kickoff pushed up one day earlier than usual, the session was ASU’s last regular practice of the season. The Apps have just a light walkthrough scheduled for Thursday afternoon that is open to the media and set to begin at 2:30 p.m. at Finley Stadium.

Although they are nearly 300 miles from campus, a handful of Mountaineers had a reminder of home on Wednesday when they took the last of their final exams in a conference room at the team’s headquarters, the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn. Faculty athletics representative Dr. Alan Hauser proctored the exams immediately following practice.

The day wound down for the Apps on a much lighter note than practice and exams. Both ASU and UNI gathered at the Holiday Bowl in Chattanooga for a Welcome Dinner and a few frames of bowling to get the competitive juices flowing for Friday’s contest.

Thursday is another full day for the Mountaineers in the River City. The day begins with the annual Championship Luncheon at the Chattanooga Convention Center, during which both teams will be presented with championship mementos in recognition of their achievements in reaching this elite point of the season. Following lunch, ASU will make its way to a Habitat for Humanity warehouse to help encourage volunteers who are building houses that will be transported to hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast.

Following the 2:30 p.m. walkthrough, members of the team and coaching staff will meet with ESPN’s commentators (Dave Pasch, Rod Gilmore, Trevor Matich and Stacey Dales-Schuman) and take part in a press conference for the growing number of media on hand in Chattanooga.

In other news just 48 hours before kickoff:

• Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year Richie Williams’ playing status will be a game-time decision, ASU head athletic trainer Jim Shorten announced on Wednesday. Williams, who strained a tendon in his left ankle in the first quarter of last Saturday’s semifinal win over Furman, continued to make progress in his rehab when he jogged and threw some passes during the Mountaineers’ practice on Wednesday.

• Appalachian has officially sold out its allotment of tickets for the national championship game, ASU ticket manager Debbie Reese announced on Wednesday. Tickets are still available, but must be purchased through the UTC ticket office by calling 1-800-472-6030 or (423) 266-6627 or logging on to www.GoMocs.com.

• The Appalachian Sports Network broadcasted a special Championship Week edition of Mountaineer Talk before an enthusiastic Black and Gold crowd in the lobby of the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn on Wednesday night. ASN goes on the air on Friday at 6 p.m. with an hour-long Pigskin Prelude, presented by Sagebrush Steakhouse, live from Finley Stadium, followed at 7 p.m. by Mountaineer Gameday, presented by www.TailgateAtTheRock.com. At 7:30 p.m., Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Touchstone Energy, hits the airwaves with kickoff slated for 8:06 p.m. David Jackson, Steve Brown and Adam Witten bring Mountaineer fans all of the national-championship action live on ASN’s radio affiliates, at www.GoASU.com and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 121.

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)