CHAPEL HILL — UNC already has its reservations for the Final Four and Tar Heel faithful are going along for the ride. Fans are packing their bags and heading west for a showdown in San Antonio.

The hottest commodity in the Triangle right now is a ticket to the Final Four. Just like Carolina will have to overcome the challenge of playing Utah to advance to the championship game, Tar Heel fans are finding it a challenge to get tickets to the big dance.

Carolina pride is showing at "The Shrunken Head," a sports merchandise store for Tar Heel fans. All of the customers say they want to go to San Antonio but only a few, like Dyke Peebles, will be fortunate enough to get there.

Listen toauorreal audiofiles."I was in town here today just to make sure that they got me on the list... and my room's all taken care of and my tickets all taken care of. So I'm just waiting for Friday."Sam Craven hopes he'll be in San Antonio too.

Listen toauorreal audiofiles."If my tickets come through, I'm gonna be there. No joke. (Did you start today to get some tickets or did you start early.) Well I got some connections. So hopefully they're gonna come through for me."Making the right connections is what thousands are trying to do. Bob Rube of ITG Travel is utilizing every resource from the Internet and his staff to handle the heavy demand for air travel to the Final Four.

Listen toauorreal audiofiles."We took 600 phone calls yesterday... and opened the phones back up today at 8 this morning and it's been gangbusters ever since."Diehard Carolina fans will pay any price to get to the Final Four, but Rube urges fans to beware of buying packages through newspaper ads which can be scams. The Final Four is a major sporting events and can take weeks of planning.

Listen toauorreal audiofiles."If you want to be guaranteed that you want to be there... you've got to pay the price."

Rube says some fans can wait until Friday andtryto get hotel rooms that are put back on the market through cancellations.