It's easy to take for granted the game-day atmosphere at Camp Randall Stadium.

The University of Wisconsin football team boasts 38 consecutive sellouts and has not had an announced crowd of less than 80,000 since the re-opening of the refurbished stadium in 2004.

But then the Badgers will go to a place like Indiana, where Memorial Stadium was barely half-full two weeks ago.

"You do get used to (big home crowds)," senior linebacker DeAndre Levy said. "When you go to other stadiums and you look around, it's like (a shock). ... You get spoiled seeing 80,000 out there (at home)."

With fewer than 200 tickets available as of Monday, Saturday's game against Cal Poly will once again be a sellout, or close to it. UW senior associate athletic director Vince Sweeney said the ticket office had roughly 4,000 tickets to sell for this game going back to last summer.

"I think the fact we're sitting here in late November with less than 200 tickets left is a sign that our fans are responsive," Sweeney said. "They've responded well, despite some of the comments and criticism that's been out there (about this game)."

The ticket office used a couple of promotions to help unload tickets, one that involved youth football teams in the area and one in which free tickets were given to kids in the Bucky's Buddies program with the purchase of a ticket.

But Sweeney said the impact of both promotions was minimal.

"There was some response, but that's not what put us over the top," he said. "What put us over the top is we've been selling (tickets) since last summer."

The Cal Poly game has been a lightning rod for critics of UW's non-conference schedules in recent years. Many fans were upset when the game was scheduled in February and that sentiment has not gone away as the Badgers have further disappointed their followers with a 6-5 record this season.

Toss in the start of the deer hunt on Saturday and the possibility of cold weather and there have been dire predictions about the size of the crowd and what could be a lackluster atmosphere for the final home game for a large senior class.

"Really, the only thing we have to compare it to right now is when we played Buffalo at the end of (2006) — a non-conference game at the end of the year," Sweeney said. ''Frankly, I thought that atmosphere was pretty good. People came out, it was the last home game of the year, (the) last chance to see the seniors play.

"I expect the same thing this weekend. The team's on a roll. They've got some momentum. I think people enjoy that. It's always nice to see a Badger victory. I think it's going to be good."

Of course, the Badgers were 10-1 going into the Buffalo game and there was a lot of excitement in Bret Bielema's first season as coach. This year's team has failed to live up to lofty expectations after being ranked as high as eighth in the polls.

The players know the atmosphere could be subdued, but some of the seniors vowed not to let it affect their day.

"I think it will be a little strange if (the stadium) is not full," senior guard Kraig Urbik said. "But we've got to kind of deal with that when the student section doesn't show up until the second quarter.