I didn’t mind dorm life in college. Admittedly, I only did it for one semester and the community bathrooms were horrible, but besides that it wasn’t that bad. The location was great, right next to my alma mater’s basketball and baseball stadium, and really close to a building with most of my classes. That being said, I’m not exactly chomping at the bits to ever stay in a dorm again. Until now.

Facing a budget shortage, Missouri’s came up with a unique solution: rent dorms out to fans in town for football. Mizzou’s been forced to close seven residence halls due to not having enough students to fill them.

Short term Mizzou ResLife budget solution: They're going to start renting out dorms for football games. This is a first, and could be big. — Ashley Jost (@ajost) June 22, 2017

Story coming on @stltoday but it'll be $120/night for a two-bedroom, four-bed suite. https://t.co/yXcEdKUwff — Ashley Jost (@ajost) June 22, 2017

The decision paid off. As we enter Week 5, the dorm rooms are completely booked up for the rest of the season, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Andrew Sommer, a finance guru for the residential life office, said the waiting list for Homecoming weekend is 150 requests deep. He’s getting at least 15 per day. They didn’t know what to expect in June when the chief operating officer announced the dorm rental to the governing board and the public, but it’s been worth it according to Basi. “We had a total loss of about $5 million, so you’re talking zero (dollars) if we do nothing versus $60,000 (three games in) — of course it’s worth it,” he said. Mizzou has received more than 5,000 dorm rental requests for the season.

More lodging options in a college town on game weekends is never bad for fans. Columbia isn’t a metropolis, and hotels can be hard to find on game weekends and marked up so that hotels can rake in the money on the popular weekends. A Columbia Motel 6 on the weekend of the South Carolina game will run you $110, which is quite the markup from the $60 per-night rate you can book the hotel for this weekend.

Other hotels, like a Holiday Inn Express a few miles from campus, are going for over $250. The dorms benefit from being on campus already. So if you’re coming from out of town and need a place to stay and can’t crash a friend’s couch, why not?

If you’re a Mizzou alum, some of the best (or worst) nights of your life may have happened in one of those dorms. But while you’re getting after it in the tailgating lots or one of the watering holes near campus a familiar (and cheap) place to rest your head isn’t a bad thing.