At least one airline is telling passengers that if they hope to leave Houston tomorrow, they better get their butts to the airport early.

An expected rush of Final Four evacuees — some happy, some crushed — could mean long lines at security, ticket counters and, perhaps most importantly, Starbucks.

Frontier Airlines has called passengers who have a 6 a.m. flight tomorrow, for instance, and has left a recorded message (It was a real, live person!) telling them to get to the airport no later than 4 a.m.

“If you don’t get there at least two hours before your flight leaves, you WILL miss your flight,” the message says. Passengers are urged to do as much online pre-flight planning and bag checking and everything as possible.

Couple the Final Four exodus with Southwest’s ongoing troubles with cancellations, and it could add up to a lot of fun.

Especially if your team lost the night before.

This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2011.