2009 NCAA D1A Football Home Attendance War: Michigan vs Penn State
Week 1 got off to a rousing start for Michigan, viz:
05 Sep 2009
Michigan vs WMU 109,019
Penn State vs Akron 104,968
This bodes well as we have NDp coming in next week, and PSU has Syracuse.
Upcoming home games:
Michigan
12 Sep NDp
19 Sep EMU
26 Sep Indiana
17 Oct Delaware St
24 Oct Penn St
07 Nov Purdue
21 Nov OSU
Penn State
12 Sep Syracuse
19 Sep Temple
26 Sep Iowa
10 Oct Eastern Illinois
17 Oct Minnesota
07 Nov OSU
14 Nov Indiana
September 7th, 2009 at 11:36 AM ^
temple and the 'cuse travel alot of fans. the only way i see PSU matching us head to head attendance wise with their game against o$u.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
Either that game or when we play Delaware St.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:46 AM ^
delaware st. travels alot of fans.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
to remember when the last d 1-aa school came to town that they brought a lot of fans with them. and the attendance for that game was over 109,000.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
That was before we lost 1,300 seats in the renovations.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^
But that was a typical 1st game of the year crowd, not App St. fans.
September 7th, 2009 at 11:58 AM ^
Deleware St. is over fall break for the students, so that's really a double whammy.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^
Could that potentially end the streak of 100k+ in attendance?
September 7th, 2009 at 12:06 PM ^
so I can't see them bringing many fans for an inevitable beat-down, unless RR announces that only our fourth-stringers will play.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
When the day comes that they decide to add about 20,000 seats to the Big House, it will all be moot. I really miss the days when the Big House was the Big House and nobody else was even close. I sorta feel like I was spoiled.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:38 PM ^
Beaver Stadium's capacity is 107,282. So PSU - coming off an 11-win season, no less - apparently didn't sell out its season opener. Wow.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^
Michigan has a better schedule: one A game and three forgettable OOC games vs. one C- game (made marginally more interesting by the Paulus angle and the possibility of #45 sacking Duke's point guard) and three forgettable OOC games. So now that you're putting a compelling product on the field again, it wouldn't be surprising if UM posts more favorable numbers. PS AD Curley made the penny-wise pound-foolish decision to schedule such an indefensible slate of tomato cans. Although, Akron is actually fundamentally sound in most areas. In any case, the strategy (with which I disagree) of putting together a relatively weaker schedule in the interests of accruing more wins to secure a BCS slot is empowered by the perverse incentives that are part and parcel of the current system, a system largely kept in place because of the wishes of the B10 and PAC10 - the codependent parents in the dysfunctional college football family.
I'll predict that Penn State posts higher attendance for the one marquee match-up of the year, the homecoming of Prodigal Son Terrell Pryor. Although UM could possibly top that figure when hosting PSU due to strong traveling support from the visiting school and the fact that Michigan is the most attractive road venue to visit, apart from Pasadena.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:48 PM ^
In PSU's defense, they figured out the need to play A-list opponents. They have Alabama and Virginia (this didn't sound as bad a few days ago) over the next few seasons. EDIT: They also have Rutgers, which is at least a BCS opponent in an area they recruit hard in.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^
That's a pretty large post about head count for someone admonishing the rest of us.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:15 PM ^
Take your point, KBLOW. I'm not sure backward-looking metrics like headcount are the best areas of focus for our respective programs when there's more pressing business, B10's national standing etc. Fan support isn't the challenge for Michigan and PSU, but opposing a play-off might be.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:07 PM ^
..do you still have any of those "Beaver Stadium: The Real Big House" t-shirts left? :)
Anyway, I agree that a) scheduling cupcakes for BCS purposes is a disgrace, and b) the BCS itself is a disgrace.
Re OSU on 07 Nov: Since Beaver's max seems to be 110K flat, you will need more than that for the highest single game attendance this year, since we "find" ways of getting well past 110K even at current capacity.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:27 PM ^
Wouldn't wear that shirt.
They can pack more in there then they have, if they so choose.
The real acid test should be Alabama in 2011. I think Nebraska in 2002 still has the Beaver Stadium record.
September 7th, 2009 at 1:31 PM ^
but noooooooooo....we *have* to play NDp EVERY year!
September 7th, 2009 at 1:50 PM ^
NDp?
Whatever happened to SSONIINI?
September 7th, 2009 at 3:46 PM ^
http://www.b2g5.com/boards/board.cgi?&user=Mabee
Board etiquette dictated that you should put a (p) in the title header of your post if there was profanity the body of the message. Soon enough, any mention of ND required a (p), and NDp was born.
September 7th, 2009 at 5:04 PM ^
And with that...To HELL with NDp!