B1G leading the nation in spring game attendance
B1G now occupies 5 of the top 7 crowds nationally.
- OSU - 99,391
- Nebraska- 76,881
- PSU- 68,000
- Alabama- 65,175
- Auburn- 62,143
- Michigan- 60,000
- MSU- 48,000
Big Ten spring game attendance (with Wisconsin pending) currently sits at 393,313. SEC is second with 304,330 (with Ark and Tenn pending)
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) April 25, 2015
impressive given the climate differences this time of the year. especially since Michigan drew more than 12 other SEC schools on the first Saturday of April in Michigan which is usually extremely cold.
Really curious to know how OSU manages to attract 90k+ every spring game. Fans there are nuts
- Monopolize the state and be the only major college program. To do this, duck teams like Cincinnati in all sports and teams like Xavier and Dayton on the basketball court.
- Have shitty pro sports across the state
3. Have your stadium right in the middle of a city with 820,000 people.
Surrounded by some of the fastest growing suburban areas in the country
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Nice try, RAB
He's right. I live in Del Co. College preferences aside, it's pretty good here.
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Ohio State gets all of Ohio. Michigan is divided with us and MSU.
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aka The Factory
Buckeyes Are Nuts.
Look at tradition, location and competition...take these among a number of other factors and it's easy to see why they do. It's no big deal either.
I was at the spring game and the attendance was closer to 70,00 than it was 60,000.
There's no way to get a number that isn't estimated unless they start charging admission and have tickets for an intrasquad scrimmage like *ahem* other schools in the conference.
See I too was there and thought it was closer to 50 than 60k. And MSU's was well attended for them. Their lower bowl seats 60,000 and it looked full outside of the ends of the end zone a. 48k seems about right.
From what I saw only Nebraska, PSU, and Michigan were objective about it. Ohio State had more like 85,000 and MSU had more like 35,000.
OSU sold tickets so they probably had a precise number of how many came. Their stadium looked full, so I could easily see them having 100k there.
PSU fudged their numbers big time. So did MSU.
MSU fudged their numbers. The lower bowl holds 60k and I don't have any problem with an assertion that it was 80%ish full. It was a pretty good crowd by all counts.
Parents paying tuition, season ticket holders or fans in general can't support the Spring Game or make kickoff.
When did spring game attendance become a thing that matters?
It didn't.
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When networks started televising them.
About four years ago.
When we started to be not very good and needed something to give us hope.
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Makes sense. Aren't Michigan, PSU, Nebraska, and OSU four of the top five largest fanbases in general? Something like that
Ohio is 1, Michigan is 2, PSU is 3 according to Nate Silver.
MOAR spring game attendance data!!!
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The constant narrative on sports talk radio is that the sec fans are more passionate and they take college football more seriously than other areas of the country. I don't think it's true and based on spring game attendance, midwestern fans are just as passionate...possibly even more.
For some reason we've made such a big deal about spring game attendance on this blog this year. WAY more than any other.
It's the frickin spring game.
This just proves Midwest people have no lives, and a Spring football games are the IN thing to do.
...as something worth noting says all you need to know about the current state of Big10 football.
What are you saying about the current state of the big ten? I think the Big Ten is currently in great shape and on the rise. Coming off a strong bowl season the Big Ten finished with two teams in the top 5, including the national champs. You have Penn St, Wisconsin, and Nebraska on the rise and college football's biggest sleeping giant with Michigan, who just hired a coach who is one of the best coaches in all of football. If the big ten was in the same shape it was in when urban took over at osu, I would give Harbaugh a shot at an undefeated conference record. The Big Ten may not be the best conference right now, but as spring game attendance indicates, there's a lot to be excited about and may soon be in the discussion as the top conference.
Nebraska is not on the rise. The best it can hope for is to remain what it currently is: An average program that might contend for a division every once in a while. All the elements that came together during its glory years are gone. In terms of what they once were, the Nubs are dead.
PSU is not going anywhere either. They don't/won't get the athletes needed to become elite. Plus I think James Franklin is hugely overrated.
Going forward, I think the only Big10 programs we can expect to contend on a national level are OSU and MSU. It sucks to have to say that, but it's true. I think we will get there under Harbaugh, but it will take time. Wiscy could make a run, but they've dropped off over the last couple years.
Kill is a good coach, but Minny's recruiting ceiling will preclude it from ever being a top 10 program. They don't have the tradition we do, plus who wants to live in a place that cold? Certainly not kids from down south.
What other schools do you see stepping up?
All that said, things are definitely headed in the right direction for our conference. The Harbaugh-Dantonio-Meyer triangle is going to draw a lot of interest all over the country. The shite's about to get real again. But the fact remains that until/unless we start finishing with 6 or 8 teams in the Top 20 and 3 or 4 in the Top 10, people won't take us seriously.
Spring season games speak to hope, interest and anticipation. Besting the other conferences in those areas doesn't mean anything when it comes to bowl games and final AP rankings.
But I thought everything about footbaw is better in the SECSECSEC? At least that's what ESPN told me.
It's the Midwest