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.
- 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.
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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.
When did spring game attendance become a thing that matters?
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When networks started televising them.
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Ohio is 1, Michigan is 2, PSU is 3 according to Nate Silver.
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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.
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.