WolvinLA2

March 18th, 2014 at 2:08 PM ^

Having lived in Cincinnati, it's very surprising that Xavier is on there over Cincinnati.  UC plays in the bigger league with much bigger name opponents and has had the better program of late.  

WolvinLA2

March 18th, 2014 at 2:06 PM ^

14 is probably about right.  There are some schools I was surprised to see above us like Illinois and Wisconsin, but the rest makes sense.  Not surprised to see a lot of Big Ten teams on there because of the BTN.

WolvinLA2

March 18th, 2014 at 2:11 PM ^

Indiana at 5 does not surprise me.  They are one of the traditionally great college basketball programs and have a basketball-first culture, so attendence is always strong.  That does not surprise me at all.  I'm also sure this doesn't take into effect the lousy season they had this year, and they were quite good a year ago.

LSAClassOf2000

March 18th, 2014 at 3:09 PM ^

Last year's top five by Forbes' metrics were: 

1) Louisville

2) Kansas

3) North Carolina

4) Kentucky

5) Ohio State

Indiana and Wisconsin came in at 6th and 7th respectively, and to round out the conference, MSU was 10th, Minnesota was 13th, Illinois was 17th. Michigan actually did not make the Top 20 in their article last year, which was based on 2011-12 financial data. 

Yo_Blue

March 18th, 2014 at 3:44 PM ^

The revenue generated by ticket sales is a big part of the revenue. Crisler hasn't been filled for anything but the big games for years.  Teams like Indiana, Wisconsin, and yes, even Sparty, seem to do a better job getting fannies in the seats.

We can do better.

Wolfman

March 18th, 2014 at 11:30 PM ^

linked article.  I nailed the first three, but did have NC and KY in reverse order. Was guessing KY would be right behind KS. After that, altough I was able to get most of the teams, I wasn't close to the correct order and completely messed up on the BIG. For instance I forgot how important the Hoosiers are to not only their state but also just how strong their tradition is. Was somewhat surprised to see OSU ranked that high, but can't argue with results Matta has been able to accomplish since he took over.  Also of interest, at least to me, were a couple of the teams that didn't make the list based on the criteria Forbes used. I thought Butler would be among the top 20-25 and I completely forgot about the nonchalance many S. California's fans have toward their sports team and expected to find UCLA on the list as well, based solely on the combination of their past and the fact they never seem to stay away for too long.  M, obviously, is going to do nothing but continue to rise because just like State, they have the combination of the right leader and the zealous fan base of both. 

2 Walter Smith

March 19th, 2014 at 3:31 AM ^

not enough weight was placed on the name of the team's home court.  The KFC Yum! Center?!  Really?  Do you have to exclaim every time you say it?  How many times have you said Yum! after eating KFC, particularly if you wait at least 15 minutes after consumption.