PonyFans.com

Rice won the tie breaker for Championship game
It will be interesting to see how many fans this game will draw
Bad weathere is a tough break,
I know SMU and Rice are SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT but do you really think just WINNING-even competing at home for Conference Title and 10 win season will make a difference
Or did a lot of Rice fans basically check out and are only interested in playing traditional rivals.
Its kind of a small test case for some of the competing theories on ponyfans

I hope that they have a nice crowd but I'm doubtful. Not a single one of my Rice alum friends have the slightest interest in Rice football. On top of everything else, the few students who are inclined to go to the games ae worried about finals, term papers, etc.

When will SMU play for a championship?

We did. We got blown out...as luck would have it, we ran into a more talented team for which we have no answer for

SMUer wrote:We did. We got blown out...as luck would have it, we ran into a more talented team for which we have no answer for

I'm guessing it was "penciled" in as a loss anyway.

I'm not trying to be cute, but what constitutes a crowd for a Rice game? 30000? Given Rices size and recourses and the school they are playing that would be a success in my opinion.

they allegedly have averaged 21,000 this year-but you'd never believe it. This is the Final CUSA Home Attendance figures:

1. East Carolina 44,261
2. UTSA 29,214
3. UTEP 28,375
4. Marshall 25,023
5. Southern Miss 22,752
6. Rice 21,216
7. North Texas 21,030
8. La Tech 20,768
9. ODU 20,118
10. Tulsa 19,893
11. Tulane 19,747
12. MTSU 18,715
13. WKU 18,334
14. FIU 15,453
15. FAU 14,552
16. UAB 10,548

U can report back for us

I believe ECUs and USMs from that list. That's about it.

What's more interesting to me is the attendance at Northern Illinois games. Here is a school that:

- Has an enrollment of 25,000 (a big school)
- has been a consistent overachiever in football
- went to a BCS bowl last year and gave free tix to its students to attend the Orange Bowl
- came into the season as a prohibitive favorite to win their conference
- has a legitimate Heisman candidate at QB (it wouldn't hurt my feelings to see him win)
- has gone undefeated, including wins over two Big Ten schools

Here is a school that should average at least 40000 a game. Granted, Husky stadium only holds 24000, but they deserve more. What is their attendance?

They play traditional rivals, along with regional schools. They have won, and done it regularly.

What's their attendance this year?

leopold wrote:I believe ECUs and USMs from that list. That's about it.

I believe ECU's... USM has been overstating attendance for years and this year is no different. They had to give away tickets for games against big name teams at home when they were good... no way they actually averaged 21,000 during a 23 game losing streak.

Stallion wrote:Rice won the tie breaker for Championship game
It will be interesting to see how many fans this game will draw
Bad weathere is a tough break,
I know SMU and Rice are SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT but do you really think just WINNING-even competing at home for Conference Title and 10 win season will make a difference
Or did a lot of Rice fans basically check out and are only interested in playing traditional rivals.
Its kind of a small test case for some of the competing theories on ponyfans

Official attendance = 20,247.

What was real attendance- anyone watch?

GiddyUp wrote:What was real attendance- anyone watch?

I saw part of it. There were certainly people in the stands, but I never saw enough of the stadium to tell how high up the crowds went. It didnt look like our game, there were some people there.