Comparing interest in the "mid-majors"

[Charleston Pony]

Taking a look at attendance figures in the so-called "mid-major" conferences, it's going to be interesting what the 15k rule does to reshape I-A football:

WAC games: La Tech 14k UTEP 18k Nevada 18k Rice 10k

CUSA: TCU 34k ECU 27k Houst 20k UAB 14k Cincy 14k

SunBelt: La-Laf 13k Ark St 13k NMSU 10k La-Mon 10k Mid-Tenn 6,563

MAC: Miami 28k Cent-Mich 9k West-Mich 8k East-Mich 5,150 and Buffalo "did not announce"

MWC: New Mex 37k AFA 50k UNLV 21k

In a year like this one where there could be great debate on who plays OU for the national championship and who gets the 2 at-large bids, you have to wonder whether I-A will continue to be re-shaped until we get down to nine 12 member conferences and then see an 8 or 16 team playoff.

[KnuckleStang]

By our "announced" figures, we're averaging about 18,100 so far this year. Numbers are looking promising down the stretch, especially with frogs flooding the place with purple on the 29th, for 25,000+.

Someone said on this board numerous times that "paid" admission doesn't matter to the NCAA, only actual BUTTS in SEATS do. If this is true, what figures do they have at their disposal, other than what the school announces as paid attendance? Surely they can't send somebody wearing an NCAA blazer to count.

By all accounts, Boise drew no where near 10,000. It is conceivable, however, that we had that much paid, what with season-ticket blow-offs and such. I guess my point is, who's counting, and why don't season ticket holders who give up, technically, count. Sure, it'd be better if they were there, but hell, they bought tickets, didn't they?

[Charleston Pony]

the idea with the 15k requirement was going to be "actual attendance", but the question becomes "how do you enforce that?" Turnstile counts where available, tickets torn, whatever...but shouldn't a school get credit for season ticket sales, even is many of those folks fail to turn out for half the games? I don't think there is any question but that SMU...and others...count tickets sold and/or distributed (student tickets issued that aren't used?)

I'm really not worried about our numbers. As long as we keep playing Big XII teams who travel well and have a few games near 30k attendance, we will be O.K. despite the 10k that might show for Rice, Tulsa, UAB, etc... If we put a competitive team on the filed within the next couple of years, a weak crowd at Ford will be in the neighborhood of 15k.

[Invader133]

Gate .. the little stub they tear off your ticket, am I wrong?

[KnuckleStang]

What should really count is the paid attendance. Since they're basically running a business, what matters, other than who paid and who didn't.

If I go into Snuffer's and sit down and order cheese fries, they don't care whether I take a bite or not, it doesn't make a tinker's damn to them. I can choose to leave them on the table (however inconceivable that may be), but I still have to pay. At the end of the night, they count people who bought food; they don't subtract all the people who decided they weren't hungry.

Sorry for the Snuffer's example, but I'm flying down for the game this weekend, and cheese fries have staked out a temporary position in the front of my brain.

<small>[ 11-09-2003, 12:20 PM: Message edited by: KnuckleStang ]</small>

[EastStang]

This was another subtle BCS requirement on Division 1-A schools to drive more schools down to 1-AA under the guise of strengthening 1-AA. Since the BCS schools hold a majority on the 1-A football council, they have been putting in things like each school must have 17 sports, 15,000 Butts in Seats Rule, Gutting the Qualification rules for 1-A football scholarships. That is why they probably won't send the Big East packing. If they do, they will lose that voting majority and suddenly the 15,000 rule goes away, academic restrictions tied to graduation rates come into play, a National Championship tournament comes in. No way they want that. They'll adjust their requirements to allow the BE in or give it a waiver.