Few Power Conference Football Programs Sell Out Home Openers

There were some "surprisingly soft tickets for the opening weekend" of the '12 college football season. Among SEC schools, only Mississippi State drew a capacity crowd in its home opener. Prior to yesterday's Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech game at Lane Stadium, six of seven ACC schools had "smaller crowds than their openers last year – some of them much smaller." Attendance was also down at six of eight Big 12 home openers from '11. Five of eight Pac-12 schools "had smaller crowds as well" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/4).

A crowd of 90,413 attended the Alabama-Michigan Cowboys Classic at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/2). Saturday's Clemson-Auburn Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game drew a "record crowd" of 75,211 at the Georgia Dome (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/2).