The Allstate Sugar Bowl last night drew a crowd of 54,077 for the Oklahoma-Auburn matchup at Mercedes-Benz Superdome, marking the game's lowest attendance figure since '39, when TCU-Carnegie Mellon drew 44,308 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Last season, the Sugar Bowl was also not part of the CFP semifinals, but was played on a Friday (Jan. 1), with the Ole Miss-Oklahoma State matchup drawing 72,117 fans (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor). This was the Sugar Bowl's "first non-sellout since the OU-Alabama game three years ago," but that game was "close to full." The OU-Auburn game last night had "full sections in the Superdome's upper corners [that] sat empty." This was Auburn's first Sugar Bowl in 12 years, but "soaring bowl ticket prices -- $160 for seats in the lower bowl" -- were likely "keeping away fans" (NEWSOK.com, 1/3). In New Orleans, Jeff Duncan noted Auburn fans "dominated the crowd by a good 65-35 split," but once Oklahoma "took control of the game, most of the Tigers fans retreated to the French Quarter" (NOLA.com, 1/2). SECCOUNTRY.com's Connor Riley wrote Auburn and OU are "considered blue bloods, which makes the showing all the more disappointing" (SECCOUNTRY.com, 1/2).
REST OF THE NEW YEAR'S SIX: In Ft. Worth, Jimmy Burch noted Wisconsin yesterday beat Western Michigan in front of 59,615 fans at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium, and that figure "marked the lowest at any Cotton Bowl since 59,215 showed up" for UCLA-Texas on Jan. 1, 1998. This season's attendance "barely eclipsed the 54,347 that showed up in the same building" to watch a '13 Texas Class 5A state championship. Having WMU, a school from the MAC, play in the game is the "cost of doing business" as part of the CFP, which "mandates that the Goodyear Cotton Bowl invite the nation’s top team from its pool of Group-of-Five participants once in every three-year cycle to butt heads with a Power 5 opponent" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/3). Meanwhile, yesterday's Rose Bowl, which featured USC-Penn State, drew a crowd of 95,218, marking the game's best crowd since '98 (Washington State-Michigan), which was the last season before the creation of the BCS system. The Capital One Orange Bowl on Friday night drew 67,432 fans to Hard Rock Stadium for Florida State-Michigan, which is down slightly from 67,615 last year for the game last year, which featured Clemson-Oklahoma in a CFP semifinal (THE DAILY).
SLAY BELLS: In Jacksonville, Garry Smits noted Georgia Tech's win over Kentucky on Saturday at the TaxSlayer Bowl -- formerly the Gator Bowl -- drew a crowd of 43,102 to EverBank Field, a figure that is the event's "lowest since 41,312 watched" Ole Miss-Florida in '58. UK fans "did their part, more than selling their allotment of 8,000 tickets and creating a sea of blue on one side of the stadium." Smits: "Georgia Tech and local fans ... not so much." Tech also was "involved in another sparsely-attended game," with 43,461 watching a loss to Miami in '00 (JACKSONVILLE.com, 12/31).
CHARLOTTE'S WEB: In Charlotte, David Scott reported Belk Bowl organizers "were happy" with an attendance of 46,902 for Thursday's Virginia Tech-Arkansas game at Bank of America Stadium. It appeared that "at least 40,000 were dressed" in VT colors (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/30). Also in Charlotte, Theoden Janes estimated that "between 1,000 and 1,500" fans attended a Tim McGraw's performance Thursday afternoon at BB&T Ballpark as part of the Belk Bowl FanFest. The Triple-A Int'l League Charlotte Knights "did not provide official attendance figures" for the concert. The turnout was "less than ideal," leaving "room for improvement." Janes: "Something is flawed if you can’t attract 2,000 people to a Tim McGraw concert with two months’ notice." Belk and the Knights initially warned that they would "have to cap entry to 10,000 Belk Bowl ticket holders" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 12/30). Meanwhile, SECCOUNTRY.com's Jason Kersey reported Arkansas TE Jeremy Sprinkle was "suspended from the Belk Bowl after Charlotte Police cited him for shoplifting." Sprinkle "attempted to shoplift items at the Belk department store" in Charlotte on Tuesday, "putting eight items into his bag after the team’s shopping spree had finished." Arkansas and VT players were at Belk to "shop as each player on both teams ... had 90 minutes to spend a $450 gift card at Belk on anything in the store" (SECCOUNTRY.com, 12/29).
BEST OF THE REST: The Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Friday drew 68,496 fans to Nissan Stadium for the Tennessee-Nebraska matchup, marking a record for the event that started in '98. Last season's crowd of 50,478 for Louisville-Texas A&M was the low point since the game switched to an ACC-SEC format in '06. Meanwhile, the Florida-Iowa Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium yesterday drew 51,119 fans, down from 53,202 for Tennessee-Northwestern last season. Georgia's win over TCU in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl on Friday drew 51,087 fans, marking the game's lowest figure since 50,209 attended Southern Miss-Pitt in '97. LSU-Louisville on Saturday at the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl drew 46,063 fans to Camping World Stadium, marking the event's lowest figure since LSU-Wake Forest drew 38,142 in '79 (THE DAILY).
