The Syracuse men's basketball team likely "will lead the country in attendance for the second year in a row" after a crowd of 25,338 "turned out for Syracuse's final regular-season home game against Virginia on Monday night," according to Mike Waters of the Syracuse POST-STANDARD. Monday's number "brought Syracuse's average attendance for its 18 home games in the 2014-15 season up to 23,854." Syracuse "went into Monday's game with a narrow lead over Kentucky in the NCAA's attendance race." Kentucky's attendance average "currently sits at 23,525 through 18 games at Rupp Arena." Kentucky "has one more home game remaining," hosting Florida on Saturday. In order to "pass Syracuse, Kentucky would need a crowd of more than 29,000 for its last game." Rupp Arena's capacity "is listed at 23,000, though the school regularly announces crowds in excess of 24,000." However, it "would be impossible for Kentucky to shoehorn 29,000 into Rupp for the Florida game" (SYRACUSE.com, 3/3). In Louisville, Jonathan Lintner notes UK, which "was No. 1 in attendance" from '05-13, is expected to finished second and, "as it has since opening the KFC Yum! Center, Louisville third." The NCAA's "official numbers are released each summer." Assuming a "sold-out crowd Saturday for UK, the Cats will average over capacity," while Syracuse filled 66% of the Carrier Dome (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 3/4).
TIGER RAG: In St. Louis, Dave Matter reports Missouri "will set a season attendance low" at Mizzou Arena, which opened in '04. The "average crowd size" in '14-15 has been 7,070, which is 46.9% of capacity. That "ranks No. 180 among Division I teams" and "last in the SEC -- by far." MU is "just one of seven programs" from the Power 5 "with capacity figures below" 50%. MU's "previous season low average attendance at Mizzou Arena came in 2007-08, when the average crowd size was 8,060" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/4).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Michael Smith reports the average D-I men's basketball crowd "has declined for seven straight seasons." Of the "top 70 schools in average attendance, 38 are suffering attendance losses this season, while 29 have seen attendance gains. Three are flat." But a "closer look at the top 50 in attendance shows that 25 of the schools are seeing an attendance increase." The 28 schools that "work with IMG Learfield" have experienced a 2.5% "increase in attendance with a handful of conference games to go that could drive the increase as high" as 5%. Attendance gains "typically can be traced to three factors -- the building, the coach and the schedule." Nebraska's attendance, which ranked 11th as of Feb. 24, "revolves around two of those." NU plays in a "new building that offers amenities that couldn’t be found in the Devaney Sports Center." Coach Tim Miles, who was hired in '12, is "active on Twitter, going to great lengths to establish a relationship with the fan base." His 81,500 followers are "fifth-most among major college coaches and that rapport has helped Nebraska withstand a down season while increasing its average attendance year over year" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/2 issue).
