TCU's Alex Robinson hopes the team's No. 20 AP ranking helps draw more fans getty images
The TCU men's basketball team last season reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years and is now carrying a "higher profile" than it normally does, according to Stefan Stevenson of the Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM. The school begins the season ranked No. 20 in the AP poll and "season tickets are sold out" at the 6,800-seat Schollmaier Arena, though non-conference, single-game tickets are "still available." TCU G Alex Robinson noted the team has "never been ranked this high before this early" so he hopes that will help "draw a good crowd from the get go." Robinson: "I know football is struggling a little bit so we’re here to give hope to our school." Stevenson notes coach Jamie Dixon’s "comedic turn in a couple of promotional videos produced by the TCU athletic department last season were a big hit," and he is "up for whatever it takes to spread the word on the program." Dixon, who is entering his third season at his alma mater, said, “I’ll do whatever they want me to do. I’m past being embarrassed at this point. ... We’re sold out but it’s about getting your brand out there and letting people know the kids and know us" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/6).
YOU HERD CORRECTLY: In West Virginia, Rick McCann noted Marshall "sold out most lower-level chairback season tickets" for men's basketball games. Those "5,000 or so fans, along with single-game ticket sales, should result in better attendance than last season" when Marshall "averaged 5,485 per game in Cam Henderson Center." The team "notched its first NCAA Tournament victory with last season's upset of Wichita State" before losing to West Virginia in the round of 32 (Huntington HERALD-DISPATCH, 11/5).
