Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

In all reality, the ESPN deal continues to destroy our ticket base however the MAC menbers are stuck with it for another 4 years. SF games and OOC $$$ road games are necessary due to the basketball program's gushing red ink. Get the baketball program fixed and NIU gains a much needed revenue source enhancing the ability to bring in attractive home football opponents building the fan base.

Note for citing the info.

The attendance stats of the top 32 sames since 95 were from the old Red & Black Attack site with the more recent ones 2010 & 2011 added by me.

I cant find this on the new site so I cant put the link.

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

(03-20-2013 08:08 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

The attendance figures might not come right out and prove it, but they don't disprove it either. Our attendance figures were great overall for the Maryland game and a few years afterwards.

(03-20-2013 08:55 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:08 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

The attendance figures might not come right out and prove it, but they don't disprove it either. Our attendance figures were great overall for the Maryland game and a few years afterwards.

I have never felt the buzz and electricity in the air as I did at the Maryland game. The days leading up to the game were exciting. I could not sleep all night after the game. The next day, the Athletics dept. got congratulatory calls and e-mails from around the world. It was the most football excitement I have ever experienced in DeKalb. The bar has been raised for us, but why can't we do that again? Why can't we generate some excitment on campus? Even if we can schedule a big team and we lose, so what? It is certainly a heck of a lot better than seeing us play Eastern Illinois or Tennesee Tech. We need to take a step up, and hopefully the new AD will see that.

(03-20-2013 09:05 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:55 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:08 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

The attendance figures might not come right out and prove it, but they don't disprove it either. Our attendance figures were great overall for the Maryland game and a few years afterwards.

I have never felt the buzz and electricity in the air as I did at the Maryland game. The days leading up to the game were exciting. I could not sleep all night after the game. The next day, the Athletics dept. got congratulatory calls and e-mails from around the world. It was the most football excitement I have ever experienced in DeKalb. The bar has been raised for us, but why can't we do that again? Why can't we generate some excitment on campus? Even if we can schedule a big team and we lose, so what? It is certainly a heck of a lot better than seeing us play Eastern Illinois or Tennesee Tech. We need to take a step up, and hopefully the new AD will see that.

DF is absolutely right. The biggest factor is excitement around the game. That includes the whole game day experience. That has been allowed to wane in the last few years. The game has been treated as a TV show, with EVERYTHING being geared towards TV. We on this board have made SO MANY suggestions on improving the game day experience--- hell, just getting it back to where it was-- not re-inventing the wheel, and it was ignored. I can say that because I personally passed along many suggestions to Jeff and his response was along the lines of, "we're working on that" and yet, nothing.

I hope the new AD makes this a priority. I know we have MANY very good ideas to make the game day experience a "can't miss" event for students, recent grads, town residents, and yes, even us old alums. Then, we could go back, from an attendance standpoint, to where we were the year we played Maryland. Can we shoot for at least one sell out a year for now? Then two?

(03-20-2013 08:55 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:08 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

The attendance figures might not come right out and prove it, but they don't disprove it either. Our attendance figures were great overall for the Maryland game and a few years afterwards.

I'm not sure if those attendance figures prove anything. Some people are trying to use them to make points, but it's not very convincing.

You could make the point that we should schedule SIU, WIU, and ISU more often. I don't necessarily agree, but those teams show up a lot in top attended games.

Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

(03-20-2013 09:50 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:55 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 08:08 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-19-2013 02:26 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Listed in order importance. Great work by HJ getting those great attendance stats, which support what Ive been preaching for awhile.


1. Opponent, opponent, opponent - strong non-conf schedule can carry your attendance for some time after. The key is to get good opponents in once every 2 or 3 years, not once every 10.

2. ESPN deal/SF games - I list these together because they are inseparable and work together. A limited number of Saturday games due to ESPN deal has caused people to buy only the SF game when it is available instead of a season ticket. There is no reason to buy season tickets.

3. Winning/Losing

*4. Economy

*5. Increasing student apathy to athletics

* Not an NIU problem, but a global problem

The good news, the top 3 reasons , we control our destiny.

The attendance figures support almost none of this, except for maybe #4.

The attendance figures might not come right out and prove it, but they don't disprove it either. Our attendance figures were great overall for the Maryland game and a few years afterwards.

I'm not sure if those attendance figures prove anything. Some people are trying to use them to make points, but it's not very convincing.

You could make the point that we should schedule SIU, WIU, and ISU more often. I don't necessarily agree, but those teams show up a lot in top attended games.

Yea I noticed that. If we're going to keep playing FCS schools, and we care about attendance, it would help to play Illinois schools. Like you said, the numbers don't prove much by themselves. I think they're suggestive though. Hard to say since the economy has had an impact too I believe.

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

#1 Only schedule FCS teams for the home opener.

#2 Don't schedule out of state FCS teams.

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

(03-20-2013 09:17 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

The way to generate excitement is to have it in your own house, thats what really builds a fan base. Everyone at that Maryland and Iowa State game probably told their friends and family how awesome the experience was. Thats contagious, everyone wants to be apart of that once it happens. I think we do see a boost from the Orange Bowl, but the only problem is that boost is going to be superimposed on a sharply declining trend in attendance. When all that calculates out, I think we probably hold steady with attendance this year or perhaps a minor increase in avg attendance. If last year's success did not happen, I would have dread to see attendance numbers this year.

(03-20-2013 10:14 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 09:17 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

The way to generate excitement is to have it in your own house, thats what really builds a fan base. Everyone at that Maryland and Iowa State game probably told their friends and family how awesome the experience was. Thats contagious, everyone wants to be apart of that once it happens. I think we do see a boost from the Orange Bowl, but the only problem is that boost is going to be superimposed on a sharply declining trend in attendance. When all that calculates out, I think we probably hold steady with attendance this year or perhaps a minor increase in avg attendance. If last year's success did not happen, I would have dread to see attendance numbers this year.

At the Maryland game, four of my friends who attended a Huskie game for the first time got swept up in the excitement and have attended Huskie games since. It was the excitement of the Maryland match-up that drew them to Huskie Stadium for the first time.

(03-20-2013 09:17 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

If we defeat Iowa I don't think that a sellout (at 24k) is out of the question but only because it is the home opener.

(03-21-2013 07:14 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:14 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 09:17 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

The way to generate excitement is to have it in your own house, thats what really builds a fan base. Everyone at that Maryland and Iowa State game probably told their friends and family how awesome the experience was. Thats contagious, everyone wants to be apart of that once it happens. I think we do see a boost from the Orange Bowl, but the only problem is that boost is going to be superimposed on a sharply declining trend in attendance. When all that calculates out, I think we probably hold steady with attendance this year or perhaps a minor increase in avg attendance. If last year's success did not happen, I would have dread to see attendance numbers this year.

At the Maryland game, four of my friends who attended a Huskie game for the first time got swept up in the excitement and have attended Huskie games since. It was the excitement of the Maryland match-up that drew them to Huskie Stadium for the first time.

Are the four amigos transgender? Maybe that's the demographic we should pursue.

#1 Market blitz to DeKalb Co residence

#2 Market the VALUE of regular and Huskieland season tickets (with no mention of who we play)

#3 Beat Iowa

#4 Open East lot student section to a game day pay system. $20 for a student vehicle to park 5hr before kickoff then at 3hr to kickoff open that section to the general public for $40.

#5 Invent/build a weather altering device to have the temp stay between 50-80 degrees with no precipitation.

(03-21-2013 08:50 AM)HappyHuskie Wrote:  

(03-21-2013 07:14 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:14 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 09:17 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 04:02 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Strictly placing the opponeent for the individual game and correlating that opponent to the attendance is very misleading. The incredible SIU turnout for example was almost soley because of the excitement generated the previous year.

There's a lot of excitement now, should we expect 28k for EIU?

The way to generate excitement is to have it in your own house, thats what really builds a fan base. Everyone at that Maryland and Iowa State game probably told their friends and family how awesome the experience was. Thats contagious, everyone wants to be apart of that once it happens. I think we do see a boost from the Orange Bowl, but the only problem is that boost is going to be superimposed on a sharply declining trend in attendance. When all that calculates out, I think we probably hold steady with attendance this year or perhaps a minor increase in avg attendance. If last year's success did not happen, I would have dread to see attendance numbers this year.

At the Maryland game, four of my friends who attended a Huskie game for the first time got swept up in the excitement and have attended Huskie games since. It was the excitement of the Maryland match-up that drew them to Huskie Stadium for the first time.

Are the four amigos transgender? Maybe that's the demographic we should pursue.

I couldn't tell, and I was afraid to ask them. Their names are Pat, Terry, Sam, and Alex - so your guess is as good as mine.

(03-20-2013 10:22 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(03-20-2013 10:06 AM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  Let's see what people can do with this:

Highest attended non-MAC home games

2 Iowa State 28,218 9/27/2003 #20 in AP, Entered 3-0 after win @ #21 Alabama
3 Southern Illinois 28,071 9/11/2004 Home opener after 10-2 season
4 #15 Maryland 28,018 8/28/2003 Home opener after 8-4 season
9 #21 Kansas State 26,873 9/6/1997 Home opener, Novak's 2nd season
11 Tennessee Tech 26,123 9/17/2005 Home opener after 9-3 season
14 Illinois State 24,682 9/9/2000 Home opener after 5-6 season
15 Southern Illinois 24,182 9/8/2007 Home opener after 7-6 season
17 Western Illinois 23,598 9/21/2002 Entered 1-2 after 21-24 Wisconsin loss
19 Louisville 22,357 9/9/1995 Home opener
22 Western Illinois 21,427 9/12/2009 Home opener after 6-7 season
23 Western Illinois 21,370 9/7/1996 Home opener, Novak's 1st season
26 Indiana State 20,936 9/20/2008 Home opener after 2-10 season, Kill's 1st year
29 Eastern Illinois 20,184 9/19/1998 Home opener after 0-11 season

#1 Only schedule FCS teams for the home opener.

#2 Don't schedule out of state FCS teams.

agree.