(03-16-2016 10:40 AM)axeme Wrote: It's probably unreasonable to expect that Akron fans are going to show up in any numbers in Columbus. Akron and KSU attendance figures over the last decade or so are usually pretty close, but in a year when KSU was down and Akron was up, KSU surprisingly (to me, anyway) had better attendance. And when you look at the attendance at the Q where Akron was the 1-seed, there were under 7000 for both the semi-finals and the finals. Those are really weak attendance numbers for the MAC tourney and one would expect with Akron playing both nights that they might be higher, but their fanbase seems to have dwindled over the last couple of years.
Did Kent end up averaging more than Akron? Last time I recall attendance numbers being posted here, Kent was slightly up ... like 3,500 to 3,300. But that didn't include Akron's back-ended home schedule (BG, Ohio and Kent) where they averaged about 4,600 for those games.
Plus, let's keep in mind Akron played just one Saturday home game (Miami) during MAC play, which had to be a league low. And since three of the Saturday home games were moved to Friday for TV, it added in that factor, along with the issues you have Friday night vs. Saturday to begin with.
So you can hardly say the Akron fan base is "dwindling" once you factor that in. And let's not overstate Kent having a "down" year. Yeah, you had a big midseason injury, but you won't find sympathy from Akron fans there. It's been what five years (true some due to their own transgressions) since Akron has had its starting 5 available at the end of the year. Still, Kent was the No. 4 seed and was in the hunt for the regular season title heading into the final week.
Plus, saying it was an "up" year for Akron is also slightly overstating things. Yeah, it was up since they won the regular season title, but it's not like being in the regular season title mix is a new phenomenon for the Zips. More like a typical year for the Zips (though I'll admit to having a lot higher expectations from this team than the typical Akron fan).
As for Cleveland, I know this will be an impossible number to find, but how did Akron-EMU do for noon Thursday games at the Q? I'm guessing it was around 2,000 (nearly all Akron fans). I can't imagine many noon Thursday games (unless Kent also played in one) doing better. But that's the proximity advantage, so nothing to really brag about, but nothing to be ashamed of.
The Friday game was against BG, who brought virtually nobody. No surprise it was below 7,000, especially since its a team Akron has beaten like a rented mule under Dambrot. Still, it was still a pretty typical crowd for an Akron semifinal game (3-4,000 range) considering the opponent.
The final crowd was down, but still Akron probably had 4,000 plus. The best you can really expect is 5,000 for any of the Cleveland Big 3 of Akron, Kent and Ohio. So Akron slightly undershot that, but that 5,000 figure has usually included a game (or two) against another of the Big 3, and since neither Ohio or Kent were the opponents, not surprising the numbers were down. It's just the reality of the MAC tourney, and it's not like any other venue offers a better alternative. Attendance wise, the MAC really needs H2H matchups between Akron/Kent/Ohio to bring in big (9-10,000) numbers. Since those, for much of the past 15 years, have been the three best programs (sprinkle in Miami under Coles), it's also no surprise that there have been a lot of H2H matchups between them, boosting attendance.
With the depth of the league getting better, meaning less Akron/Ohio/Kent H2H matchups in Cleveland, no real shock attendance is moving back. Akron is just taking the brunt of the criticism because it is the only program that has been to the semifinals every year for the past 11 years (and 8 trips in the last 10 to the finals), so it is the only real constant when it comes to gauging attendance in Cleveland.