(01-24-2017 09:14 AM)bearcatlawjd2 Wrote:  Fan in interest in college basketball isn't what it was twenty years ago. People watch March Madness and the really big rivalry type games and that is about it unless you are a diehard fan.

Attendance at sporting events in general continues to fall as TV, smartphones, and tablets make watching and following the game easier and more convenient from home.

This year UC put together a really good schedule for the computer metrics, with Michigan dropping out the home schedule took a hit. I continue to hope that games against former rivals like Dayton, Marquette, and Louisville make there way back to the schedule but it takes both schools to agree to a series.

It doesn't help things when Temple, Memphis, and UConn are all down. Good chance none of those schools make the tournament this year and maybe one or two in that group qualifies for the NIT. In year one of the American UConn and Memphis were top 25 teams, that has to happen again for this league to be considered up their with other power conferences.

UC continues to draw well (10,000 fans) when they play a real team in the non-conference or a conference game. Attendance always spikes once the Cincinnati Bengals are out of the playoff race or eliminated from the playoffs.

Comparing things now to twenty years ago is not a winning argument. So much as changed in college sports and how sports are viewed. UC can do a lot more on and off the court to increase fan interest. The new arena is step one, step two is continue to win and stayed ranked, and it wouldn't hurt to beat Xavier and make a deep tournament run. I think the reaction to throwback logo also shows how much this fan base to wants a link back to 1990's and the winning that went along with it. Honestly I would keep the throwback logo and use it for basketball every season for a handful of big games. UC has to do a better job of playing up its winning past, 27 conference championship, 10 conference tournament championship 6 Final Fours, 8 elite eights, 2 national titles, over 400 weeks ranked in the AP poll, 44 NCAA tournament wins, 30 NCAA tournament appearances, 10 NIT bids, 30 All-Americans.

I agree. College basketball attendance always suffers when college football is still being played. UC football is better than when Hugs was here. It causes folks to make decisions on what to attend. But overall I think we've had some good crowds given the schedule.

Too much focus on the number for attendance. Go to other games in the region and you will be proud of what UC fans produce for our home games. I was at the OSU upset of Michigan St a couple weeks ago and the energy level is on par with our November games. When we play anyone remotely interesting, 5/3 is rocking more than anywhere around here. Rupp is going to have bigger attendance than us. Big deal. It's twice as loud at our games.

(01-26-2017 07:58 AM)uccheese Wrote:  Too much focus on the number for attendance. Go to other games in the region and you will be proud of what UC fans produce for our home games. I was at the OSU upset of Michigan St a couple weeks ago and the energy level is on par with our November games. When we play anyone remotely interesting, 5/3 is rocking more than anywhere around here. Rupp is going to have bigger attendance than us. Big deal. It's twice as loud at our games.

Great post. We can fairly criticize 5th/3rd for fan amenities and lines of sight in today's configuration but not for the decibel level when 13,176 are present. It rocks as well as anyplace in the country--better than the vast majority.

Can't wait for all those football recruits to experience it firsthand tonight.