CSNbbs

North Texas 29,519
Souther Miss 29,176
UAB 27,124
Rice 26,390
UTEP 17,271
FIU 17,082
Charlotte 9,240

Southern Miss played Jackson State, who I assume would travel pretty well and North Texas played SMU which I would say is a fairly strong household name with regional ties, regardless of how bad of a team they actually are. I feel good about this.

I'm too lazy to look it up but they probably played on Saturday too.

Yes all the other games were on Saturdays. And as GoBlazers468 alluded to, all 3 of the others that finished around UAB in attendance were playing in-state teams that likely brought a strong visiting crowd.

(09-04-2018 11:52 AM)THE_LEGEND Wrote: [ -> ]I'm too lazy to look it up but they probably played on Saturday too.

As a college football fan I follow a lot of teams, so read and comment on this board periodically. While many people on here have pointed out the negatives of the opener being on a Thursday, no one has pointed out the positives. Playing on Thursday gave Bill Clark 10 days to correct issues identified during the first game in preparation of making a road trip. It also gave people that were planning on going out of town for the holiday weekend the chance to attend the game. It also gave any local casual fans that wanted to watch the Auburn and Alabama openers the opportunity to attend. I'm not saying that the attendance would not have been larger if played on a Saturday, but there were some benefits. Tapping into the local casual UAB fan will help build attendance, especially in addition to the new stadium. Birmingham's college football television ratings distance the second biggest market by far. Birmingham even had the top ratings for the game on Monday night. Bill Clark and the AD realize this and want to take advantage of the thirst for college football in the area. A non televised local college football game ahead of the weekend openers seems like a reasonable way to support that.

(09-04-2018 12:32 PM)Ramblin Wreck Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-04-2018 11:52 AM)THE_LEGEND Wrote: [ -> ]I'm too lazy to look it up but they probably played on Saturday too.

As a college football fan I follow a lot of teams, so read and comment on this board periodically. While many people on here have pointed out the negatives of the opener being on a Thursday, no one has pointed out the positives. Playing on Thursday gave Bill Clark 10 days to correct issues identified during the first game in preparation of making a road trip. It also gave people that were planning on going out of town for the holiday weekend the chance to attend the game. It also gave any local casual fans that wanted to watch the Auburn and Alabama openers the opportunity to attend. I'm not saying that the attendance would not have been larger if played on a Saturday, but there were some benefits. Tapping into the local casual UAB fan will help build attendance, especially in addition to the new stadium. Birmingham's college football television ratings distance the second biggest market by far. Birmingham even had the top ratings for the game on Monday night. Bill Clark and the AD realize this and want to take advantage of the thirst for college football in the area. A non televised local college football game ahead of the weekend openers seems like a reasonable way to support that.

+1,000,000
I was one of the optimistic ones and still thought 18,000-20,000 was best case scenario. I was ecstatic with how the opener turned out.

Great crowd. A Thursday night game vs a bad team and to still get this number is amazing!

I have never been as impressed with the student section. They took up 2 whole sections. Way to go to whomever spearheaded student engagement!!

(09-04-2018 01:57 PM)GreenHornet33 Wrote: [ -> ]Great crowd. A Thursday night game vs a bad team and to still get this number is amazing!

Having it on Thursday wasn't the best in the world, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Having a crappy team on the other side of the field was worse.

(09-04-2018 02:06 PM)screaminblazer Wrote: [ -> ]I have never been as impressed with the student section. They took up 2 whole sections. Way to go to whomever spearheaded student engagement!!

(09-04-2018 01:57 PM)GreenHornet33 Wrote: [ -> ]Great crowd. A Thursday night game vs a bad team and to still get this number is amazing!

I ran into a ticket office guy at the grocery store and also pointed this out. He said that it was due to them emphasizing Gang Green and involvement in general, but it has been a huge focus for them this season. Clearly the work paid off.

(09-04-2018 04:34 PM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-04-2018 02:06 PM)screaminblazer Wrote: [ -> ]I have never been as impressed with the student section. They took up 2 whole sections. Way to go to whomever spearheaded student engagement!!

(09-04-2018 01:57 PM)GreenHornet33 Wrote: [ -> ]Great crowd. A Thursday night game vs a bad team and to still get this number is amazing!

I ran into a ticket office guy at the grocery store and also pointed this out. He said that it was due to them emphasizing Gang Green and involvement in general, but it has been a huge focus for them this season. Clearly the work paid off.

They seemed to have increased the presence of athletics into new student orientation so that's helping with freshman interest.

As has been enumerated above, there were pros as well as cons to playing SSU and playing them on a Thursday night. Thank Meteora the weather conditions were as close to perfect as could be asked for. Winning handily added a positive finish to the night. Now the Blazers need to follow it up with more excellent games in our W column. Consistent winning against our peers is what will make attendance a concern of our past. Offering a quality product in a convenient family friendly environment will draw more fans from the metro area regardless of our opponent - we will just draw better when playing better known teams.

Next year playing on Thursday night against ASU should get us at least 30k hopefully!

(09-04-2018 06:34 PM)jcduncan13 Wrote: [ -> ]Next year playing on Thursday night against ASU should get us at least 30k hopefully!

Absolutely

Saw where Troy had 29k for Boise St and USA had 13.5k for LA Tech, both on Saturday.

What exactly is Mark's goal in football scheduling?

(09-05-2018 06:38 PM)the_blazerman Wrote: [ -> ]What exactly is Mark's goal in football scheduling?

Perhaps to keep FBHC Clark happy? No one has mentioned hearing him complain about that.

(09-05-2018 03:45 PM)UABslant Wrote: [ -> ]Saw where Troy had 29k for Boise St and USA had 13.5k for LA Tech, both on Saturday.

Not sure how many Troy's stadium now holds, but there were a ton of empty seats in the upper deck of the stadium. Blew my mind............

(09-06-2018 02:33 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-05-2018 06:38 PM)the_blazerman Wrote: [ -> ]What exactly is Mark's goal in football scheduling?

Perhaps to keep FBHC Clark happy? No one has mentioned hearing him complain about that.

Let's just say HCBC is the reason we are playing A&M next season. That's about all I will say.

(09-06-2018 08:49 AM)Mungumry Blazer Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-05-2018 03:45 PM)UABslant Wrote: [ -> ]Saw where Troy had 29k for Boise St and USA had 13.5k for LA Tech, both on Saturday.

Not sure how many Troy's stadium now holds, but there were a ton of empty seats in the upper deck of the stadium. Blew my mind............

It's up to 30,500 with the expansion I think. It may be slightly less that that but they have still never filled it. Our 27K actually looked like more than their 29K to be honest. Boise is pretty dang good. That was a great H&H for them and hats off to them for making that game happen. Kudos to their AD. Still a great crowd for them and they can announce tickets sold like everyone else. I shake my head at the P5 schools that announce sell outs and have 5-10K empty seats an then we catch hell for announcing through the gate numbers.

Good on Troy.