(02-18-2019 10:40 PM)MidWestMidMajor Wrote:  

(01-25-2019 12:24 AM)MidWestMidMajor Wrote:  

(01-24-2019 10:14 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  On paper Metro St Denver and UC Colorado Springs would be great adds but if they have little to no fan support now it's hard to gauge if they would as a DI.

Just going by UNOmaha's experience: in d2 they played in front of a few hundred- and UNO generally had good teams. Last year UNO averaged 1815. I looked at a couple games this season real quick: UNO had 2100 when they played Denver (that was during school break). They had 2100 this week against South Dakota.

If you'll permit me to go back a few days- I heard on the radio this afternoon that last Thursday (Feb. 14) UNO had over 4200 in their arena when they played South Dakota State. UNO won on a buzzer beater that moved them into (basically) a tie for 1st with SDSU. (SDSU has a 1/2 game lead but has played 1 more game than UNO so far.)

UNO had very respectable teams in d2. But playing Missouri Southern State University & Ft. Hays State just doesn't pack the stands.

The point being that attendance at d2 is not always a good predictor of future attendance in a d1 conference. (Of course nothing fills the stands better than a winning team.)

I think any real discussion concerning attendance is moot when the WAC already has four members who are hovering around 1000 in attendance this season. Chicago State - 401... Seattle U - 1,022... UT Rio Grande Valley - 1,033... UM Kansas City - 1,145.

Any D2 additions wouldn't really hurt the WAC any more than some of the current members. I think the focus should be on budget size, ability to compete, and the potential to grow a fan base; large market.