Late night, early morning thoughts...

Northern never quite seemed to grasp the meaning or value of "students become alumni." I graduated in '75, and the general view of students then was "headcount." Colleges and departments competed that way ("I have more than you, so I should get more money and stuff"). And, yes, it was a"suitcase school" even back then. But football and men's basketball, and later wbb, had good attendance.

Today there are other factors: weekday night (football) games, technology (live tv, on-line streaming, cellphones, pads, laptops, cable & satellite tv), costs making part-time jobs a must-have, state finances & budget cuts, on-line college courses, etc etc etc. Little or nothing can be done locally to change this.

So ... you work with what you have. Here's a suggestion for STF that could cost little or nothing, just some promotion with students:

Based on charts I was able to find, current reserved seating for students at the Convocation Center consists of sections off one end of the court, including for the pep band. The rest of the lower bowl is ticket buyers, donors, etc. The upper bowl is almost all general admission, and almost always empty.

So why not give students, including the pep band, one of the bigger seating sections in the lower bowl off each end of the court. That puts students under each basket. Some of the sections they have off one end can then go over to ticket buyers, donors, etc. Then give students all five sections across the upper bowl, south side, facing the full court, across from the Nelson Club. These are general admission seats.

Think of the promotions?! More and better seats for students! Facing the whole court! Right in front of the main entry close to parking!
And the cost? Other than a little marketing, almost zilch that I can see.

Another idea that will get lost. Oh, well. Maybe best that it's just a thought.