Positive vs Negative

[Schadenfreude]

I thoroughly enjoyed having a lady a few rows behind me yell at me to sit down. It was 3rd down and short, I'm standing in support of the defense. You can get off your rump and do the same, or you can enjoy the looks of my rump from your seat. Some people are such party poopers.

My theory is that this doesn't happen in most other stadiums because the slope of the seating is more pronounced in most other buildings.

[footballguy51]

I thoroughly enjoyed having a lady a few rows behind me yell at me to sit down. It was 3rd down and short, I'm standing in support of the defense. You can get off your rump and do the same, or you can enjoy the looks of my rump from your seat. Some people are such party poopers.

My theory is that this doesn't happen in most other stadiums because the slope of the seating is more pronounced in most other buildings.

Very true. To be honest, I was standing for two reasons. One, it was a moment in the game where standing was warranted. Two, the people in front of me were standing, so standing was the only way to see the action.

[Beaker]

I have to chime in and also give credit to the students for their part on Tuesday. They tend to get criticized on this board from time to time for things like poor attendance and leaving early and frankly, the criticism is often warranted. I was on the East side for this one and that student section was packed and rockin' and doing their best to fire up the team until the outcome was decided. It was great to see and hear.

This thread got me thinking about some of the bigger crowds we've had at home games in the last 10 years. Boise in 2009 and Minnesota 2008 were mentioned. I would add in Toledo 2005 and Indiana from last year, along with Tuesday as probably being the largest, loudest crowds that I can recall for games during that time span, at least for the ones that I attended. Maybe there are others in that category that I missed? Personally, I thought Minnesota was probably the most electric atmosphere. I remember being wedged in the log jam of people trying to get through the tunnel underneath the stands and only hearing the military flyover instead of getting to see it. There was a real buzz in the stadium that night.

When looking at those 5 games, what stands out is that we lost 4 of them. I'm not really sure what my point is, but it just sucks to have fallen short in those high profile games. More fans tend to come out for the big games and I don't know if the overall lack of success in the big home game situations has any effect on deterring those casual fans from attending more often when it's not a marquee matchup? Maybe not? I don't know that there's any easy fix to the long term attendance issues. I just know I'm still in the dumps about Tuesday. We had a great opportunity to end a losing streak and show off to a national audience and we had a fantastic atmosphere that we rarely get in which to do it in..........and then the game happened. I'm having a hard time digesting the way we played in that situation and the feeling of being let down. I don't really have a point and just venting my disappointment. I guess I need to get over it and let it go...........and pray it doesn't happen again when we get our next big game opportunity on 12/4.

[Tech2000]

I have already weighed in on this but a couple points come to mind on attendance. First more people more money to athletic dept. Maybe able to pay coaches better to keep, recruiting etc. But if I recall it is what keeps us in d1. Before urban came, I was at an early season game where a public announcement was made that we needed to avg a certain attendance for the remaining games or we would be dropped down. Later in the season it was announced we met the requirements. Don't know if that still holds true but if it is and we want to continue d1 and fbs this makes attendance important

[Schadenfreude]

But if I recall it is what keeps us in d1.

Attendance has been a requirement since the NCAA split Division I into what we now know as FCS and FBS in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There are minimum requirements to be in FBS but they aren't especially difficult. The attendance requirements will not keep Bowling Green out of FBS.

[Beaker]

Eastern Michigan manages to stay at this level, so I don't think we have anything to worry about.

[bgsufalcon24]

Eastern Michigan manages to stay at this level, so I don't think we have anything to worry about.

This. Very, very well said.

For the numbers:
Memphis - 21,178
Massachusetts - 17,118
Akron - 20,021
Ohio - 16,233
Toledo - 23,492
Average - 19,600

I still feel like we fudged the numbers on the Umass game a bit (unless there were a ton of paid no shows) and maybe Ohio too but I wasn't at that game so I can't confirm by my own eye test. However, the other three games featured big, proud crowds. To have 3 games of 20k+ in the same year is pretty darn good. If be willing to guess most years we usually only end up with 1 or 2, although we seem to do a better job of fudging these numbers than when I was an undergraduate. There were some games back then (2005 Toledo probably the best example) where BG was actually underselling the attendance numbers, which is what put us into the attendance mess of the mid 2000s to begin with.

Really I feel pretty good about our fan support after Toledo. It'll be interesting to see how our fan base performs at the MACC. I get the feeling we'd get a bigger number for a UT rematch than for an NIU rubber match.

[cameron]

We'll definitely have a bigger crowd for a UT rematch. I would go to that, but don't have a lot of interest in seeing BG vs NIU for the 3rd straight year...even though I think we'll beat them. I was there in 2013, but didn't go last year. After finishing the season the way the team did, I knew what was coming in Detroit.

[Falconfreak90]

Remember NIU tacking on another TD with less than a minute left in last year's game. They were up 44-17 and didn't take a knee. I have no problem beating them, either.

I want the freakin trophy. tsun can rag about the 6 straight and rightfully so. We still have the lead in the series and could have our 12th MAC title to their 10. Some day I want to pass Miami in most titles.

[kdog27]

Remember NIU tacking on another TD with less than a minute left in last year's game. They were up 44-17 and didn't take a knee. I have no problem beating them, either.

You were still watching

[zete]

The vast majority of students, alumni and residents of Wood County simply do not care about BG football. They never have and never will. So be it. To each their own. It doesn't impact my enjoyment of following this team..

This bothers a lot of us living here in the area. Don't understand it really, but I think OSU has lots to do with it.

[BG71]

Remember NIU tacking on another TD with less than a minute left in last year's game. They were up 44-17 and didn't take a knee. I have no problem beating them, either.

They scored with 48 seconds left. The 34-point win is the largest win in MAC Championship Game history. The 51 points also set a MAC Championship Game record bettering the previous high of 49 scored by Marshall in 2002 and Miami in 2003. Bury them given the chance.

[Falconfreak90]

Remember NIU tacking on another TD with less than a minute left in last year's game. They were up 44-17 and didn't take a knee. I have no problem beating them, either.

You were still watching

To the very bitter end...lol. I'm with BG71, do NOT forget that if we play the Huskies.