http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/8753820042742b01b8b6be967b4a3893/Awide_Mbkbattlists.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=8753820042742b01b8b6be967b4a3893

 

Average attendance at Auburn mens home games 6,286

 

Average all D 1 home games men 5,038

 

Best attendance D1 UK 24,111

Also the SEC was 2nd in average conference attendance with 11,770.

You could say that about EVERY conferenece. As a whole, the SEC is 2nd only to the ACC in Championships over the last 20 seasons.

 

I agree. 5 NCAA titles in a 16 year span since Arkansas won it in 1994. That's not too bad.

What is basis for their apathy? Football. Football is king in the SEC. Even at 2 of the schools not named Kentucky who have won the National Championships from the conference.

 

The Gators, the most recent SEC National Champ, had 90K at the Swamp for Appalachian State a couple of weeks ago and drew over 720,000 for the year, in a down season for the football program. Florida's O'Connell Center seats 12,000. With the exception of the 06-07 and 07-08 seasons, they average less than 10K a game. The best season ever for Florida home attendance was just over 260K. Before the 04-05 season, they hardly ever sold out SEC games, other than Kentucky and Georgia.

 

I understand all of that and am not disputing...but how is that different than most conferences? The SEC is still 2nd in championships over the last 20 years, 2nd in avg attendance. I guess I'm just having trouble understanding how the SEC is any more apathetic than the rest of the conferences.

I understand all of that and am not disputing...but how is that different than most conferences? The SEC is still 2nd in championships over the last 20 years, 2nd in avg attendance. I guess I'm just having trouble understanding how the SEC is any more apathetic than the rest of the conferences.

It is not. Football is king across the board. You will find more basketball schools along the eastern part of the country but it is not as if every school is selling out or anywhere near capacity nationwide with the exception of the SEC. Auburn is pretty bad though.

I understand all of that and am not disputing...but how is that different than most conferences? The SEC is still 2nd in championships over the last 20 years, 2nd in avg attendance. I guess I'm just having trouble understanding how the SEC is any more apathetic than the rest of the conferences.

 

The vast majority of attendance in the SEC belongs to one school, who averages almost 5 times the national average. Guess who? And that's why the SEC is 2nd in attendance. Think about it. Every UK game covers the attendance for 3 or 4 schools in almost any other conference short of the ACC. Kentucky, and maybe Vanderbilt, is passionate about basketball. The rest of the conference is just passing time before spring practice.

The vast majority of attendance in the SEC belongs to one school, who averages almost 5 times the national average. Guess who? And that's why the SEC is 2nd in attendance. Think about it. Every UK game covers the attendance for 3 or 4 schools in almost any other conference short of the ACC. Kentucky, and maybe Vanderbilt, is passionate about basketball. The rest of the conference is just passing time before spring practice.

 

:thumb: With UT at 19K, you've got two schools wildly skewing the conference average.

 

I would also figure that the average arena capacity in the SEC is much bigger than most other conferences; in that light they should be at least No. 2.

 

And as some have noted, yes, football takes first priority at most schools in the country. Including the Big Ten. However, their schools' fans still find it within themselves to be bothered to show up for roundball.

:thumb: With UT at 19K, you've got two schools wildly skewing the conference average.

 

I would also figure that the average arena capacity in the SEC is much bigger than most other conferences; in that light they should be at least No. 2.

 

And as some have noted, yes, football takes first priority at most schools in the country. Including the Big Ten. However, their schools' fans still find it within themselves to be bothered to show up for roundball.

 

That doesn't make sense. In one post you say the SEC fans don't care about basketball. And in another you say the average arena capacity in the SEC is much bigger than most other conferences. If SEC fans didn't care about basketball why would they need arena capacity that was bigger then other conferences. And even if the arenas were bigger it wouldn't matter if they weren't putting butts in the seats.

That doesn't make sense. In one post you say the SEC fans don't care about basketball. And in another you say the average arena capacity in the SEC is much bigger than most other conferences. If SEC fans didn't care about basketball why would they need arena capacity that was bigger then other conferences. And even if the arenas were bigger it wouldn't matter if they weren't putting butts in the seats.

 

Most of the arenas in the SEC are large because the SEC is made up of large state schools, and those arenas are used for other purposes in addition to sports (graduations and other ceremonies, as well as concerts and such). But again, it's a case where the biggest two -- UK and UT -- skew the numbers. It's no different than in the BEast, where UofL, Syracuse and MSG skew it for the rest of the conference, most of whom have arenas much smaller than SEC arenas (think Rutgers and Villanova, for example).

 

Most of the SEC schools' arena capacities are in the 10K-13K neighborhood. According to the report linked to earlier, you still have the Auburns and Georgias and LSUs of the world bringing in crowds well below capacity -- thousands less.

Most of the SEC schools' arena capacities are in the 10K-13K neighborhood. According to the report linked to earlier, you still have the Auburns and Georgias and LSUs of the world bringing in crowds well below capacity -- thousands less.

 

#1 Kentucky

#4 Tennessee

#21 Vandy 13,623

#25 Arkansas 13,182

#30 South Carolina 11,994

#36 Florida 10,947

#37 Alabama 10,945

 

 

#44 Xavier 10,123

 

Xavier is the last team to average 10,000+.

 

Your theory that UK & UT skew the averages has some merit, but the remaining SEC schools hold their own.

It'd be interesting to see how the conferences stack up without their top 2 schools. For example, take UK & UT out from the SEC's average and Louisville & Marquette out of the Big East's and see how the remaining teams stack up.

It'd be interesting to see how the conferences stack up without their top 2 schools. For example, take UK & UT out from the SEC's average and Louisville & Marquette out of the Big East's and see how the remaining teams stack up.

 

That would make the posts to 'credible'. The SEC is apathetic on the "because I said so" theory and nothing else it appears.

Most of the arenas in the SEC are large because the SEC is made up of large state schools, and those arenas are used for other purposes in addition to sports (graduations and other ceremonies, as well as concerts and such). But again, it's a case where the biggest two -- UK and UT -- skew the numbers. It's no different than in the BEast, where UofL, Syracuse and MSG skew it for the rest of the conference, most of whom have arenas much smaller than SEC arenas (think Rutgers and Villanova, for example).

 

You could say the same thing about most school. With the exception of the Big East, the BCS conferences are made up by a majority of large state schools. The average capacity of the basketball facilities in the SEC is 2nd only behind the Big 10. The Big East is hard to figure as some of their teams play home games a multiple venues with varying capacities. (St. Johns, Villanova)

 

Since the arguement is that UK and UT distort the numbers lets take them out, but to be fair I am also taking out UW and IU which lead the Big 10 in attendance. That puts the Big 10 at an average of 11,717 while the SEC is at 9,590.

 

So then the non baketball loving schools in the SEC average only a little over 2000 less than the Big 10. If that makes the SEC apathetic, than so be it. Personally I believe that you need to consider other factors than just the raw attendenance numbers. For example the average undergraduate enrollment at Big 10 schools is larger than at SEC schools, also many Big 10 schools are located in states which are more heavily populated that those in the SEC, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan. When you consider those factors I don't think that the SEC does all that bad when it comes to basketball.

 

If you want to call a conference apathetic than I would suggest you point towards the Pac 10. That conference has by far the largest undergraduate enrollment, while at the same time by far has the lowest average basketball attendance.

If you want to call a conference apathetic than I would suggest you point towards the Pac 10.

 

He doesn't. He just wants to take baseless shots at the SEC.

You could say the same thing about most school. With the exception of the Big East, the BCS conferences are made up by a majority of large state schools. The average capacity of the basketball facilities in the SEC is 2nd only behind the Big 10. The Big East is hard to figure as some of their teams play home games a multiple venues with varying capacities. (St. Johns, Villanova)

 

Since the arguement is that UK and UT distort the numbers lets take them out, but to be fair I am also taking out UW and IU which lead the Big 10 in attendance. That puts the Big 10 at an average of 11,717 while the SEC is at 9,590.

 

So then the non baketball loving schools in the SEC average only a little over 2000 less than the Big 10. If that makes the SEC apathetic, than so be it. Personally I believe that you need to consider other factors than just the raw attendenance numbers. For example the average undergraduate enrollment at Big 10 schools is larger than at SEC schools, also many Big 10 schools are located in states which are more heavily populated that those in the SEC, such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan. When you consider those factors I don't think that the SEC does all that bad when it comes to basketball.

 

If you want to call a conference apathetic than I would suggest you point towards the Pac 10. That conference has by far the largest undergraduate enrollment, while at the same time by far has the lowest average basketball attendance.

 

To the first bolded point: When you consider the gap in attendance averages in the top five conferences on the report linked to earlier in this thread, 2,000 is a huge difference. The Big Ten draws 821 more people per contest than the SEC. The SEC draws 556 more than the Big 12. The Big 12 draws 200 more than the BEast, and the BEast draws 301 more than the ACC. After that, it's a steep drop-off of more than 2,500 per contest to the Mountain West and Pac 10.

 

As far as the Pac 10 is concerned, it's a fair cop. They're pretty terrible about drawing fans across the board. Probably part of why it doesn't get a lot of respect from pollsters and the NCAA selection committee.

He doesn't. He just wants to take baseless shots at the SEC.

 

Get over your dislike of the messenger and digest the message itself. If anything, you Wildcat fans should be upset at the rest of your conference brethren for having to carry their water at the turnstiles and make the SEC seem like a legit hoops conference.

 

Unless you're going to try and make the baseless argument that folks in the south care about anything but football.