ncaa football and attendance issue

[smazza]

NCAA warns schools to fill seats or drop from I-A ranks

Updated 10/21/2006 3:49 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this  

 TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE

Bowling Green

Louisiana-Monroe

Ball State

Temple

New Mexico State

San Jose State

Utah State

Akron

Rice

Buffalo

Kent State

Eastern Michigan

By David Woods, The Indianapolis Star

A bed race, parade, tailgate party and Bo Diddley concert will be featured in Ball State University's homecoming celebration.

University leaders have one plea to students and alumni, though: Don't forget to go to the football game.

Ball State, which meets Western Michigan on Saturday, is among the schools keeping a close watch on the turnstile count as well as on the scoreboard.

To remain in Division I-A  college football's top level  the NCAA has mandated that a school must average 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for home games once in a rolling two-year period.

According to NCAA figures, Ball State was one of 12 schools that fell below that threshold in 2005. Six of the schools are in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State's average home attendance was 12,953.

More fans are showing up this year  though not enough to meet the threshold  and first-year athletic director Tom Collins said Ball State "will do what we have to do" to preserve I-A membership. He said the university is trying to re-engage alumni and reach out to students and the Muncie, Ind. community.

Attendance this year has been hurt by foul weather on game days. Ticket manager Rob Richards said he is hoping for a crowd of 18,000 Saturday, depending on how many students attend.

A $13.7 million renovation of Scheumann Stadium, which is to feature amenities such as club seating and suites, is scheduled for completion before next season. Collins said Ball State intends to introduce different ticket prices, depending on seat location.

"Winning helps in getting those people out there," Ball State coach Brady Hoke said. "And that's our job, to put something on the field that people want to come see."

The Cardinals are 2-5 this season, 2-2 in the MAC. They haven't had a winning season since 1996. They haven't averaged 15,000 fans since 2001.

Ball State has averaged 14,138 spectators for four home games this season, including 23,813 for the Sept. 9 visit by Indiana University, the first Big Ten team ever to play at Ball State.

An informal agreement between the Big Ten and the MAC, brought about by addition of a 12th regular-season game, is allowing more Big Ten teams to visit MAC opponents. In 2007, Iowa will play Northern Illinois at Chicago's Soldier Field, Indiana will play at Akron and Purdue at Toledo.

"I certainly think the 12th game has given us opportunities to get games and to have opportunities we would not have had in an 11-game season," Bob Gennarelli, deputy commissioner of the MAC, said.

Yet sharing the region with the Big Ten has disadvantages, too. With so many Big Ten games available, either on television or a short drive from MAC cities, the smaller league suffers.

Eastern Michigan had the smallest average home attendance, 5,219, in I-A last year. Eastern Michigan coach Jeff Genyk said his school tries to schedule games so as not to coincide with those of nearby Michigan. He said Eastern Michigan wants to attract families who can't afford a Michigan game.

Ironically, MAC schools' I-A status is imperiled at a time the league has risen to unprecedented prominence.

To achieve more TV exposure, there will be at least one MAC game on every day of the week except Monday this season. The league, which once was guaranteed a single bowl game, now has three bowl tie-ins. On a recent Sunday, five NFL starting quarterbacks were from the MAC.

Hoke said the 13-0 season in 1999 by Marshall, then a MAC member, elevated the conference's profile. Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak credited spending to improve facilities as one factor in strengthening the league.

Schools that don't meet the minimum this year will receive a letter of non-compliance. That starts a 10-year period during which they must meet the requirement or be banned from bowl games. The attendance minimum would have to be met the next year or a school would lose I-A football status.

[Herman_Momart]

how are the bearcats not on that list?  looked like one of my high school games

[Triple B]

how are the bearcats not on that list?  looked like one of my high school games

They've averaged around 20K the last two years ...

[Herman_Momart]

how are the bearcats not on that list?  looked like one of my high school games

They've averaged around 20K the last two years ...

then 76 fans that were there last night is a significant dropoff from last year

[Velcro]

because everyone knows there was a world series game on last night... and it was a sunday night game, and it was on ESPN...  there were plenty of reasons to not attend... one game isn't a trend.

[smazza]

bearcats probably make basketball season ticket holders buy football tix