BB / FB season(Student sections)

[Dhambuc]

Bottom line, if we want other conferences(esp with all the conference re-alignement) and bowl committees to take us seriously we need to do our part and pack the house. In two years there is no more BCS bowl tie, no quarantee to go to an Orange Bowl or the likes for winning the BE.

This year is huge for USF Athletics moving forward, so lets do our part and be a part of something great.

TV, conferences and Bowl committees look at attendance and fan support, which translate into ticket sales(money) and interest. If we do our part as fans, the team does thier part on the field and the court, than we will force them to take a look at us.

This is the year of the Bull so Lets show the rest of the country what USF is about!

No excuses this year in either FB or BB, The home schedules are two of the best we have ever had.

FB we have FSU, Thursday night Rutgers game, along with Pitt and a few other good conference games.

BB we have a great home schedule with power conference teams that should draw well along with UCF, Georgia.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Dhambuc

[&rew Bull]

I know for football it's 12,001 just to say we have the biggest student section in the BE.

Betcha that changes soon...

*12,501

One more than WVU, who is gone now.

Personally, I do think football is too big.

They need to remove the 300 level seats and only allow the 200 level seats to open up once the 100 level is full. Too many students go straight to the top of the 200s (although I can't blame them for the day games when there is shade up there).

As for basketball, I get the feeling it will be too big as well. We'll fill it for some games (like the opener versus UCF) but it will not be consistent.

They need to reduce the number of seats to try and create a student demand.

The students aren't always the reason for the filling of the 200 level. While I never had it happen to me, I've had many friends not make it into the 100 sections because security closed it off. The 100 level gets closed at about 80% capacity.

[Gismo]

And I know a few folks that prefer the view from the 200 level over the 100 level. They would take 200 level front row over any seat in the 100 level.

[Skingraft]

I went from 200 front row to 100 back row

I like not having someone behind me

[dh5158]

Back to the original question of whether the Sun Dome student section is too large. I think it probably is. I would love to see the student section as large and invigorated at every game like it was at the West Virginia game. That atmosphere was amazing and the student section was amazing, with the big heads. I am so excited for the basketball season to begin.

[outrunner]

When I lived on campus about 6-7 years ago you wouldn't know there was a basketball game going on unless you searched it out/looked online. There's what, 6,000 kids living on campus now? Tons more live in the surrounding student housing...Start pounding out the flyers, hang them all over the dorms, windows, Marshall Center, go to apartment complexes and drop magnets off with the schedule, ect ect ect ect. Don't want to pay to have someone go do that? Get ten students from SBC/Beef Studs to do a 'student blitz' and as a thank you give them club access for a game. SOMETHING to get the buzz going on campus. Otherwise you'll have the same 50 students showing up each game.

They have their own "club" now ... first one in the country, I think.

Hopefully, the success of last year, along with the new digs will re-ignite the student participation because we won't get to where we want to be as a program without that atmosphere.

In regards to the student club, I've suggested to them [Athletics] that the club and the 100 level should be reserved for all students who request their basketball tickets online ahead of time (like how it's done for football). Anyone who shows up and gets a ticket at the gate goes to the 200 level. If there are seats available in the 100 level when the game starts, then some students can be moved down to the 100 level to fill it in.

Although I don't have a dog in this fight, I don't agree with that. Should be a physical first come, first served, IMO. If you have to get a ticket to get in then let you print out your tickets so the ones who do it online don't have to wait in line to get a ticket and can start a line at the gate to get in ...

My reasoning is that it rewards students who planned ahead to go to the game instead of just decided last minute.

[Triple B]

When I lived on campus about 6-7 years ago you wouldn't know there was a basketball game going on unless you searched it out/looked online. There's what, 6,000 kids living on campus now? Tons more live in the surrounding student housing...Start pounding out the flyers, hang them all over the dorms, windows, Marshall Center, go to apartment complexes and drop magnets off with the schedule, ect ect ect ect. Don't want to pay to have someone go do that? Get ten students from SBC/Beef Studs to do a 'student blitz' and as a thank you give them club access for a game. SOMETHING to get the buzz going on campus. Otherwise you'll have the same 50 students showing up each game.

They have their own "club" now ... first one in the country, I think.

Hopefully, the success of last year, along with the new digs will re-ignite the student participation because we won't get to where we want to be as a program without that atmosphere.

In regards to the student club, I've suggested to them [Athletics] that the club and the 100 level should be reserved for all students who request their basketball tickets online ahead of time (like how it's done for football). Anyone who shows up and gets a ticket at the gate goes to the 200 level. If there are seats available in the 100 level when the game starts, then some students can be moved down to the 100 level to fill it in.

Although I don't have a dog in this fight, I don't agree with that. Should be a physical first come, first served, IMO. If you have to get a ticket to get in then let you print out your tickets so the ones who do it online don't have to wait in line to get a ticket and can start a line at the gate to get in ...

My reasoning is that it rewards students who planned ahead to go to the game instead of just decided last minute.

I realize that, but my way would reward them also by being able to get straight in line to get in rather than having to pick up ticket ... I just don't think you need to make it any more complicated by having different parts of the student section they have to go to when they enter .... Bottom line, though, is I hope getting into the lower section becomes an issue.

[Sipher]

I just hope I don't get the seats directly behind the hoop. I was at the Sun Dome the other day, my friend was giving me a tour of the renovations. And wow, there are quite a few seats that will have some terrible views. I know this is off topic a bit.

On topic: I think flyers and such would help a lot as already stated. A simple email to students is not enough, many people just ignore it. Also, whenever I try to force out some of my friends to go to the basketball game, it is like pulling teeth. Not many basketball fans down here.. But like others have mentioned, I feel like there will be more student attendance due to last year's success, at least for the first couple of games. And as long as we win, there should be more and more students attending.

Marketing needs to do a bit better of a job letting the students know when promotions are going on. For example, a couple of years ago, when they were giving away pizza for the first I think it was 50 or 100 students, nobody knew about it. There are other examples, but that's one that sticks out in my mind right now.