Attendance finished outside the top 25 for 1st time in 38 years

#1      

StateFarmCenter

StateFarmCenter
StateFarmCenter
http://www.ncaa.org/championships/statistics/ncaa-mens-basketball-attendance

Disappointing to anyone else? Most of those 38 years were spent in the top 15 in attendance. Only the games played at SFC were counted and the top 25 were put together by average.

It's even way worse when you think that only games at SFC were counted. If we had a full slate of games, we would have finished much lower considering historically early November games vs scrubs are the least attended games. Also, we just built a 170 million dollar effectively new stadium. Eek.

Do we get back in the top 25 next year?
 
#5      

I Bomb

I Bomb
Stylin' and Profilin'
I Bomb
We were higher up in a lot of categories until the last 10 years or so... The disappointing thing to me is how you're seeing new waves of fans come through who think this is how it always was; just how it is to be "Illinois". :tsk:
 
#6      

IlliniFoLife

I
IlliniFoLife
Let's face it, it was a bad product last year. A lot of that was injury-related. I think an equal part of it was coaching-related. You can't blame people for not wanting to go to games considering how many times we were blown out. We just have to get back to winning and the fans will come.

I was in Waco, TX back in Feb. for work training and I had a chance to see #2 Kansas take on #19 Baylor. A fantastic matchup yet Waco's arena was only probably 75% full(there were a lot of empty seats in the upper bowels of the arena). I held season tix for 3 of my 4 years in school and I can guarantee we have a greater fanbase than anything I saw at that game in Waco. Those fans don't know what they had with a solid Baylor team. If we were #19 or if we were playing the #2 team in the country, our arena would've been virtually sold out.
 
#7      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
I Bomb said:
We were higher up in a lot of categories until the last 10 years or so... The disappointing thing to me is how you're seeing new waves of fans come through who think this is how it always was; just how it is to be "Illinois". :tsk:
Click to expand...

Easily the most depressing part. My coming of age sportswise was 2001. So, my formative college basketball seasons were '00-'01 (3rd grade) to '05-'06 (eighth grade). I've seen what Illini basketball can be, and it's important to me that everyone ALWAYS remembers that the sky's the limit here.
 
#8      

Deadpool

D
Revised X-Men Universe
Deadpool
Illinois wil show up for good basketball. I'm not worried about it.
 
#9      

BackDancing

B
BackDancing
IlliniFoLife said:
Let's face it, it was a bad product last year.
Click to expand...

I'd go a bit farther than that. We know injuries were a major issue, but from a fair weather fan's perspective, it was an awful continuation of an awful trend. I'd say it was a bad product 2 years ago when we missed the dance. It was downright dismal last year.

Here's our 4 seasons under Groce using KenPom, BIG record, and tournament results

2012-13 - 39th, 8-10, NCAA 1-1
2013-14 - 49th, 7-11, NIT 1-1
2014-15 - 69th, 9-9, NIT 0-1
2015-16 - 132nd, 5-13, (No invite)

This year will be an uptick for sure, but given that hard-core fans remember Illinois being a fixture in the top-25, it's going to take more than a small improvement to get some buzz back. On paper, I'd say we can do it. Once you establish a trend like that, however, fans are going to need to see you prove it. The thing that might generate buzz this year is that they actually had a small run in the BTT, and they have some nice pieces back to work with. PG still isn't a strength, but the rest of the team is solid.

I personally expect we're a lock to make the tournament, but I think we have a lot of work to do when it comes to the fan base. Gonna take a couple good seasons to pull it back up.
 
#10      

Deadpool

D
Revised X-Men Universe
Deadpool
BackDancing said:
I'd go a bit farther than that. We know injuries were a major issue, but from a fair weather fan's perspective, it was an awful continuation of an awful trend. I'd say it was a bad product 2 years ago when we missed the dance. It was downright dismal last year.

Here's our 4 seasons under Groce using KenPom, BIG record, and tournament results

2012-13 - 39th, 8-10, NCAA 1-1
2013-14 - 49th, 7-11, NIT 1-1
2014-15 - 69th, 9-9, NIT 0-1
2015-16 - 132nd, 5-13, (No invite)

This year will be an uptick for sure, but given that hard-core fans remember Illinois being a fixture in the top-25, it's going to take more than a small improvement to get some buzz back. On paper, I'd say we can do it. Once you establish a trend like that, however, fans are going to need to see you prove it. The thing that might generate buzz this year is that they actually had a small run in the BTT, and they have some nice pieces back to work with. PG still isn't a strength, but the rest of the team is solid.

I personally expect we're a lock to make the tournament, but I think we have a lot of work to do when it comes to the fan base. Gonna take a couple good seasons to pull it back up.
Click to expand...

The key to me with attendance isn't just winning. It's consistently winning. We can get there, but Groce has to continue to make strides in recruiting AND the product on the court has to improve. Those Illinois programs from the early 2000s were wildly successful and the fanbase responded. They could do so again.
 
#11      

bbison

B
bbison
I wouldn't count on it this year, tons of 200 level tix available. And they're selling the "seat-filler" passes:
Fighting Illini Mobile Pass

Not sure which seat in State Farm Center is best? Here is your chance to test a different seat each game!

For only $125, the Fighting Illini Mobile Pass includes a ticket to each of the 19 Men's Basketball home games. As an alternative to a traditional season ticket, your seat location will vary, and will be assigned approximately 48 hours before each game

That's $6.57/game, a screaming deal if there ever were one.
 
#12      

7yearillini

7
7yearillini
bbison said:
I wouldn't count on it this year, tons of 200 level tix available. And they're selling the "seat-filler" passes:
Fighting Illini Mobile Pass

Not sure which seat in State Farm Center is best? Here is your chance to test a different seat each game!

For only $125, the Fighting Illini Mobile Pass includes a ticket to each of the 19 Men's Basketball home games. As an alternative to a traditional season ticket, your seat location will vary, and will be assigned approximately 48 hours before each game

That's $6.57/game, a screaming deal if there ever were one.
Click to expand...

Wow. Is that only for students? And are they only individual? Like you can't buy 2 and be guaranteed that wherever they put you will be together?
 
#13      

bbison

B
bbison
7yearillini said:
Wow. Is that only for students? And are they only individual? Like you can't buy 2 and be guaranteed that wherever they put you will be together?
Click to expand...

No, appears to be for anyone. As for the "sit together" issue...that's a great question. There are single tickets showing on the season ticket availability map. Some of those may wind up here.
 
#14      

illynifan34

I
That's a winner!!
OH
illynifan34
bbison said:
No, appears to be for anyone. As for the "sit together" issue...that's a great question. There are single tickets showing on the season ticket availability map. Some of those may wind up here.
Click to expand...

If you buy multiple tickets they will sit together.