Big Ten Attendance: 47,492 at HSS. Really?

Before Saturday's Indiana game, Rutgers was averaging 51,260 at home games (and we all know that means tickets sold).  The less than stellar turnout on Saturday brought the average down to 50,632.  It's still a good average, but it leads one to look at the pattern we established.

There was no problem getting people pumped up for ttfp or Michigan.  Even Wisconsin was good, in pretty bad weather.  But the season was one of ups and downs, and the downs showed the fair-weathered nature (literally) of Rutgers fans.

If the opponent wasn't a perceived powerhouse, it didn't draw.  And the continuing, even if slight, downward trend at the end of the season was, to say the least, disappointing.  The final home game was, in fact, our smallest draw of the season. The student section for the Indiana game was perhaps 60% full.  Which means if they all showed up, you'd have probably had well over 50,000 in the house.  But it was a noon start....oh, wait that didn't apply.  It was raining cats and....no, not that.  Maybe they were studying?

@StevePoliti IDK of its a mid term or finial week but next to NO student section last night!

— Rob Dese (@RobDEVS) November 16, 2014

Politi wasn't going to dump on the students not being there.

@RobDEVS Good question. Students have been great that last few years, so I give it a pass.

— Steve Politi (@StevePoliti) November 16, 2014

He wasn't going to be critical, but I am.  So they were "great" all year.  They packed it in when their team could have needed them.  It's like the student who kills it for the first part of the semester then decides to cut class, turn in no work, and bag the final exam.  And they end up with a "C".  Just like the students get here.  They earned a "C".

Next Week at Michigan State

The Rutgers-MSU game is a noon kickoff.  A noon kickoff in East Lansing?  Doesn't that mean it's actually 11 a.m. out there?  That's sooooo early!  And with a high of 36 degrees.  OMG!  I hope there are fans there for the game!

And while I jest (a bit), MSU fans are a little concerned that, due to various circumstances, the crowd may not be as large or as vociferous as usual:

I'll be there, but I'm expecting a less-than-impressive crowd unfortunately

Pete’s right about the keen appreciation for our success that we have, but losing to OSU took a lot of the wind out of this year’s sails since we’re now functionally eliminated from the conference title picture, unless Indiana and Michigan somehow pull off back-to-back upsets in the Horseshoe. That, the chilly weather (projected high of 36), and the approaching holiday will probably mean a lot of people stay home. Playing for a possible Power 6 bowl bid just doesn’t grab people the way a trip to Indy and then the playoff would have.

The Artist Formerly Known As Green Akers.

Michigan State writer at Off Tackle Empire

by Andrew Kraszewski on Nov 17, 2014 | 10:46 AM

Attendance 'Round the Big Ten

With the exception of ttfp, most of the home teams this past week were smaller capacity stadiums. As a result, the average for the conference was under 60,000 for only the fourth time all season.  Last week, the average was under 50,000, but the largest stadium in use was Spartan Stadium and the others were, again, smaller venues.

Big Ten November 15

Schadenfreude, or our weekly look at Syracuse football attendance

The home season is over for the 'Cuse so we have to wallow in their past suffering.  This will be our last dumping on the team from the tundra.  And since we've now reviewed how to make charts, here ya go: