RU/B1G Attendance: Should Rutgers be worrying?

It's always a little scary to me to know that a team drew 108,000-plus people and still didn't reach capacity.  Such was the "problem" at the Big House where game two of the Jim Harbaugh era saw the Maize and Blue go 2-0 at home this season.

Rutgers, of course, was on the road and played before more people on one night in Happy Valley than it has drawn at home in its first two dates in Piscataway.  The Knights are at home this week and it's Homecoming.  And a noon start.  That's a positive and a negative in terms of drawing well.  And the opponent is Kansas, a team that is 0-2 (both at home) and has given up 96 points while scoring 61 in those two outings. For their part, KU has averaged almost 33,000 per game at home.  And that's sort of a surprise to me considering how bad everyone says they are.  But if you consider that the Lawrence Metropolitan Statistical Area totals just 116,800 people, I guess they draw pretty well.

The old theater line of "How well will it play in Peoria?" can be tweaked and the new question is, "How will it play in Piscataway?"  And that's both Kansas and the homestanding Knights.  Homecoming....noon start...Kansas as opponent....a Rutgers team at 1-2 and coming off an ugly loss.  Weather forecast right now says Saturday will be in the mid-70s, low humidity, and 10% chance of rain.  That's all good, but will it translate into 50,000 in attendance?

Big Ten Attendance - Week 3

More games at home.  The bigger stadiums in use.  Indiana winning.  All trending upward in terms of Big Ten attendance.  This week's numbers only include ten home games, with Nebraska being the biggest stadium not in use.  And the Huskers traveled to Miami and drew 53,580.  As a point of reference, the Canes have only drawn about 3,000 more people (97,047 to 93,989) in two games than RU has.  Big time football in the Sunshine State.

The other guys....old and new friends

I don't know about anyone else, but I tend to watch - and compare - our efforts with those of fellow newest kid on the block Maryland.  In football, most are looking at recruiting.  I do, too, but this is an attendance post.  And Maryland Pride hasn't shown itself in people showing up at Byrd Stadium.  Through three dates, the Twerps have averaged just 37,092 at home. This week they host WVU; I figure that should up the average a good bit.  I'm sure they hope that, too.

Sometimes you just can't help yourself and you have to dump on others.  Such is the case with Syracuse.  Le Petit Orange aren't drawing all that well, despite being 3-0. Granted, the opposition hasn't been the big guns of the ACC (did I really say that? **snicker**) but as I always felt, your fans should come to see you, not just the opponent.  Next week, LSU travels north to play at the blimp hanger, and that has to be a good gate for the Cuse.  Doesn't it?  Pitt, Clemson, and BC round out the home schedule.  We shall see.