Attendance: 7,612

[cycloneworld]

This is being talked about in a couple threads but thought it deserved its own. The attendence last night was 7,612. For a match up of two top 25 teams. What the hell has happened to GIA? That place rivaled Hilton for the longest time. Now its on Baylor's level.

And that can't be all the Thunder's fault.

From Randy Peterson's twitter 7 mins before tip:

 

[Buster28]

It's been bad all year and for the past few seasons as well. Iowa State and Blue KSU are the only ones who seem to be consistently selling out their buildings. K-State might be doing better than most, also, but I don't know that they're seeing a full house each time. But I'm really not getting how all these Big 12 schools host top 25 match-ups and still have thousands of empty seats.

 

[CyFan61]

Only Iowa State and the Kansas State-Lawrence campus truly care about basketball in the Big 12. West Virginia and K-State are in the next tier. Everybody else is well behind.

 

[awd4cy]

If anyone thought there would be more people than that at that game, then you haven't been paying attention. It really is pathetic, but its the way its been for years, even when they have had some decent teams.

 

[mj4cy]

Most OSU fans claim once Ford is gone the crowds will return....


I can understand Tech and TCU having bad crowds, but everyone else either has a good program or is a tourney team usually.

 

[DeereClone]

They probably had a few bad years between the glory days and the present that caused apathy to sink in with most of the fanbase. Now, even though they are improved, they just haven't got back into it. It's sad.

At the lowest of lows during the McD era things were not nearly that bad for us. We have great fans.

 

[Mr Janny]

This is being talked about in a couple threads but thought it deserved its own. The attendence last night was 7,612. For a match up of two top 25 teams. What the hell has happened to GIA? That place rivaled Hilton for the longest time. Now its on Baylor's level.

And that can't be all the Thunder's fault.

From Randy Peterson's twitter 7 mins before tip:

I like the picture on the jumbotron. What exactly are they showing us, there? An ISU fan, a Virginia fan?, and what looks like a librarian. Interesting crowd on hand.

 

[ISUFan22]

I like the picture on the jumbotron. What exactly are they showing us, there? An ISU fan, a Virginia fan?, and what looks like a librarian. Interesting crowd on hand.

Nice work.

An ISU fan, a Virginia fan and a librarian walk into a GIA morgue...

 

[CEO]

So what's the reason? It can't all be on Ford. I'd like to hear from an Okie State fan, get their perspective.

I've noticed it at other places too. (OU, WVU) Like CyFan said, apparently no fans in the Big 12 (aside from us and UMKC-Lawrence) care about basketball. That didn't used to be the case.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Most OSU fans claim once Ford is gone the crowds will return....


I can understand Tech and TCU having bad crowds, but everyone else either has a good program or is a tourney team usually.

To an extent, I buy that argument regarding Ford. If he hadn't exceeded expectations this year, I fully expected him to be fired after this season. I think it is still possible if they don't finish strong. I think there is a good chance that they finish out 3-1 for a 20-10 (10-8) record. If they go 2-2 and lose in the first round of the NCAA, I'm pretty confident that their fans will be all pitch forks and torches.

 

[BKLYNCyclone]

Ford has done much better without the distraction that was Marcus Smart. OSU fans should probably place their blame somewhere else. They are a top 25 team without floppy. Nash, Forte and Cobbins can go off at any time. They'll be a tough out in the big 12 tourney.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Most OSU fans claim once Ford is gone the crowds will return....


I can understand Tech and TCU having bad crowds, but everyone else either has a good program or is a tourney team usually.

Why do they hate Ford so much? I saw a mention in the reddit game thread about wanting him gone too.

He's brought in tons of talent and they are usually a solid team. Would they rather grab a mid-major coach and pull a McDermott?

I guess they are steamed about not winning more with NBA talent on the roster but would they rather have a guy who can't bring in NBA talent?

 

[ca4cy]

I like the picture on the jumbotron. What exactly are they showing us, there? An ISU fan, a Virginia fan?, and what looks like a librarian. Interesting crowd on hand.

I think the guy is doing armpit farts.

 

[ca4cy]

It's been bad all year and for the past few seasons as well. Iowa State and Blue KSU are the only ones who seem to be consistently selling out their buildings. K-State might be doing better than most, also, but I don't know that they're seeing a full house each time. But I'm really not getting how all these Big 12 schools host top 25 match-ups and still have thousands of empty seats.

I thought WVU had a pretty hardcore following but I couldn't believe how many empty seats they had for KU on Monday. Unreal for a top 25 team playing a top 10.

 

[somecyguy]

I don't think much of Ford, but you can't deny OSU has exceeded expectations this year. What's not to like? A top 25 team doing relatively well in conference. I think it's just an excuse to cover up their poor attendance.

 

[CycloneErik]

I thought WVU had a pretty hardcore following but I couldn't believe how many empty seats they had for KU on Monday. Unreal for a top 25 team playing a top 10.

They had a blizzard that hampered travel all over the state. That horse was beaten to death days ago.

 

[Clonefan94]

If you ask me, I think football probably has more to do with it than anything. The rising cost of attendance to football over the last 10 years has probably put most fans in a decision making mode. 10 years ago you could probably buy football and basketball season tickets for what it costs for just football now. Then add all the donation stipulations you have to do to get decent seats and I could see it being a tough sell. Hard to justify thousands of dollars to go see sports teams play.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I thought WVU had a pretty hardcore following but I couldn't believe how many empty seats they had for KU on Monday. Unreal for a top 25 team playing a top 10.

They did have some weather concerns which made it worse. Their showing for our game was decent but not spectacular.

 

[DSMCy]

I thought WVU had a pretty hardcore following but I couldn't believe how many empty seats they had for KU on Monday. Unreal for a top 25 team playing a top 10.

Was just about to post the exact same thing. During free throws when you could see into the upper deck, it looked like it was only about 1/3 full.
Granted those are the behind the basket seats, but still, it looked really empty.

 

[CEO]

Why do they hate Ford so much? I saw a mention in the reddit game thread about wanting him gone too.

He's brought in tons of talent and they are usually a solid team. Would they rather grab a mid-major coach and pull a McDermott?

I guess they are steamed about not winning more with NBA talent on the roster but would they rather have a guy who can't bring in NBA talent?

I'm in the same boat. Seems to me like he's done a pretty good job there. Yeah he underachieved last year but that guy is good at bringing in talent. Hard to believe too since those recruits are probably coming to games with a half full arena against Top 25 teams.