STrib: Gophers didn't get attendance boost from Nebraska, should from Wisconsin

BleedGopher

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per Randy:

When one of college football’s blue bloods is having a bad season, it not only has an effect in the home market, it also can have a trickle-down impact when that team goes on the road.

That’s what happened Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium, when an announced crowd of 39,993 saw the Gophers wallop Nebraska 54-21. The crowd was the second-smallest in TCF Bank Stadium history – the Nov. 19, 2016, game against Northwestern drew 38,162 – and there appeared to be fewer in the seats. It was clear that not nearly as many Cornhuskers fans as usual made the trip north and that Nebraska wasn't the draw in the Twin Cities as it often is.

The Gophers (5-5) are averaging 43,873 in six home games in coach P.J. Fleck’s first year, a slight increase from last year’s average of 43,814. They should get a boost from the Nov. 25 home finale against unbeaten Wisconsin, which is in the hunt for a College Football Playoff berth. If attendance for the Wisconsin game hits 52,000 – it has averaged nearly 53,000 in the Badgers’ past two visits -- Minnesota’s average would creep above 45,000 for the season. That would be the second lowest in the stadium’s nine-year history, but it’s better than last year’s fall of 8,541 from a stadium-best 52,355 in 2015.

Interestingly, drops in attendance at TCF followed two coaching changes. The Gophers fell from an average of 49,513 in the final year of Tim Brewster and interim Jeff Horton to 47,714 in Jerry Kill’s first year. The 2015 season saw Kill retire because of health reasons and Tracy Claeys take over, and that big attendance number was helped by the presence of No. 2 TCU (which drew 54,147, the largest crowd in stadium history), Nebraska, Michigan and Wisconsin on the schedule. In Claeys’ first full year as coach in 2016, the home slate in Big Ten play had a decent draw in Iowa, but also had Rutgers, Purdue and Northwestern.

Saturday’s sub-40,000 number for the Gophers against a 4-5 Nebraska team showed just how much things have turned for the Huskers in coach Mike Riley’s third year in Lincoln. When Riley brought his Huskers to Minneapolis on Oct. 17, 2015, they were 2-4 but still helped boost the attendance to 54,062, the second most in TCF history. Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska has played at TCF four times, with the other two games drawing 49,995 in 2013 and 49,187 in 2011.

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...rom-nebraska-should-from-wisconsin/457289923/

Go Gophers!!
 

Has surprised that Nebraska has yet to play in front of a sellout crowd at TCF. As for this:

If attendance for the Wisconsin game hits 52,000 – it has averaged nearly 53,000 in the Badgers’ past two visits -

Unless there's gonna be 2,000 plus standing room only tickets sold that would be impossible. The temporary seats for the Vikings games have been removed. They brought the capacity to 52,525. It would be a long shot, but guess it could happen though, with the Badgers possibly looking at an undefeated season.

The record attendance at TCF by the way is 54,147. That was for the TCU game.
 

B.S.

Nebraska ain't no blueblood. No more than Iowa.

It isn't 1997, and it's never going to be again. That era, and the players they were allowed to use to achieve it, is over and done forever.
 

I REALLY don't want to be overrun with Badger fans.
 

I REALLY don't want to be overrun with Badger fans.

Then you may have to sell your tickets, and/or hope that Saturday morning the Gophers hammer NW while at the same time Michigan embarrasses the Badgers.

Like that last combination myself. ;)
 


Attendance bumps lag at least a few games (i'd say a year for a sustained boost) ... and one great game isn't going to make it happen IMO.
 

Temporary seating helped boost numbers in 2015 when the Vikings played there.
 





There will definitely be a massive presence of a more obnoxious shade of red throughout TCF Bank Stadium should they beat Michigan. I'm a huge Big Blue fan this weekend.
 

Michigan will beat Wisky this weekend and make Badger fans a lot less enthusiastic about heading west for the Gopher game.

If I was a Badger, I would rather go to Indy than MN for a meaningless game.
 





The ticket office is probably hoping for a Wisky victory this Saturday.
 

If I was a Badger, I would rather go to Indy than MN for a meaningless game.

Putting aside the fact that it's the longest running rivalry in the nation and therefore never "meaningless", Wisconsin could be in a must win situation to keep their playoff hopes alive. Pretty much the opposite of a meaningless game.

If this was a sarcastic attempt to trick stupid Badger fans in to not coming, then I hereby stand down and apologize.
 


On the other hand, that would make the win that much sweeter if we can trash talk them on the way out.

I recall doing that at a Dinkytown bar in 1993 - almost got into a rumble :)

There are too many stinking Badgers with access to our tickets. Nobody, particularly the big-buck corporate season ticketholders, should give/sell their tickets to Badgers. I hate seeing red in any of the season ticketholder seats. [Lecture over for now]
 


I would love to get that point spread

The spread will be nowhere near 30. Using Sagarin central mean numbers (which are generally within a point of opening Vegas spreads), if the game were played this week, the Gophers would be 19 point dogs on a neutral field, so the line will likely open around MN +17.
 




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