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Everyone was freaking out about ice, which never really happened.

Also, our town sucks for a fan base.[/quote]

Good honest answer. Wichita was freaking out about the ice, but it seems no matter the weather Koch Arena will be filled.[/quote]

Helps when you have been really good for many years consecutively

We haven't been to the NCAA's since 98. Even then, we didn't sell out....State Farm is very transient and thus no loyalty to the local division 1 college basketball program.

Also, great post RedbirdGrad.[/quote]

Since Marshall has been here. Even the year we were 11-20 we averaged over 10,000 fans. Doesn't really support your "helps when you have been really good for many years consecutively" argument.
Year Record Average Home attendance
07-08 11-20 10,478
08-09 17-17 10,095
09-10 25-10 10,333
10-11 29-8 10,428
11-12 27-6 10,391
12-13 30-9 10,312
13-14 35-1 10,732
14-15 30-5 10,806
15-16 26-9 10,806
16-17 16-4 10,866

shocktheheart wrote:
Since Marshall has been here. Even the year we were 11-20 we averaged over 10,000 fans. Doesn't really support your "helps when you have been really good for many years consecutively" argument.
Year Record Average Home attendance
07-08 11-20 10,478
08-09 17-17 10,095
09-10 25-10 10,333
10-11 29-8 10,428
11-12 27-6 10,391
12-13 30-9 10,312
13-14 35-1 10,732
14-15 30-5 10,806
15-16 26-9 10,806
16-17 16-4 10,866

Oh nice. Thanks for clarification. Good for you guys.

Are most people in the Wichita area alumni, or have grown up there most of their lives? If so then it definitely makes sense why it should the hottest ticket in town since they've been been invested since they were young. Not a lot of pro sports in Kansas so it seems like Wichita and KU basketball are really what everyone pays attention to. Whereas Illinois has many D1 schools and pro sport teams that people gravitate to. It is pathetic that we can't have a better home attendance consistently but if your not invested in isu young from growing up there or an alumni then I doubt you really care to go to the game. For example I live like 20-25 minutes from Northern Illinois university and I could care less to go to a bball or football game since i never grew up right in town or am an alumni. Sorry for all the rambling not even sure if all that makes sense lol

Bottom line- I wish we had wsu attendance numbers as the kids on our team deserve better than just 4,000 seats filled or so

I would say for Illinois State it's more about building a loyal fan base than getting the fans to show up at the game. That's just the reality of where we are as a basketball program. Unfortunately when it comes to numbers and enthusiasm we really are the little brother of the Illini in Central Illinois.

Rollbird5 wrote:Are most people in the Wichita area alumni, or have grown up there most of their lives? If so then it definitely makes sense why it should the hottest ticket in town since they've been been invested since they were young. Not a lot of pro sports in Kansas so it seems like Wichita and KU basketball are really what everyone pays attention to. Whereas Illinois has many D1 schools and pro sport teams that people gravitate to. It is pathetic that we can't have a better home attendance consistently but if your not invested in isu young from growing up there or an alumni then I doubt you really care to go to the game. For example I live like 20-25 minutes from Northern Illinois university and I could care less to go to a bball or football game since i never grew up right in town or am an alumni. Sorry for all the rambling not even sure if all that makes sense lol

Bottom line- I wish we had wsu attendance numbers as the kids on our team deserve better than just 4,000 seats filled or so

I grew up in Wichita, but didn't go to WSU. Wanted to leave the area so I went to a D2 school in western Kansas. I became a fan because my father taught out at WSU and I started to go to games at a young age as he had faculty season tickets. Most of the people that I know that are fans grew up in the area. The company I work for has season tickets down pretty low and that is the one sporting event they do invest in. Being at a WSU game or being able to take a client is a privilege as tickets are hard to come by and pretty expensive.

shocktheheart wrote:
I grew up in Wichita, but didn't go to WSU. Wanted to leave the area so I went to a D2 school in western Kansas. I became a fan because my father taught out at WSU and I started to go to games at a young age as he had faculty season tickets. Most of the people that I know that are fans grew up in the area. The company I work for has season tickets down pretty low and that is the one sporting event they do invest in. Being at a WSU game or being able to take a client is a privilege as tickets are hard to come by and pretty expensive.

This right here is the biggest issue with ISU. Even within the city limits of B/N, people would do this exact same thing but head over to the U of I in Champaign and watch the Illini. Corporate tickets are used there, etc. It's fighting an uphill battle at ISU. Unless you attended, ISU is a second thought even within the community.


***EDITED TO ADD*** As I clicked submit on here, the banner ad at the top of the page was for an Illini basketball game. Tells you everything you need to know about the Illini footprint in Central Illinois.

It helps that Wichita has 400k residents from which to draw 10,000 for a game. I have no idea how many of the 400k are WSU alumni but there are numerous KU/Kstate and other college grads/fans in the Wichita area. Some go to WSU games for entertainment, some wouldn't be caught dead in Koch arena.

ShoxNAwe wrote:Of the 49 conference road wins over the past 5 seasons, WSU has won 70% of them by more than 10 points.

Not to derail the thread (which is already completely off the tracks lol) but it's still not right, just to clarify.

I think Mike meant WSU has PLAYED 49 road games the last 5 plus seasons.

They haven't WON 49 conference road games, at least not in that time frame.

This season, loss at ISU, last season loss at ISU, season before that loss at UNI, before that 9-0, before that losses at CU, SIU, Evansville and UNI, and before that Drake. We went to the Final Four the year we lost 4 road games (and to UE and ISUb at home). Can you imagine losing 6 Valley games this year? They'd be calling for Marshall's house to be on wheels.

So in 5 plus seasons, counting back, 3, 8, 8, 9, 5, 8. That's 41 wins. I don't know if he meant 70% of the wins, or 70% of the games were wins with a 10 point or greater margin. Just being clear.

Rollbird5 wrote:Are most people in the Wichita area alumni, or have grown up there most of their lives? If so then it definitely makes sense why it should the hottest ticket in town since they've been been invested since they were young. Not a lot of pro sports in Kansas so it seems like Wichita and KU basketball are really what everyone pays attention to. Whereas Illinois has many D1 schools and pro sport teams that people gravitate to. It is pathetic that we can't have a better home attendance consistently but if your not invested in isu young from growing up there or an alumni then I doubt you really care to go to the game. For example I live like 20-25 minutes from Northern Illinois university and I could care less to go to a bball or football game since i never grew up right in town or am an alumni. Sorry for all the rambling not even sure if all that makes sense lol

Bottom line- I wish we had wsu attendance numbers as the kids on our team deserve better than just 4,000 seats filled or so

There are a pretty good number of WSU/KU/KSU alumni in the area. You are right that KU and WSU basketball are what people really pay attention to. The Royals and the Chiefs get some attention as well. A lot of basketball fans who move here end up becoming either KU or WSU fans, at least in the Wichita area. I personally haven't run into too many KSU fans in Wichita who weren't alumni, but there could be some. My boss is from New York and became a KU fan while his boss is a Nebraska alumni and a Shocker fan.

Hopefully Illinois State can sustain some success. That would improve the attendance numbers some.