USU
football team needs 15,000 fans at home games to keep
1A status
By Ryan
Avila
October 20, 2008 | Utah State football might drop
to DI-AA if attendance at home games does not reach
15,000.
Under the
NCAA rules , all DI-A schools must average 15,000
in home game attendance once in a rolling two-year period
or they will drop to DI-AA.
USU is among
several universities that could lose their DI-A
status. This is a problem because dropping to a smaller
division means having to play smaller schools farther
away and the university would lose money on smaller
games.
Not reaching the 15,000 quota might affect USU football
in other ways as well. Kent Stanley, the associate athletic
director of USU said, "With the attendance figure being
relatively new I don't know of anyone being penalized
besides becoming bowl ineligible which could happen
if you miss your numbers on consecutive years."
At topix.com
many students and patrons of the sport post ideas
of ways to increase the attendance at games. ASUSU Athletics
VP, Lance Brown has been thinking of ways to increase
attendance at USU football games.
"We put on fun and exciting tail gate parties to get
people out and to the games as well as giving away scholarships
at the game," said Brown.
Aside from having appealing tail gate parties to go
to, many students just don't want to go to the football
games. Junior Greg Boyles, majoring in journalism said,
"People don't want to watch a losing team play. Give
us a winning team then attendance will increase."
This season the average attendance has exceeded 15,000,
but with three more home games to come USU football
might be at risk of dropping to DI-AA.
NW
MS |
