2009 Men's Basketball Attendance

[Sooner04]

Soonersports has done us a tremendous favor this season by including "Estimated Attendance" at the bottom of each box score. "Estimated Attendance" is Ca$tiglione jargon for tickets sold or, as many have said, butts in seats. Let's look at how far we've truly come as a fan base this season.

All attendance numbers are based on the "butts in seats" figure.

11/14 - American: 8,135
11/17 - Mississippi Valley State: 7,038
11/18 - Davidson: 9,118
11/22 - Gardner-Webb: 6,571
12/4 - Southern California: 10,103 (6 PM game. Excellent attendance.)
12/10 - Maine: 8,167
12/13 - Utah: 9,234
1/3 - Coppin State: 8,283
1/5 - Maryland-Eastern Shore: 4,502

That concludes the non-conference slate. In nine games, we drew an average of 7,906 fans. Darn near 8,000 a game, which is eons ahead of the days when the Lloyd Noble Center might as well have been called Moe's Cavern. Take out our best game (Southern California) and our worst game (Maryland-Eastern Shore) and our median attendance is 8,078. Half our fan base was in Miami for that MES game, so it really smokes our averages. Take it out, and our average for non-conference is 8,331. That really is a huge improvement.

Now on to "butts in seats" for conference play. Prepare to be dazzled.

1/12 - Texas: 11,500 (no "BiS" given. I was there, and this is my estimation.)
1/21 - Nebraska: 9,553
1/24 - Baylor: 11,000 (no "BiS" given. I was there, and this is my estimation.)
2/4 - eATMe: 9,402
2/7 - Colorado: 10,414
2/14 - Texas Tech: 12,009

We've played six conference games, with our two marquee home games yet again. Even though the biggest crowds still remain, we've averaged 10,646 for conference play thus far. Take out our best (Tech) and our worst (eATMe) and the median is 10,617 in conference.

Our total average for 15 home dates so far is 9,002 a game. Take away that wretched Maryland-Eastern Shore game, and the total balloons to 9,323.

Friends, I know where we are and I know where we've come from. Don't let old attendance figures fool you; they were grossly inflated. What we're doing this year is wonderful. The team feeds off it, the coach appreciates it and I absolutely love it. Attendance for college basketall is down all over the country, but it is thriving in Norman, Oklahoma.

I absolutely cannot wait to see what's in store for the Chickenhawks and Aggatoids when they meekly jog down the tunnel of the Lloyd Noble Center in the coming weeks. It's truly the lion's den. It's been really good so far, but I've got a feeling these last two will be truly great. It's going to be a blast.

[bluedogok]

Wasn't there an ice issue with the MES game? I vaguely remember hearing something like that, plus school is out of session.

[Sooner04]

Wasn't there an ice issue with the MES game? I vaguely remember hearing something like that, plus school is out of session.
I drove up from Ardmore for the game, so I doubt there was any ice around.

Maybe in Fargo, but not in Norman.

[MI Sooner]

Thanks for the numbers. Here's a tip -- when you take out the high and low numbers from a data set, the median doesn't change.

[Sooner04]

Thanks for the numbers. Here's a tip -- when you take out the high and low numbers from a data set, the median doesn't change.
I was a journalism/history major. :)

What's the term called when you take out the high and the low?

[tommieharris91]

I was a journalism/history major. :)

What's the term called when you take out the high and the low?

Removing outliers.

[Sooner98]

Wasn't there an ice issue with the MES game? I vaguely remember hearing something like that, plus school is out of session.

That was the same night as the Texas/Ohio St. Fiesta Bowl game. Since most OU fans were virulently rooting for Texas to lose, I'm sure many stayed home that night to watch it. Plus, as 04 said, many were probably in Miami at that point.

[OKC-SLC]

What's the term called when you take out the high and the low?

If you're merely averaging the remaining numbers, it's still just an average.

[bluedogok]

I drove up from Ardmore for the game, so I doubt there was any ice around.

Maybe in Fargo, but not in Norman.
I thought they had one game at home that was affected by ice and thought that might have been it.

[okienole3]

Good numbers. I am proud of what the OU Basketball fanbase has done this year. Props to the students too.

I don't know who sits in the seats next to me, but they have been empty a good 80% of the time and I don't think I have seen the same person sit in them twice all year. It really hacks me off.

[badger]

I think the full student section really made a difference this past year.

I also think that they need to reposition the cameras so that the expensive alumni section isn't the one that ends up on television. Duke does this and so do many other schools. Don't show the player bench side - show the full side!

I know that might involve rotating the OU logo on the court or whatever, but it would be worth it to avoid seeing the crimsony, empty seats every game.

I think attendance is up not only because of the rededication of fans, but primarily winning and the way they're winning.

KS: Let's play defensive and more defense until the other team is bored to tears.
Capel: I'm going to let Blake dunk the ball and let others alley-oop him the ball en route to a dunk.

Hmmmmm... :D

[soonervegas]

I don't know who sits in the seats next to me, but they have been empty a good 80% of the time and I don't think I have seen the same person sit in them twice all year. It really hacks me off.

I know that's what some of the people I sit next to in N5 think as well. But in the early season games....I go sit other places. No reason to sit knee to knee with someone when there are plenty of open rows.

[BermudaSooner]

I was a journalism/history major. :)

What's the term called when you take out the high and the low?

mean=average
median=middle one after arranging them in order
mode=highest occurring number in a data set.

I was once asked in an interview, "use the terms mean, median and mode in a sentence."

I responded with "I mean I want a median slice of pie a la mode."

I didn't get the job.

[bluedogok]

I also think that they need to reposition the cameras so that the expensive alumni section isn't the one that ends up on television. Duke does this and so do many other schools. Don't show the player bench side - show the full side!
I have always thought that, it was stupid to setup the cameras opposite the money seats.

[Readyfor8]

Better view of the coaches from the side facing the scorers table. There is no doubt though that if OU is serious about tradition in basketball this arena needs an upgrade, and bad. God I wish the field house was still a basketball arena.

It could be and every game would be a sellout. What does it hold 8k?

[bluedogok]

They should originally put the cushy seats in LW instead of LE. That would have taken care of the lame donor in camera view situation.