This is the first part of a series entitled : Ole Miss: How do we compare?. I thought it might be interesting to see how we stack up against the top programs in the country. I am going to start with attendance.
Ole Miss ranked 37 last year in average attendance. The average attendance for 2006 was 53,801. Thirty-seven percent is respectable considering our record last year and the previous two years. However, this ranking is based solely on attendance average. To truly see how we are doing, we should also consider our attendance average weighed against the state population.
So how do we compare with the top 5? Below is a list of the top 5 universities along with other BCS universities in the state. I've added all the BCS schools from each state and weighed their attendance with the state population. This is based on the NCAA Average Attendance leaders for 2006.
(1) Michigan:
Michigan 110,819
Mich. St 70,819
Total: 180,845
Population: 10,112,620
Percent: 1.8
(2) Pennsylvania:
Penn State: 107,567
Pitt: 43,305
Total: 150,872
Population: 12,429,616
Percent:1.2
(3) Tennessee
Tennessee: 105,789
Vanderbilt: 34,816
Total: 140,685
Population: 5,962,959
Percent: 2.4
(4) Ohio:
Ohio State 105,096
Population: 11,464,042
Percent 0.9
(5) Georgia:
Georgia: 92,746
Georgia Tech: 50,617
Total:143,363
Population: 9,072,576
Percent: 1.6
Now, below is Mississippi:
Mississippi:
Ole Miss 53,801
Miss St 41,527
Total: 95328
Population:2,910,540
Percent: 3.3
So you see, based on our records, state population and percentage, we as Ole Miss fans, as fans of a Mississippi school have nothing to hang our heads about. In fact we just about double each of the top 5 universities. What is the percentage for Ole Miss by itself? 1.8
I have an Ohio State friend who says that this is misleading because it is based on capacity and that it is impossible to build a bigger stadiums. It is true that Ohio State and teams like Ohio State have 100% capacity. This is a valid point so I wanted to bring it up. How big of a stadium would Ohio State need to have 3.3 percent of it's population? 378,313. Could they fill a stadium that big, maybe. Could they average that many fans with three straight years of losing records, doubtful.
Click here to see the NCAA list of Attendance Team Leaders for 2006
02 August 2007
Ole Miss: How do we compare?
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2 comments:
I'm surprised you didn't include texas, louisiana, florida, or california. They have multiple programs that are nationally known and it would be interesting to see those numbers especially for states with incredibly large populations. I would do the work for you, but you seem to have more ambition.
Thanks. I'll look into it. I wanted to compare with the Top 5 program averages.
Texas and California will be a bit more complex as they have multiple BCS schools.
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