Florida sold 7,000 seats to the Sugar Bowl

[Palatine]

Out of their 17,500 allotment.

So quit ragging on the Huskies.

 

[Dooley]

Yup...plus that stadium looks awfully empty to me. Our Fiesta Bowl sold out.

 

[whaler11]

Yup...plus that stadium looks awfully empty to me. Our Fiesta Bowl sold out.

The Fiesta Bowl sold out because to buy a ticket to the National Championship you had to buy a Fiesta Bowl ticket. At least understand that fact before posting in every thread.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The Fiesta Bowl sold out because to buy a ticket to the National Championship you had to buy a Fiesta Bowl ticket. At least understand that fact before posting in every thread.

You had to buy a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl to get the Championship tickets but you didn't have to show up to the game.

The stadium for our Fiesta Bowl game had more people in seats (whether they were bought a face value, scalped or donated) than either the Orange Bowl last night or the Sugar Bowl tonight. Fact.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Good Ville crowd I hate to say

 

[upstater]

You had to buy a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl to get the Championship tickets but you didn't have to show up to the game.

The stadium for our Fiesta Bowl game had more people in seats (whether they were bought a face value, scalped or donated) than either the Orange Bowl last night or the Sugar Bowl tonight. Fact.

Yeah, exactly. The double ticket policy at the Fiesta would have made for fewer people showing up to the Bowl game, not more.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Except for the massively drunk idiots behind me. They're lovable though.

 

[upstater]

Good Ville crowd I hate to say

Decent drive. It's the same exact distance (within 3 miles) as the drive from New Haven, CT to Charlotte, NC.

 

[whaler11]

You had to buy a ticket to the Fiesta Bowl to get the Championship tickets but you didn't have to show up to the game.

The stadium for our Fiesta Bowl game had more people in seats (whether they were bought a face value, scalped or donated) than either the Orange Bowl last night or the Sugar Bowl tonight. Fact.

Sure, Miami is a terrible sports town - so people not showing for FSU and NIU isn't surprising.

It's not exactly a fair comparison for tonight's game: a non-holiday Wednesday night isn't a weekend New Year's Day.

Are we really pretending that it was UConn who generated a big crowd in Glendale? We can't get people in Connecticut to come to our games in East Hartford. Sure we had many more people than bought tickets through the school - but let's be realistic.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Sure, Miami is a terrible sports town - so people not showing for FSU and NIU isn't surprising.

It's not exactly a fair comparison for tonight's game: a non-holiday Wednesday night isn't a weekend New Year's Day.

Are we really pretending that it was UConn who generated a big crowd in Glendale? We can't get people in Connecticut to come to our games in East Hartford. Sure we had many more people than bought tickets through the school - but let's be realistic.

I'm typing extra slow so you can keep up.

No one is trying to say Uconn was some huge draw in Arizona that got 30,000 Snowbirds to give up watching Matlock to watch us play Oklahoma.

The point we are all making is that two Florida teams couldn't get any walk up or latent fans to show up for games in Miami and New Orleans, the heart of ACC, SEC and college football.

We're busting on the myth that any two teams in the South can put 65K in the stadium.

FSU was offering season ticket holders 2 for 1's the day after Orange Bowl tickets went on sale.

And Miami certainly follows college football more ferverishly than Phoenix.

You're wrong and you know it.

 

[whaler11]

I'm typing extra slow so you can keep up.

No one is trying to say Uconn was some huge draw in Arizona that got 30,000 Snowbirds to give up watching Matlock to watch us play Oklahoma.

The point we are all making is that two Florida teams couldn't get any walk up or latent fans to show up for games in Miami and New Orleans, the heart of ACC, SEC and college football.

We're busting on the myth that any two teams in the South can put 65K in the stadium.

FSU was offering season ticket holders 2 for 1's the day after Orange Bowl tickets went on sale.

And Miami certainly follows college football more ferverishly than Phoenix.

You're wrong and you know it.

I'm not arguing that anyone wants to watch these other games either.

Miami may follow college football closely but they don't attend games. See the U and the Dolphins. The Orange Bowl has been dying for years. The Fiesta Bowl happened to be pretty well attended. It was a function of the date and next to free tickets in the secondary market - not that UConn is any bigger draw than FSU or Oklahoma or Florida or Louisville.

 

[Jimdish255]

Decent drive. It's the same exact distance (within 3 miles) as the drive from New Haven, CT to Charlotte, NC.

Or you could have taken your fishing boat.

 

[huskymedic]

Jon Solomon (@jonsol)
1/3/13, 12:37 AM
Sugar Bowl announced crowd of 54,178 is the game's worst since 1939 and smallest ever for a BCS bowl.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

If there was some way to sell short the bowl system, I would put my life savings into that trade. These are two relatively high profile teams, and no one wanted to see the game. The bowl system is deader than whatever analogy you can come up with.

 

[zls44]

What really grinds my gears is how UConn made absolutely no effort to spin press positively or defend itself during and since the Fiesta Bowl. They just sat there and took it.

It's like they developed an excellent media strategy and decided not to use it on purpose.

 

[Waquoit]

Yeah, exactly. The double ticket policy at the Fiesta would have made for fewer people showing up to the Bowl game, not more.

Actually it was a triple ticket policy, IIRC. The Insight Bowl was also included.

 

[Waquoit]

What really grinds my gears is how UConn made absolutely no effort to spin press positively or defend itself during and since the Fiesta Bowl. They just sat there and took it.

It's like they developed an excellent media strategy and decided not to use it on purpose.

It's still happening. For instance, why isn't JC out there telling our side of the APR debacle to anyone who will listen?

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Don't pick on Florida, they were "depressed". No Division Championship. No Conference Championship. They go 11-1 in the regular season and have nothing to show for it. Ahhh. . . aren't these Super Conferences Great! The Gators probably didn't bother "to show up" since they were out of the SEC and NC condsideration. Heck go 9-3, and they fire the HC. Oh wait . . . my bad, that's UConn.

College Football needs to be reformed. How?

1. Go back to smaller regional conferences (no bigger than 9 schools so that you have 4 home and 4 away conference games a year). That way you have to play everyone in your conference. No Alabama's ducking Florida like this past season.

2. Smaller, regional conference winners (not also rans) get to go to the big bowls. No conference championship games. That's nothing but made for television crap. In the smaller conferences, you'd have to play everyone in your conference anyway so there'd be no need for this extra game. If programs need the extra game, then let all schools schedule a 13th or a 14th game.

3. All major bowls need to be played on New Year's Day (like the old days) - which should mark the official end of the season. Make the event an "event" - part of a holiday vacation and not some middle of the week game. At the end of New Year's Day, the National Champion (or Co-Champs) can be decided just like in the old days. If there is not a clear cut champion . . . oh well. . . it'll make for great "hot stove" and "tap room" off season debates.

4. The NCAA and the college programs need to get back in control of things. They need to tell ESPN - for instance - what game(s) they will be allowed to televise and what day or time slot coverage will begin. If they don't like it? Next! This crap about playing the NC game a week after New Year in . . . crap. Remember all those asinine arguments use against a playoff proposal - "It would extend the season too long for student-athletes". Although North Carolina has figured that one out - fraudulent courses with no penalties (thereby avoiding losing 25 basketball scholarships over two years for failure to meet APR like UConn).

5. When teams like Florida (with the a loss at the wrong time) want to crab about having to play in some small, obscure, pre-New Year's Day Bowl, the solution is simple. . . don't lose to the eventual conference champion in October.

6. Oh and one more thing. College football needs to dictate to ESPN regarding all the specifics of any games they televise. Remember they need the programming during prime time, the networks don't. Let ESPN go back to televising Australian Rules Football if they don't like the terms. Stop allowing televsion to ruin college football.

 

[Doggie Style]

What really grinds my gears is how UConn made absolutely no effort to spin press positively or defend itself during and since the Fiesta Bowl. They just sat there and took it.

It's like they developed an excellent media strategy and decided not to use it on purpose.

Although most would agree w/ ur point and support the fact that Uconn's PR/Marketing sucks, you can't take the offensive at this time, not without a home at least. Coming across as being inflammatory in any way can have a lasting ripple effect and possibly reward us with an extended stay here in the conference of "the misfit toys" formally known as the Big East.

 

[mattp]

If this bowl was between two northern teams with that attendance all you'd hear about is how the northern teams don't support their teams and don't care about football. I'm not surprised that Louisville traveled well since their fanbase is excited to be going to the ACC and excited to be in a great bowl match up which they haven't had in a while. I think what we're seeing is that even "great" fanbases stop showing up after the novelty wears off. Now that being in great bowl games is old hat for Florida the novelty's wearing off. You can't expect the same 20k fans to pony up $5k for a last minute, inconvenient trip around the holidays year in year out. If they cared about attendance they could start putting games on when people can more easily attend them, but they care more about TV ratings so they stick them on a Wednesday night against reruns of Whitney.

 

[Sky ball]

Don't pick on Florida, they were "depressed". No Division Championship. No Conference Championship. They go 11-1 in the regular season and have nothing to show for it. Ahhh. . . aren't these Super Conferences Great! The Gators probably didn't bother "to show up" since they were out of the SEC and NC condsideration. Heck go 9-3, and they fire the HC. Oh wait . . . my bad, that's UConn.

College Football needs to be reformed. How?

1. Go back to smaller regional conferences (no bigger than 9 schools so that you have 4 home and 4 away conference games a year). That way you have to play everyone in your conference. No Alabama's ducking Florida like this past season.

2. Smaller, regional conference winners (not also rans) get to go to the big bowls. No conference championship games. That's nothing but made for television crap. In the smaller conferences, you'd have to play everyone in your conference anyway so there'd be no need for this extra game. If programs need the extra game, then let all schools schedule a 13th or a 14th game.

3. All major bowls need to be played on New Year's Day (like the old days) - which should mark the official end of the season. Make the event an "event" - part of a holiday vacation and not some middle of the week game. At the end of New Year's Day, the National Champion (or Co-Champs) can be decided just like in the old days. If there is not a clear cut champion . . . oh well. . . it'll make for great "hot stove" and "tap room" off season debates.

4. The NCAA and the college programs need to get back in control of things. They need to tell ESPN - for instance - what game(s) they will be allowed to televise and what day or time slot coverage will begin. If they don't like it? Next! This crap about playing the NC game a week after New Year in . . . crap. Remember all those asinine arguments use against a playoff proposal - "It would extend the season too long for student-athletes". Although North Carolina has figured that one out - fraudulent courses with no penalties (thereby avoiding losing 25 basketball scholarships over two years for failure to meet APR like UConn).

5. When teams like Florida (with the a loss at the wrong time) want to crab about having to play in some small, obscure, pre-New Year's Day Bowl, the solution is simple. . . don't lose to the eventual conference champion in October.

6. Oh and one more thing. College football needs to dictate to ESPN regarding all the specifics of any games they televise. Remember they need the programming during prime time, the networks don't. Let ESPN go back to televising Australian Rules Football if they don't like the terms. Stop allowing televsion to ruin college football.

TDH - nice thoughts but you know it is not happenning - ever RE: $$$$$$$$$

 

[whaler11]

Well they are moving the games back to Jan 1 right?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Don't pick on Florida, they were "depressed". No Division Championship. No Conference Championship. They go 11-1 in the regular season and have nothing to show for it. Ahhh. . . aren't these Super Conferences Great! The Gators probably didn't bother "to show up" since they were out of the SEC and NC condsideration. Heck go 9-3, and they fire the HC. Oh wait . . . my bad, that's UConn.

College Football needs to be reformed. How?

1. Go back to smaller regional conferences (no bigger than 9 schools so that you have 4 home and 4 away conference games a year). That way you have to play everyone in your conference. No Alabama's ducking Florida like this past season.

2. Smaller, regional conference winners (not also rans) get to go to the big bowls. No conference championship games. That's nothing but made for television crap. In the smaller conferences, you'd have to play everyone in your conference anyway so there'd be no need for this extra game. If programs need the extra game, then let all schools schedule a 13th or a 14th game.

3. All major bowls need to be played on New Year's Day (like the old days) - which should mark the official end of the season. Make the event an "event" - part of a holiday vacation and not some middle of the week game. At the end of New Year's Day, the National Champion (or Co-Champs) can be decided just like in the old days. If there is not a clear cut champion . . . oh well. . . it'll make for great "hot stove" and "tap room" off season debates.

4. The NCAA and the college programs need to get back in control of things. They need to tell ESPN - for instance - what game(s) they will be allowed to televise and what day or time slot coverage will begin. If they don't like it? Next! This crap about playing the NC game a week after New Year in . . . crap. Remember all those asinine arguments use against a playoff proposal - "It would extend the season too long for student-athletes". Although North Carolina has figured that one out - fraudulent courses with no penalties (thereby avoiding losing 25 basketball scholarships over two years for failure to meet APR like UConn).

5. When teams like Florida (with the a loss at the wrong time) want to crab about having to play in some small, obscure, pre-New Year's Day Bowl, the solution is simple. . . don't lose to the eventual conference champion in October.

6. Oh and one more thing. College football needs to dictate to ESPN regarding all the specifics of any games they televise. Remember they need the programming during prime time, the networks don't. Let ESPN go back to televising Australian Rules Football if they don't like the terms. Stop allowing televsion to ruin college football.

The NCAA can dictate whatever they want to ESPN for anything they want except for one thing, $$$$.


The only reason these bowl games have spread out over a 3 1/2 week timeframe is ESPN promised them more money.

It's a business decision and fans get screwed every time.

 

[zls44]

Although most would agree w/ ur point and support the fact that Uconn's PR/Marketing sucks, you can't take the offensive at this time, not without a home at least. Coming across as being inflammatory in any way can have a lasting ripple effect and possibly reward us with an extended stay here in the conference of "the misfit toys" formally known as the Big East.

This is stuff they should have been doing for years, leading up to this point. It's likely that if they did those things, they wouldn't be homeless.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

The NCAA can dictate whatever they want to ESPN for anything they want except for one thing, $$$$.


The only reason these bowl games have spread out over a 3 1/2 week timeframe is ESPN promised them more money.

It's a business decision and fans get screwed every time.

Not disagreeing, but that was my point. The NCAA needs to dictate to ESPN. Sure, may hurt $$$ in short run, but in long run ESPN needs sports programming that the networks don't depend entirely on. Again, the NCAA needs to inform ESPN that these are the games your getting and the time slots you should have your crews in place for it. Dog needs to wag tail, not tail wagging dog.