The face of fandom in college basketball

[buddy]

The Providence crowd and student section were on fire. I felt it through the tv.

I agree with you. Most raucous student section this year that I have seen. I probably missed something, but why did so many students bring blow up palm trees to the game?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I will say this. The Jock Jams soundtrack from the 90s surely doesn't help. We need a Jump Around or a Mr Brightside or something more contemporary. Having middle to late aged white guys control the arena noise is no bueno.

IMO it’s a tradition at this point and from a fan base that complains we don’t have any traditions I wouldn’t change it at this point.

 

[PAHusky]

Not to attack the OP but I'm sure this same sort of question gets asked ad infinitum every time there's a change in college hoops (three point line, one and dones, etc).

You didn't see fans out for Cuse-Pitt because those teams suck. Watch a game between two teams that don't suck and there are rabid student sections and raucous crowds. There aren't many teams at all beyond the blue bloods of the sport who are going to draw huge crowds with bad teams. The same is true in any other sport.

Basketball at UConn hasn't felt the same because we were barely starting to crawl back into relevance after the KO debacle when Covid hit, which robbed us of a few great home crowds and put a damper even now on attendance, etc. But let's not extrapolate from "no fans watching terrible teams and UConn doesn't seem the same" into "the sky is falling for college bball".

No one is going to stop watching because the kids are finally making a little money. College basketball will be fine.

 

[Squeeze]

I think it's been pretty well documented at this point that kids are generally less interested in sports. Fewer kids are playing in rec leagues, fewer kids are watching professional sports.

I don't know what the solution to that is, but I'll be pissed if they ever change the jock jams intro.

 

[uconndogs]

Q: when you know part of your tuition is subsidizing all of this, and they are making it into a semi-pro game, are you still engaged as a student who in former times would simply be supporting their fellow student and showing school spirit?

It's a very fair question and nobody really wants to address it head on. The only point I question is "semi-pro". By the time NIL "programs" are fully in place, kids playing at the highest levels of college basketball will be making big money. Life changing money for most.

 

[UConnSwag11]

amazing

 

[Chin Diesel]

It's simple. Every one would love this and get in to it.

 

[BigTenFan]

How fun does this Bama/Baylor crowd look?

I think UConn should reimagine their student section. Let’s get the kids closer to the court.

Paint Crew @ Mackey

 

[Jaydumo20]

Not to attack the OP but I'm sure this same sort of question gets asked ad infinitum every time there's a change in college hoops (three point line, one and dones, etc).

You didn't see fans out for Cuse-Pitt because those teams suck. Watch a game between two teams that don't suck and there are rabid student sections and raucous crowds. There aren't many teams at all beyond the blue bloods of the sport who are going to draw huge crowds with bad teams. The same is true in any other sport.

Basketball at UConn hasn't felt the same because we were barely starting to crawl back into relevance after the KO debacle when Covid hit, which robbed us of a few great home crowds and put a damper even now on attendance, etc. But let's not extrapolate from "no fans watching terrible teams and UConn doesn't seem the same" into "the sky is falling for college bball".

No one is going to stop watching because the kids are finally making a little money. College basketball will be fine.

No offense taken. Your argument is a sound one. My main thrust is, as poster 'Osully' wrote below your comment, that I think it has more to do with what's happening outside of sports.

I feel that college basketball may not be enough of a draw away from tik tok, youtube or any other of the web based functions. I do some work with college kids and when I ask them what they do on weekends, they say that they are up till 4am watching videos, texting or playing video games.

I think nfl football thrives because of fantasy (first and foremost) and college football thrives because of the heavy tradition, tailgating, gambling drinking culture. As we know, regular season college football can be quite lame compared to CBB, due to the glaring disparity in D1 programs). But somehow it doesn't matter if the product is good. Being a good college basketball fan takes some work and attention. Football Fandom is so multifaceted, and easily consumable, it makes being a fan seem effortless. The perfect storm for our ADD culture (and I don't just mean teenagers)

I'm a huge baseball fan and have basically given up on trying to talk baseball to any "sports" fan, out of fear that they no longer follow the sport (which is usually the case). Baseball has been relegated to the regional or hard-core fan and I've come to accept that. I see college Bball maybe going the same way. The new world looks like it really only has room for football.

 

[Jaydumo20]

That's a great sign. We need more of it. I officially retract my above diatribe. Except the part about regular season CollegeFootBall being almost unwatchable.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Love it. Jealous

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Not very Christian of them

 

[CTBasketball]

Give season tickets to those who actually care, and not to lottery winners is a good place to start.

And we need to revamp our soundtrack selection + timeout promotions. They’re so bad.