Second: The whole point of Ryan's piece, or at least part of it, was to drive home the idea that most students are fairweather fans. Most students aren't going to sit in the balcony to watch IU play Penn State in the middle of the day on Saturday, nor are most IU students going to buy season tickets, $220 or not. Think about the percentages here. If there are 36,000 undergrads at IU, and Assembly Hall seats about 8,000 students, that's only a fraction of the student population that even has an interest in season tickets in the first place. When the team is horrible, you're going to lose a fraction of the latter group around the margins.

Complaining about “real fandom” or “supporting the team through thick and thin” or whatever else is nice. It makes emotional sense, especially to people like us, who spend time blogging about sports. Clearly, we care. But everyone else is a swing voter, and there isn't a single student section in the country that wouldn't experience similar loss if their team was playing at roughly the level of IPFW. It's just reality.

Oh, and to plenty of students, $220 is $220, whether you pay for it now or in five years. That's not cheap to most people, least of all people who are, say, working themselves through school, or at the very least have to work part time for their spending money. Not everyone can get Mom and Dad to plunk for basketball tickets, strange as that may seem.

Second: The whole point of Ryan's piece, or at least part of it, was to drive home the idea that most students are fairweather fans. Most students aren't going to sit in the balcony to watch IU play Penn State in the middle of the day on Saturday, nor are most IU students going to buy season tickets, $220 or not. Think about the percentages here. If there are 36,000 undergrads at IU, and Assembly Hall seats about 8,000 students, that's only a fraction of the student population that even has an interest in season tickets in the first place. When the team is horrible, you're going to lose a fraction of the latter group around the margins.

Complaining about “real fandom” or “supporting the team through thick and thin” or whatever else is nice. It makes emotional sense, especially to people like us, who spend time blogging about sports. Clearly, we care. But everyone else is a swing voter, and there isn't a single student section in the country that wouldn't experience similar loss if their team was playing at roughly the level of IPFW. It's just reality.

Oh, and to plenty of students, $220 is $220, whether you pay for it now or in five years. That's not cheap to most people, least of all people who are, say, working themselves through school, or at the very least have to work part time for their spending money. Not everyone can get Mom and Dad to plunk for basketball tickets, strange as that may seem.

Attendance was only 15,626 for the Penn State game, according to the team's website tonight. On $5 ticket night. But hey, at least there was a decent bump. I probably should have mentioned I can't really blame people who bought season tickets and didn't show because they saw their seats are in the high end of the balcony or the highest rows underneath the balcony. Those are some horrible-ass seats.

BUT, the fact that even this game didn't sell out and they had to put on a cheap ticket promotion in the first place speaks to the fact that the IU fanbase is more like the other average fan bases like Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan and unlike the above-average fanbases like Duke and UNC. All along, IU fans have deluded themselves into thinking we were part of the latter instead of the former. Guess we're not. So I'm not really mad, I suppose, just disappointed.

You argue there are many better things to do than watch this team lose. Well, for real fans, especially the students, going to the games tends to trump the awful BTN broadcast, or anything else, for that matter. Where is the commitment? Being a fan is all about loving the team because they're YOUR team, and you support them no matter what. It's akin (though only metaphorically) to having a kid who's a troublemaker but is still your kid.

And whining about $220 when it's always been possible to put the tickets on one's bursar bill (unless that changed in the last couple of years), thus using student loans or other funding to pay for them? Not to mention the fact that the average college student is more affluent on average than ever before (you did mention a college freshman having his “portfolio” killed)? Come on.

Didn't mean to make you swoon with my strong language, either. I apologize.

Attendance was only 15,626 for the Penn State game, according to the team's website tonight. On $5 ticket night. But hey, at least there was a decent bump. I probably should have mentioned I can't really blame people who bought season tickets and didn't show because they saw their seats are in the high end of the balcony or the highest rows underneath the balcony. Those are some horrible-ass seats.

BUT, the fact that even this game didn't sell out and they had to put on a cheap ticket promotion in the first place speaks to the fact that the IU fanbase is more like the other average fan bases like Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan and unlike the above-average fanbases like Duke and UNC. All along, IU fans have deluded themselves into thinking we were part of the latter instead of the former. Guess we're not. So I'm not really mad, I suppose, just disappointed.

You argue there are many better things to do than watch this team lose. Well, for real fans, especially the students, going to the games tends to trump the awful BTN broadcast, or anything else, for that matter. Where is the commitment? Being a fan is all about loving the team because they're YOUR team, and you support them no matter what. It's akin (though only metaphorically) to having a kid who's a troublemaker but is still your kid.

And whining about $220 when it's always been possible to put the tickets on one's bursar bill (unless that changed in the last couple of years), thus using student loans or other funding to pay for them? Not to mention the fact that the average college student is more affluent on average than ever before (you did mention a college freshman having his “portfolio” killed)? Come on.

Didn't mean to make you swoon with my strong language, either. I apologize.

It has always been true that if you win they will come but if you lose they will not. IU Football is another stellar example.

It has always been true that if you win they will come but if you lose they will not. IU Football is another stellar example.

My guess is that while trying to cajole students into buying tickets was such a complete fiasco this year that they may simply opt to reduce the allottment and sell some of these tickets to alumni and the general public.

I have to imagine that Tom Crean was disappointed that with his urging they waited till the first game to release these tickets resulting in way too many tickets going unsold.

Economically, it would have been better to sell these tickets early in the fall to the public and then if some opted not to show up- at least the gate attendence numbers would not be so pathetic.

My guess is that while trying to cajole students into buying tickets was such a complete fiasco this year that they may simply opt to reduce the allottment and sell some of these tickets to alumni and the general public.

I have to imagine that Tom Crean was disappointed that with his urging they waited till the first game to release these tickets resulting in way too many tickets going unsold.

Economically, it would have been better to sell these tickets early in the fall to the public and then if some opted not to show up- at least the gate attendence numbers would not be so pathetic.

I can guarantee you that if a program like Illinois, Wisconsin or Iowa had a year like we are having they would let you into their Big Ten home games for a can of soup just to get a few people in the door. Not so at IU this year.

R and R may be right, next year there will be more people in attendance, but the number of empty seats to fill could be a lot higher with how bad this team is. I think the level of support is AMAZING considering how the things have been since Knight left.

I'll report back after the game tonight and give you my thoughts on the crowd. Something tells me that it will still be a better crowd than i have seen at Notre Dame in the past decade, and that program is on the rise.

Andy – 2002 IU Alum

I can guarantee you that if a program like Illinois, Wisconsin or Iowa had a year like we are having they would let you into their Big Ten home games for a can of soup just to get a few people in the door. Not so at IU this year.

R and R may be right, next year there will be more people in attendance, but the number of empty seats to fill could be a lot higher with how bad this team is. I think the level of support is AMAZING considering how the things have been since Knight left.

I'll report back after the game tonight and give you my thoughts on the crowd. Something tells me that it will still be a better crowd than i have seen at Notre Dame in the past decade, and that program is on the rise.

Andy – 2002 IU Alum

Ryan, use your connections to get Jeff Sagarin to do a correlation for us. He's an IU fan right? Got his MBA there.

Ryan, use your connections to get Jeff Sagarin to do a correlation for us. He's an IU fan right? Got his MBA there.