Student section = weak.

[mufansince72]

Huh?

We havent lost to USF at home since 1998.

Since Buzz has been here...MU is 4-1 vs. USF.

Last night - 63-50...Win...Never Close
2012 vs. USF - 67-47...Win...Never Close
2011 at USF - 59-58...Win...Crowder hit some shots late
2010 vs. USF - 63-52...Win...Never Close
2009 at USF - 57-56...Loss...Lazar missed a shot at the end.

You don't consider 59-58 close? What about the game a few years back when Jerel had a steal and basket at the buzzer? I don't give a crap who the opponent is. If the students don't show up, I will say there are too many student tickets. Why does a game have to be close to enjoy it? I personally enjoy games more when we have a comfortable margin.

[MUfan12]

Call me crazy, but when I was a Marquette student, I went to watch Marquette. Not the other team.

There's simply no defending the students here. This is a nationally ranked, first place team. The semester is less than 2 weeks old, so it's not like exams are coming. It's straight up apathy.

I've long advocated cutting the upper bowl allotment in half. It's time MU explored that option. If the "3 games a year" crowd wants tickets, they can buy them individually for those games.

[IWB]

A few comments -

First off, 72 - the Jerel steal and 59-58 were both at USF. Also, most students don't remember games like us older diehards do. The casual student doesn't remember the Jerel steal because none of today's students were at MU during that game. The 59-58 game - today's seniors were sophs, juniors were freshmen. Are you sure they all even watched that game? I don't care how good their team is in any given year, the name "South Florida" does not create a great deal of excitement in the students' minds. Just wait for the new conference - Xavier and Butler should/might draw, but do you think students will come out in droves for Dayton or maybe Saint Louis at 8:00 on a Monday?

The best student section in the country - agree, sounds dumb, especially when they say it when the upper deck is empty.

While yes, I do agree that there should always be more students there, Armen Saryan pointed out on Facebook that this year there has been a lot of games in Madison where the student section was not full. They have 40,000 students. Marquette has 9,000. It would take more than 50% of the student body to fill the entire student section. To equal that, Wisconsin would have to fill the entire Kohl Center and turn away a thousand students. That would never ever ever happen.

[Mucrisco]

I don't want to get political, and I hope the conversation doesn't go that route due to my post, but one of my best friends owns and runs a bunch of popular bars on 3rd street. He was telling me that Marquette kids don't go out like they use to. The economy has had a huge effect. Not only do people have less money, but it scares kids that their half their classmates can't get jobs when they are out of school. Also, parents are pushing their kids to get better grades due to that. So far less people are going out, and more kids are studying. On a Monday night, against a lesser opponent, having not spent that much money on tickets, and having easy access to tickets so you are able to only go to the big games, I can see kids staying home to study.

[Mucrisco]

Yes, it was USF, it was 8:00, it was a Monday night. Yes, the student section was weak, but this game probably had little interest from the general student body. The students that were there were loud and active.

Here is what I do have a problem with.... There are some Milwaukee sports radio guys ripping the students and fans for the poor turnout on Facebook this morning, with a picture that was taken with under 2:00 mins to go. why does that bother me?

Milwaukee Sports TV - Tim VanVooren from Fox 6, Lance Allen from TMJ 4 and Stephanie Sutton from WISN 12 were all there.

Milwaukee Sports Radio - Interns.

Yep, go ahead and rip the fans when YOU WEREN'T THERE! Hell, Stephanie Sutton could drop out a kid at any time and she was there.

That's because Steph's a rock star!

[Goose85]

I don't want to get political, and I hope the conversation doesn't go that route due to my post, but one of my best friends owns and runs a bunch of popular bars on 3rd street. He was telling me that Marquette kids don't go out like they use to. The economy has had a huge effect. Not only do people have less money, but it scares kids that their half their classmates can't get jobs when they are out of school. Also, parents are pushing their kids to get better grades due to that. So far less people are going out, and more kids are studying. On a Monday night, against a lesser opponent, having not spent that much money on tickets, and having easy access to tickets so you are able to only go to the big games, I can see kids staying home to study.

With the cost of tuition these days, it is almost suprising that kids have money to buy beer, especially at the prices in bars near the Bradley Center.

[Litehouse]

A few comments -
While yes, I do agree that there should always be more students there, Armen Saryan pointed out on Facebook that this year there has been a lot of games in Madison where the student section was not full. They have 40,000 students. Marquette has 9,000. It would take more than 50% of the student body to fill the entire student section. To equal that, Wisconsin would have to fill the entire Kohl Center and turn away a thousand students. That would never ever ever happen.

Plus, I believe the UW student section is only about 2,000 seats, while the MU student section takes up about 4,000 seats.

[mufansince72]

A few comments -

First off, 72 - the Jerel steal and 59-58 were both at USF. Also, most students don't remember games like us older diehards do. The casual student doesn't remember the Jerel steal because none of today's students were at MU during that game. The 59-58 game - today's seniors were sophs, juniors were freshmen. Are you sure they all even watched that game? I don't care how good their team is in any given year, the name "South Florida" does not create a great deal of excitement in the students' minds. Just wait for the new conference - Xavier and Butler should/might draw, but do you think students will come out in droves for Dayton or maybe Saint Louis at 8:00 on a Monday?

The best student section in the country - agree, sounds dumb, especially when they say it when the upper deck is empty.

While yes, I do agree that there should always be more students there, Armen Saryan pointed out on Facebook that this year there has been a lot of games in Madison where the student section was not full. They have 40,000 students. Marquette has 9,000. It would take more than 50% of the student body to fill the entire student section. To equal that, Wisconsin would have to fill the entire Kohl Center and turn away a thousand students. That would never ever ever happen.

That is why there are too many student tickets. Cut the allotment. Give the other ones away to inner city youth for all I care. Develop another generation of fans. While they are at it, MU should probably look at their pricing mechanisms for some of these games. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a ticket. They might as well sell the upper corner opposite of the student section for about 2 bucks each for non marquee games.

[BLT]

I think the student section has been very active and into it this year. Very organized and creative. I thought the break games had bigger student turnouts versus previous years...and it is kinda cool to see families sitting with the students. I will point out that there were also many sections of the lower bowl in the alumni areas that were pretty empty too, especially the family seats. The 8PM games are too late for kids and/or these families would need a babysitter...which are usually high school kids not free on weeknights. Then there is the Chicago or cities north of Milwaukee contingents who have to drive a couple of hours to and fro. Easier to study or stay at home to watch for either these students or fans. Late night games are simply made-for-tv events, let's face it. I think MU does well in comparison to others, but if they want fans to show up on these late games, they need to amp up the live events/promotions around the game to make them special.

That said, some on campus schools like Notre Dame seem to pack in the students for all sporting events. What do they do differently?

[mufansince72]

I don't want to rip on the students who were there, because they were very active. I just think that the student section is too big. I would rather have a smaller full student section, than one that looks half empty.