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Hope brought about by a new coach, good weather, a glance at changes to the program and perhaps the excitement surrounding a pair of quarterbacks added during the offseason. These are all great reasons why the Kansas spring game was well attended this year. As an optimistic football supporter I'd like to think the 15,000 reported fans spending a Saturday afternoon in Lawrence during the month of April shows that the fanbase wants to see and support a successful program.
Spring game attendances for BCS schools were compiled and releases by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal and Kansas recorded an attendance in the top half of those holding a spring scrimmage. Charlie Weis and the Jayhawk program's 15,000 fans was actually enough to pull into a tie with recently departed Texas A&M. Kansas ranked ahead of several notable programs and fanbases although the attendance still trailed in state rival Kansas State. That's to be expected given what the Wildcats have coming back and the optimism in Manhattan.
Weis has made no secret that he is targeting the success at Kansas State as model for what can and should be done with the flagship University in the State of Kansas, so this is just another carrot to dangle out in front. All in all, it looks pretty good for Kansas and Weis in year one, but next spring Weis will be selling results and hope instead of just hope and that can be a little more difficult.
NCAA FOOTBALL: SPRING GAME ATTENDANCE FOR BCS CONFERENCE SCHOOLS |
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SCHOOL | ATTENDANCE | SCHOOL | ATTENDANCE |
Ohio State | 81,112 | Iowa | 15,000 |
Alabama | 78,526 | UCLA | 13,000 |
Penn State | 60,000 | Washington | 11,802 |
Texas | 46,000 | Oklahoma State | 11,000 |
Arkansas | 45,250 | Washington State | 10,713 |
Oregon | 44,129 | Wisconsin | 10,479 |
Georgia | 44,117 | Miami | 10,000 |
Auburn | 43,427 | California | 8,812 |
Florida State | 40,631 | Virginia | 8,500 |
Florida | 38,000 | Vanderbilt | 8,500 |
South Carolina | 34,513 | West Virginia | 8,000 |
Tennessee | 34,421 | Colorado | 7,100 |
LSU | 33,000 | Connecticut | 5,500 |
Notre Dame | 31,582 | Wake Forest | 5,500 |
Clemson | 28,000 | Arizona State | 5,142 |
Ole Miss | 25,000 | Stanford | 5,000 |
Michigan | 25,000 | Arizona | 5,000 |
North Carolina State | 24,797 | Iowa State | 5,000 |
Mississippi State | 22,604 | Pittsburgh | 4,607 |
Michigan State | 21,000 | Kentucky | 4,500 |
Oklahoma | 20,509 | Virginia Tech | 4,000 |
Missouri | 18,614 | Syracuse | 3,716 |
Georgia Tech | 18,125 | Minnesota | 3,500 |
Kansas State | 18,048 | Texas Tech | 3,000 |
North Carolina | 17,000 | Illinois | 3,000 |
USC | 15,515 | Baylor | 2,750 |
Rutgers | 15,000 | Temple | 2,500 |
Texas A&M | 15,000 | Maryland | 2,000 |
Kansas | 15,000 | Oregon State | 1,000 |
Louisville | 15,000 | Boston College | 200 |
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