Be Grateful for what we have in all things peripheral to our program

[DefenseBB]

As a born and bred New Englander, I grew up with all the local colleges competing against each other and the formation of the Big East to put these local schools together coalesced nicely for us fans to see. In the early days of the BE, PC was the WCBB force but after Geno arrived, PC fell on hard, hard times. But I digress.

Last night Marquette played at Seton Hall as the one Top 25 game on the schedule which Marquette won thanks to a strong 3rd quarter. However, the issue is the game was played at Walsh Gymnasium and only 336 fans went. The optics of that small gym had one person commenting to me that it looked like a "Junior High quality gym" which was a bit hyperbolic in nature but their point was made. Adding insult to injury was the fact when I just logged into the SHU website to look at the season stats (and the attendance), the school had not updated the stats to include last night's game. Seriously, at 11 AM, the stats are still not updated? Keep in mind that the Seton Hall men's team also played last night at Georgetown and yes, their stats were updated last night (my wife is an SHU grad so we went into see the updated stats).

My point being is UConn runs a fully functioning "Death Star" of operations where the stats, attendance and marketing are all 1st class but yet many of our local BE teams are simply not. SHU is averaging 630 fans per game (I manually added the numbers to calculate) and the quasi good news is we play SJU on Saturday at UBS Arena which SJU hopes garners 4,500+ fans. On the year, SJU is averaging 2,090 which is a huge jump up from last years 582 fans but still not what the conference needs to be taken seriously. The aforementioned PC is averaging 786 fans this year (and their HS like gym) but again, that is an improvement over last years 474 fans per game. Also, PC did jettison their prior coach and the new coach, Erin Batth has done a great job already but still has a long way to go.

For the Big East to truly compete with the soon to be P4, these programs need to "up their commitment in all aspects" to be viewed as equals and to make in-roads for WCBB.

Until that time, UConn, Marquette, Creighton and Villanova may completely separate themselves from the rest. I mean, it's not like the schools don't know how to make the effort, just look at the Men's programs but yet when it comes to the Women.....

 

[my2cents]

There was a major storm happening that affected attendance too.

 

[UcMiami]

I guess the question too is whether you want to play in whatever ginormous arena the men play in with 500 people scattered around a 15,000 capacity space, or play in a compact gym. I don't think women's fans or players really enjoy playing in the Carrier Dome.

As for updating web sites, etc. A lot of that is done by students and a lot of schools are on break at the moment as are a lot of school employees.

 

[Brewski]

As a born and bred New Englander, I grew up with all the local colleges competing against each other and the formation of the Big East to put these local schools together coalesced nicely for us fans to see. In the early days of the BE, PC was the WCBB force but after Geno arrived, PC fell on hard, hard times. But I digress.

Last night Marquette played at Seton Hall as the one Top 25 game on the schedule which Marquette won thanks to a strong 3rd quarter. However, the issue is the game was played at Walsh Gymnasium and only 336 fans went. The optics of that small gym had one person commenting to me that it looked like a "Junior High quality gym" which was a bit hyperbolic in nature but their point was made. Adding insult to injury was the fact when I just logged into the SHU website to look at the season stats (and the attendance), the school had not updated the stats to include last night's game. Seriously, at 11 AM, the stats are still not updated? Keep in mind that the Seton Hall men's team also played last night at Georgetown and yes, their stats were updated last night (my wife is an SHU grad so we went into see the updated stats).

My point being is UConn runs a fully functioning "Death Star" of operations where the stats, attendance and marketing are all 1st class but yet many of our local BE teams are simply not. SHU is averaging 630 fans per game (I manually added the numbers to calculate) and the quasi good news is we play SJU on Saturday at UBS Arena which SJU hopes garners 4,500+ fans. On the year, SJU is averaging 2,090 which is a huge jump up from last years 582 fans but still not what the conference needs to be taken seriously. The aforementioned PC is averaging 786 fans this year (and their HS like gym) but again, that is an improvement over last years 474 fans per game. Also, PC did jettison their prior coach and the new coach, Erin Batth has done a great job already but still has a long way to go.

For the Big East to truly compete with the soon to be P4, these programs need to "up their commitment in all aspects" to be viewed as equals and to make in-roads for WCBB.

Until that time, UConn, Marquette, Creighton and Villanova may completely separate themselves from the rest. I mean, it's not like the schools don't know how to make the effort, just look at the Men's programs but yet when it comes to the Women.....

Per the @TwoCents post above, there was a " State of Emergency" in New Jersey last night that kept a lot of people safe at home. Probably also why stats weren't updated on time the next day.

State of emergency in New Jersey for heavy rain and flood risks, particularly along Passaic River

The state of emergency is in effect across all of the Garden State's 21 counties.

www.cbsnews.com

Pirates Fall to Marquette on Stormy Night - Seton Hall University Athletics

On a night that a storm brought a state of emergency to New Jersey, the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell to No. 23 Marquette, 75-54, in a mostly-empty...

shupirates.com

 

[Zarathustra]

There was a major storm happening that affected attendance too.

Context can be EVERYTHING! IMO, if Madison Square Garden was in South.
Orange, N.J. (and MSG was owned by Seton Hall) the turnout would have been similar. Also, Seton Hall
does not have a UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Football Team supporting the other Pirate
intercollegiate men's and women's Athletes.

 

[HuskyNan]

Seton Hall attendance

 

[pvdoggy]

Seton Hall attendance

View attachment 94962

Wow, how can you have 0 attendance for a game? That is crazy.

 

[Puppy Love]

You can see Big East Women’s attendance records from last year here… 2022-2023 Women's Basketball - Overall Statistics - Big East Conference

I think the problem is two fold. First, it helps to have a winning team in order to get people to come to games. Most Big East teams have not had winning records. Second, people have to be willing to prioritize going to games over other things in their lives. When I say prioritize, I mean they have to commit the time and money that it takes over to go to a game. It takes an emotional attachment to a team to get to that point. I live closest to Providence College and URI. I’ve been to Providence College games, but to see UConn. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a URI game. Even though they are close by, I just don’t have a reason to go.

UConn had a perfect storm in terms of its success. It caught lightning in a bottle when it hired coach Auriemma. It had Gampel Pavilion opening, and there was some draw for fans to come to women’s games just to see the pavilion. The 95 championship team had a local flavor to it in both Jen Rizzotti, and Rebecca Lobo. And it had a natural rival in Tennessee. All of those things helped to make the team the hottest ticket in town. And, the athletic Director was committed to having a successful woman’s program. I think it’s pretty hard to replicate all some or all of those conditions at another school. Even the SEC, which has generally had very successful women’s has had a shift in it’s powerbase.

 

[Twelve]

I would think that all UConn fans are grateful. Some might have exceedingly high expectations. Some might be spoiled. Some are super fans. Super are always positive not matter what.

Some fans of the 1994-5 UConn team are sadly no longer with us, like my Dad. He would have loved to see this 2023-4 UConn team fight.

 

[DefenseBB]

Per the @TwoCents post above, there was a " State of Emergency" in New Jersey last night that kept a lot of people safe at home. Probably also why stats weren't updated on time the next day.

State of emergency in New Jersey for heavy rain and flood risks, particularly along Passaic River

The state of emergency is in effect across all of the Garden State's 21 counties.

www.cbsnews.com

Pirates Fall to Marquette on Stormy Night - Seton Hall University Athletics

On a night that a storm brought a state of emergency to New Jersey, the Seton Hall women's basketball team fell to No. 23 Marquette, 75-54, in a mostly-empty...

shupirates.com

So how does that explain the rest of their home games this year or last year? They are abysmal at promoting that team, they AVERAGE 650 fans per game. Only Xavier at 379 is worse.

And as all of us on the East Coast know, the whole Eastern seaboard was under watch yet in Maryland and DC, the men’s fans went to the game. Stop trying to put lipstick on this pig and tell me she’s a prom queen.

 

[maple]

I guess the question too is whether you want to play in whatever ginormous arena the men play in with 500 people scattered around a 15,000 capacity space, or play in a compact gym. I don't think women's fans or players really enjoy playing in the Carrier Dome.

As for updating web sites, etc. A lot of that is done by students and a lot of schools are on break at the moment as are a lot of school employees.

JMA Dome now, actually.

Most of the Dome is closed off for the basketball games, and they put portable stands up on one side of the court. Honestly, for big games (usually against popular and/or ranked teams) the place fills out nicely, but even for less attended games it doesn't feel too empty. Usual attendance is ~1,500. It's not lightning up the world but it's actually an improvement in past years. The game against ND drew almost 3,000. If UConn came to play here it would probably be a sell out.

The Dome is nicer and more accessible than the old field house they used to play at. I think it's a better option, even if it isn't filling up.

I think Big East teams could do more to promote their teams. There's no reason why they can't be averaging at least 1,000 fans at every game. Most of the BE programs are basically on par with Syracuse.

 

[BBallF]

Wow, how can you have 0 attendance for a game? That is crazy.

There was a state of emergency in New Jersey that night. It was illegal to be on the roads.

 

[pvdoggy]

There was a state of emergency in New Jersey that night. It was illegal to be on the roads.

Hahaha... good one, especially since they were playing in the Bahamas (I was curious so I looked it up). Most likely attendance stat was not available so they just put 0 in the column.