Comments about ‘BYU basketball: Cougars' 'performance' at the Marriott Center this season has been mighty impressive’

BYU and Utah basketball, two programs headed in opposite directions.

Recent attendance is proof of that:

Feb 17th, Portland(10-18) at BYU(18-8) - 17,009
Feb 18th, #9 Arizona(21-4) at Utah(11-14) - 11,712

Even if you go with the inflated "reported" attendance for the Arizona/Utah game, it's clear that interest in BYU basketball dwarfs the interest in basketball on the hill. The disparity is even greater when you consider the hundreds of empty seats below concourse that dropped the actual number of Utah fans in attendance to well below 10,000.

It's easy to understand why.

The Cougars play an exciting, up tempo style of basketball and win - 11th in scoring.

The misnamed "Runnin'" Utes, play a plodding, ugly style of basketball and lose - 243rd in scoring.

Only losing 10 home games during the last 8 years is a testament to the excellence of the basketball program Dave Rose has built at BYU.

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TheSportsAuthority

So what you're really saying is that BYU has AVERAGED more fans EVERY season since 2005-2006, than fans who bothered showing up for Utah's game against #9 Arizona? PAC who?

As disappointing as that buzzer-beating loss to Saint Mary's and that lights out 3-point shooting loss to San Francisco were, BYU has done an excellent job of defending their home court during the Dave Rose era.

Deseret News--please hire Teeples to write more often, this was well researched and well written... and the UofU jab was gravy. Go Cougs!

Uhh, BYU's attendance at football games is also greater than Utah's. Maybe there are more BYU fans in the state of Utah (and elsewhere) than people on the hill would like us all to believe.

Glad to see fans returning to the Marriott Center, and to a lesser extent, the Huntsman Center.

The Utes still have a long ways to go to get to the level of Utah's late 90's glory days.

It's too bad the PAC 12 decided to schedule Utah's biggest home game of the season on a Sunday.

Best homecourt advantage with the best atmosphere and the best fans in the country.

@Ryan Teeples

Let's not forget the fact that BYU also averages higher attendance in the ESA than the team on the hill averaged in the HC.

Gotta love attendance smack.

I heard that their was a "ward" deal on campus for one of the games too. Bring your whole ward and get in for $20. Not per person but THE WHOLE WARD.

That's like .15 a pop.

Utah greatly exagerrates their attendance figures.
No way they are averaging 8k a game.
Just look in the stands.
I guess empty red chairs now count?

utahcountyute

"Gotta love attendance smack."

Then you must be thrilled with the high school gyms with pull-out bleachers smack.

You're just jealous that the Utes have only won the home attendance war a couple of times in the last 30 years in basketball and NEVER in football.

Less than 10,000 actual warm bodies in seats for your biggest home game of the season - pathetic!

@utahcountyute

Jealous much!

I think you guys are being a little harsh. Considering how bad Utah has been, attendance has actually been pretty impressive. Obviously winning teams will draw more attendance than teams that are struggling. It has always been that way.

Bluto

"Utah greatly exaggerates their attendance figures."

Utah counts their season ticket holders who have stopped attending games in their "reported" attendance. That's why you see hundreds of empty red chairs below concourse every game.

It's obvious to anyone who's watched games in the Huntsman Center for years that many games with reported attendance of 8,000+ actually only have around 5,000 warm bodies sitting in seats.

Well written article. Great points, funny jabs at the U and P12, and useful information. One of the best articles I've read on D-News sports hands down.

@skywalker

Websters definition...

at·ten·dance
noun \ə-ˈten-dən(t)s\

Definition of ATTENDANCE

1: the act or fact of attending

2: the persons or number of persons attending; also: an account of persons attending

Utah plays games with numbers.
Attendance refers only to those who actually show up.
And not to those ticket holders which don't.

Bluto

The NCAA allows teams to count attendance in any way they see fit, so many teams (including BYU and Utah), count paid attendance instead of actual fans in attendance.

Still, it's obvious from observing shots of the crowds during games that BYU has had thousands more warm bodies in attendance at the MC than the Utes are getting at the HC.

The Huntsman seats 15,000 and has only been about one-third full for most games for several years, so a reasonable guesstimate of actual crowd size at a typical Utah game in recent years is about 5,000 fans. For Arizona, the Huntsman was about two-thirds full. You can do the math.