It's spring football time, which means we get to track the super important spring game attendance figures, which definitely dictate which program is best, period.
Meet the Bag Man
Last year, Auburn and Alabama led the way by a significant margin, with Tennessee, Nebraska, Arkansas and Kentucky each pulling in at least 50,000 fans for their spring exhibitions as well.
This year, the James Franklin era has started with a bang at Penn State, as the Nittany Lions announced a huge crowd for their exhibition game (and added yet another four-star recruit in the process). Nick Saban and Alabama responded with a roar, just barely beating out Penn State's crowd, while Auburn comes in as the third school with at least 70,000 fans. Butch Jones continues his renaissance at Tennessee with a big crowd, while Nebraska and Ohio State brought in more than 60,000 fans as well.
On to the table (keep in mind that many schools don't announce numbers):
School | Attendance |
Alabama | 73506 |
Penn State | 72000 |
Auburn | 70465 |
Tennessee | 68548 |
Nebraska | 61772 |
Ohio State | 61058 |
Georgia | 46073 |
Oklahoma | 43500 |
Florida State | 36500 |
South Carolina | 36412 |
Florida | 35834 |
Clemson | 33000 |
Texas | 30000 |
Notre Dame | 27986 |
Louisville | 27500 |
Missouri | 23000 |
Mississippi State | 21710 |
Texas Tech | 19500 |
LSU | 18565 |
USC | 17500 |
Michigan | 15000 |
Ole Miss | 15000 |
Boise State | 13822 |
Utah | 12056 |
West Virginia | 10000 |
Indiana | 9231 |
Arizona State | 8456 |
Vanderbilt | 8400 |
Maryland | 8319 |
Wisconsin | 8204 |
Memphis | 7400 |
Purdue | 7175 |
Arizona | 7100 |
BYU | 6500 |
UConn | 6500 |
Colorado | 6350 |
Utah State | 6000 |
East Carolina | 5867 |
Troy | 5500 |
Cincinnati | 5400 |
North Texas | 5325 |
Illinois | 5105 |
Minnesota | 5000 |
Louisiana Tech | 5000 |
Southern Miss | 5000 |
Western Kentucky | 4500 |
Georgia Southern | 4200 |
Syracuse | 4021 |
Duke | 4000 |
Florida Atlantic | 4000* |
Baylor | 3750 |
Colorado State | 3100 |
Oklahoma State | 2500 |
Appalachian State | 2500 |
TCU | 2000* |
UNLV | 2000 |
USF | 2000 |
Georgia Tech | 1500 |
Ball State | 1356 |
San Jose State | 1000* |
Akron | 500 |
Fresno State | 500 |
Air Force | 300* |
*Confirmed via e-mail by beat writers Dieter Kurtenbach (FAU), Alex Apple (TCU), Jimmy Durkin (San Jose State) and Brent Briggeman (Air Force).
We'll continue to update this list as the spring season continues, so stay tuned!
Also, Braxton Miller has something to point out:
lol RT @BraxtonMiller5: pic.twitter.com/NYuqEEfwyI
— Land-Grant Holy Land (@Landgrant33) April 13, 2014