Spring game attendance figures have become a point of pride in the college football world over the past decade. Fans in the sport's top conference, the SEC, turn out in droves each April for the annual practice game. Unsurprisingly, the Alabama fans won the conference attendance crown again this year, with 78,526 showing up at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In total, more than 430,000 fans attended SEC spring games, with newcomer Texas A&M yet to hold their exhibition. Arkansas, which has had quite the eventful April, had the second largest spring game attendance with 45,250. Razorbacks Athletic Director Jeff Long has had a rough spring, but he was certainly enthused by the turnout in Fayetteville, stating he got "chills" from the large number of fans:
Via Chris Bahn at ArkansasSports360:
"I got chills when they told me that was the count," Long said. "To me, it really sent a strong message that our fans are here to support the young man on the team, and that's the most important thing. I hope people understand we want our program to begin with our student-athletes, and everything else that goes around is in support of them. Whether it's the football team or any of our other 18 sports, it starts with them and goes out and emanates from there. So I'm really excited to see this turnout."
Still busy wreaking havoc from their basketball title and completely uninterested in their football team, Kentucky was last in attendance with less that 5,000 fans. While the SEC is clearly the conference winner for attendance, Ohio State ended up edging Alabama for the top spot this year.
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