The Bobcats are having their best season since 1995, but no one’s there to see it.
Winning more games hasn’t translated to a surge in attendance for Ohio’s best winter sports team, and that should be an embarrassing statistic for Bobcats fans.
The team has averaged 973 fans per game this season in The Convo, just over half the attendance a typical away game draws (1,891).
The so-called “home court advantage” so many teams covet in any sport has been one of the downsides to Ohio’s best season in two decades.
“Yeah, it’s always nice to have more people in the crowd,” said senior guard Mariah Byard. “It gets more energy. Whenever we go on runs, we really go on runs because of the energy in here.”
Technically the attendance numbers have gone up, but slightly. A year ago 924 fans showed up per contest, despite the fact Ohio went 9-21. For already doubling the 2013-14 win total, averaging 51 more fans isn’t exactly riveting.
It’s actually pathetic.
This team deserves more attention — far more than any recognition it’s received.
The Bobcats are the best team in the Mid-American Conference. If the season ended today, they’d be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and would receive byes until the semifinals.
But no one still shows up.
Honestly, the attendance figures are a bit inflated from the Marching 110, which is required to play at all home games to double as the musical entertainment. Because there’s not a substantial student section, it also substitutes as the O-Zone.
Ohio’s best home attendance was 2,422 people on Dec. 3 for an 87-67 win against Morehead State. The only reason attendance was higher for that 11 a.m. tipoff was due to elementary and middle school students from around the area getting bused into Athens.
The only other game with significant attendance numbers was for the “Battle for the MAC” on Jan. 28, when 1,828 people showed up.
So what is the real reason why no one goes to these games?
Is it because no one wants to go to a women’s game?
Sure, if you want to go to basketball games where the athletes dunk, watching an undersized Bobcats-team won’t meet that requirement.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="7d0b4f24-b171-11e4-af4d-67db84a603da"}}
But if you’re interested in watching a team stomp over its competition and vie for a potential NCAA Tournament appearance, they fit the billing.
In my second year covering the team, I’ve seen it play at its extremes. Last season featured the Bobcats losing 14 of their final 15 games. Wednesday night’s win at Bowling Green is Ohio’s nine-consecutive victory.
Neither the athletics department nor my column has any say on who attends basketball games on a weekly basis.
Then again, going to a game solely for a free jersey or flag shouldn’t sway you opinion, either.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
