Author Topic: play-offs  (Read 25557 times)

Offline YSU1

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 692
    • View Profile
play-offs
« on: November 29, 2015, 11:06:54 AM »
Attendance at the Dayton-Western Illinois game was 997.  Not sure if that was tickets sold or actual attendance. Huge crowd.

Offline Penguin Nation

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1509
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2015, 12:27:19 PM »
It was a HS stadium, a small one at that.  For a non-scholly team, Dayton played well....but a very good 1-AAA school is still no match for even a 6-5 1-AA school.
"These two cats that we played against from Youngstown State were as good of pass rushers as I've seen"

--WVU Head Coach Dana Holgorsen

Offline guinpen

  • Global Moderator
  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 4181
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2015, 05:36:34 PM »
Attendance at the Dayton-Western Illinois game was 997.  Not sure if that was tickets sold or actual attendance. Huge crowd.

This is one of the things that the NDSU guys just cannot get. How can you expect the rest of the football world to care when 2 1AA schools cannot put even 1000 butts in the seats for a playoff game.
“Life is hard, it’s harder if you're stupid” - John Wayne

Offline ysubigred

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 4111
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2015, 10:57:59 AM »
Attendance at the Dayton-Western Illinois game was 997.  Not sure if that was tickets sold or actual attendance. Huge crowd.

LOL!! I had more than that show up at last years Derby party at my house  ;) I'd say I know a few YSU fans were there... Right JT 8)

Offline ysuguins4

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1003
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2015, 12:21:30 PM »
Just think, non-scholly Dayton outbid WIU for the right to host this game.  Doesn't say much for their attendance either.

Offline Penguin Nation

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1509
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2015, 01:07:47 PM »
Things are bad when you need to put out a letter saying your University will be open next semester.

http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=13093

I read that WIU never entered a bid, and Dayton (using MBB revenue) offered the minimum (which I think is $30k?).
"These two cats that we played against from Youngstown State were as good of pass rushers as I've seen"

--WVU Head Coach Dana Holgorsen

Offline guinpen

  • Global Moderator
  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 4181
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2015, 01:17:00 PM »
1 down 4 to go - go Griz
“Life is hard, it’s harder if you're stupid” - John Wayne

Offline Just Toyin

  • Rock Hopper Penguin
  • *
  • Posts: 17
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2015, 10:20:16 PM »
YBR - I thought real hard about going to that playoff game but as much as I would have liked to root for UD, I would have hated to see an MVFC team on the losing end of a playoff game to a Pioneer league team (not to mention I would have hated to miss the Buckeye beat=down against scUM!!!).

UD did indeed meet the minimum $30k required to have a chance to host that playoff game - a drop in the bucket when your basketball team is selling 12,500 tickets per game at $40 and up (way up!).

BTW, your boy Stoops has his team looking much better than when we were watching them against the Longhorns!!!

Offline IAA Fan

  • Administrator
  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 12044
  • Bring Coke back to YSU!!
    • View Profile
    • ysupenguins.com
Re: play-offs
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2015, 10:32:11 PM »
It is this way every time they make the post-season. It has to do with semester breaks and such.

Offline ysubigred

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 4111
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2015, 10:20:27 AM »
YBR - I thought real hard about going to that playoff game but as much as I would have liked to root for UD, I would have hated to see an MVFC team on the losing end of a playoff game to a Pioneer league team (not to mention I would have hated to miss the Buckeye beat=down against scUM!!!).

UD did indeed meet the minimum $30k required to have a chance to host that playoff game - a drop in the bucket when your basketball team is selling 12,500 tickets per game at $40 and up (way up!).

BTW, your boy Stoops has his team looking much better than when we were watching them against the Longhorns!!!

What I hate about BS is now that there is a long lay off till the 4 team playoff his teams usually come out looking like they never played before  ??? It was nice to see the game OU vs OSU and a YSU logo on the side lines  :D
« Last Edit: December 01, 2015, 10:21:14 AM by ysubigred »

Offline ysuguins4

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1003
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #10 on: December 01, 2015, 12:39:51 PM »
It was a HS stadium, a small one at that.  For a non-scholly team, Dayton played well....but a very good 1-AAA school is still no match for even a 6-5 1-AA school.

Dayton's Welcome Stadium seats 11,000.  It's at the midway point in relation to other FCS stadiums.

This wasn't the only game to have poor attendance.  Only 3,100 at Sam Houston and 3,300 at New Hampshire.  Casual fans just don't give a rat's behind about non big-time college football.

Offline ysuguins4

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1003
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2015, 12:30:00 PM »
Article below from Craig Haley of STATS FCS.


(STATS) - Nothing takes the air out of the later stages of the FCS season quite like ... well, the start of the playoffs.
Huh? How so? OK, that's an overstatement, but the annual thrilling finish to the regular season always gets a smack the face over Thanksgiving weekend when the playoffs open to smaller crowds.
It can remain a slow climb out of the attendance hole. The action may sizzle on the field, but the host schools play catch-up with the bottom line, even as average crowd sizes increase with each round.
There's no easy fix to the annual attendance problem as the host schools try to meet their expenses, and it's especially bad for first-round games. That's when schools face less than a week of preparation following the announcement of the playoff field and play over a holiday weekend when even loyal fans can be traveling, many students are away from campus, the weather is often worsening and complimentary tickets, which drive up regular-season attendance, aren't available. It's even a rivalry weekend for big FBS games to draw away attention, even more so than usual.
The average attendance in last weekend's first round was particularly poor at 5,634, with a high of 14,575 at Montana (that's more than 11,000 below than the average regular-season game) and an embarrassing low of 997 at Dayton. Montana was up slightly from a home game in last year's first round, but Northern Iowa and Sam Houston State, which hosted games both years, were down quite a bit from last year, when the average attendance for eight first-round games was 6,548.
FCS schools eventually made it to an average of 8,295 for the 22 games played at school sites before the championship game drew 20,918 to Frisco - driven by the North Dakota State fan base.
A query of people involved in the playoffs at FCS schools expressed frustration over the annual attendance woes, including such reactions as "I can tell you all of the problems, but no good solutions," and "I think I could retire if I knew the answer."
A majority of those surveyed talked about moving playoff games from Thanksgiving weekend as the way to get the postseason off to a better start attendance-wise. It's probably not going to happen, though.
Starting the entire regular season a week earlier - as only Montana and North Dakota State did this year - would only serve to change the valuable weekend before Thanksgiving, when everybody is playing, to accommodate just eight playoff games. Not starting the playoffs until the week after Thanksgiving would push the national semifinals up against the Christmas holiday in some seasons, so that would be frowned upon. Plus, by starting the playoffs a week later, the seeded teams which have first-round byes would sit for three weeks, not two, and that's too long.
So as long as the field is 24 teams - which is well-received - a change to the start of the playoffs is unlikely.
"We talk to (schools) about being pro-active," said Randy L. Buhr, associate director of championships for the NCAA, "and reaching out to season ticket holders, their single-game purchasers, alumni, youth camp lists or any other crossover sport data bases that they might have to email and try to get information out to promote the game. Knowing social media is a cost-effective and immediate platform to leverage and try to promote the game as well ... try to keep the local media informed so that they can spread the word in the local market place and go from there."
It always comes back to money, though.
The NCAA needs to keep the host bids reasonable so schools can keep down ticket prices, which beginning with the second round can't be lower than what a school charges in the regular season.
Regionalizing postseason matchups are a big aspect of the playoffs because doing so brings familiarity between opponent fan bases and increases the likelihood of fans of the road team traveling to a game. But even that aspect is lessened today by every playoff game's availability through broadcast or streaming.
Providing guaranteed home games to the eight-best unseeded teams not only would create a fairer playoff system, but it would allow the NCAA to at least indicate to schools behind the scenes to start preparing marketing campaigns. Early knowledge of a potential playoff game coming Thanksgiving weekend might prompt schools to reopen dorm rooms earlier to increase student involvement.
Fortunately, attendance is expected to rise with the eight playoff games this week - the seeded host schools will have had a two-week buildup - but the crowd sizes sometimes don't match the enormity of the games.
The NCAA is telling schools to be more proactive in their efforts. As the governing body, it's time for the NCAA to help schools and conferences solve the problem, not just wish for a solution.

Offline IAA Fan

  • Administrator
  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 12044
  • Bring Coke back to YSU!!
    • View Profile
    • ysupenguins.com
Re: play-offs
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2015, 02:46:23 PM »
Much of this is a problem with isolation. By that, I mean we are appealing to a smaller fan base. Sure the isolated schools like Montana and the Dakotas are going to have the highest draw, as they always do. No competition. However, schools in more populated areas need a competitive media presence. YSU has to compete with the Big-10 & formerly the Big East. This means that we should be receiving more favorable coverage than we do.

ABC began the issue when they moved the championship game from network to ESPN. ESPN then compounded the issue when they moved the title games and preliminary games to ESPN2. Now, most all of it is ESPN3 ...only carried by AT&T, or on-line. Of course, the move of FBS to a play-off format is only going to make matters worse.

Many argue that coverage leaves people at home, but we here in Youngstown know better, as the ESPN games are heavily-attended by people looking to see themselves on TV. However, 3rd-rate coverage means nothing. Most ESPN3 coverage is just local feeds that we would get anyway. In short the national media needs to step-up and do their part. Whom here remembers how jammed we were in a 1st-round game against Alcorn State? Why was this?

1. A future NFL QB (McNair) being pumped by ABC/ESPN.
2. Paul Maguire, Cliff Stoudt, Ron Jaworski all (ABC employees) were involved in the coverage.
3. Along with key interviews such as Debartolo and others.
4. They had a contest for the best commercials and the coverage of the various aspects of the University and community.


Where is this media commitment today?

Offline ysuguins4

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 1003
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #13 on: December 07, 2015, 12:37:31 PM »
Attendance was much better in the second round except for the 6,100 at Illinois State.  Really weak considering they were 22-4 over the last two seasons going into the game, last year's NC runners up, and the second seed in this year's playoffs. 

Offline YSU1

  • Emperor Penguin
  • *****
  • Posts: 692
    • View Profile
Re: play-offs
« Reply #14 on: December 07, 2015, 04:51:42 PM »
Unfortunately there is very little hype or people who care about the FCS play offs.