What would happen if we wanted to put the top 64 teams into a new division...
We didn't care about history, and NOBODY was "grandfathered"...
We also didn't care about conference revenue, just fan support...
Under those circumstances I reckon 4 of the current AAC schools would make the cut:
UCF, East Carolina, Memphis and Navy.
One MWC school would also make it in, but NOT the one you think!
(04-13-2018 04:30 PM)GrayBeard Wrote: Oh dear lord...in before the non-ECU fans tell how awful ECU is.
In this alternative universe, the only thing that matters is fan support - and ECU has lots of that.
Understood, but the crazy, they a'comin.
So wait... no one objects to Navy, Memphis or UCF, but they have a problem with ECU? Of those 4, ECU would be a close 2nd behind UCF.
As for CRAZY, sorry... we are ALL STOCKED UP!
2017 attendance--
UCF 36,846 ECU 36,727
Memphis 36,302
The crazy thing is, that is by far the low for ECU in over a decade and we had to suck really bad to get it that low. ECU is one of the only schools that owe's its conference affiliation primarily due to fan support. I guess that's why they say, "Pirates supporting Pirates." We really don't even fit the AAC mold of Big City institutions (although Greenville is a vastly underrated town these days) but we got the nod due to solid play and tremendous fan support.
Once we turn this thing around in a newly updated stadium and start packing in 52k+ every game, people won't even recognize ECU and will have a newfound appreciation for our potential as a program. However, it may take championship success to consistently produce that type of output. It was 2010 that ECU packed 50k avg. for the entire year (right after 2008-09 back-to-back titles). However, if ECU can do that with a C-USA slate back in the day, we should certainly have no problem packing them in these days. We have to start winning again and it will happen. Just too much support to continue to dwindle.
(04-13-2018 04:36 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote: In this alternative universe, the only thing that matters is fan support - and ECU has lots of that.
Understood, but the crazy, they a'comin.
So wait... no one objects to Navy, Memphis or UCF, but they have a problem with ECU? Of those 4, ECU would be a close 2nd behind UCF.
As for CRAZY, sorry... we are ALL STOCKED UP!
2017 attendance--
UCF 36,846
ECU 36,727
Memphis 36,302
For us, that was with tropical storms and actual attendance 2 games of 10K and 17K reported as the official numbers.
Got it. Just didn't want to qualify the numbers for comparison purposes. It is what it is.
We should hit 40K easily this season assuming we start off hitting on all cylinders. Maybe it's just me as a fan, but I have to think some of the new enthusiasm for Memphis bball might bleed over some into continued enthusiasm for football, although football is certainly good enough to stand on its own merits and has been for years. Just sayin'.