Four Teams in the Country

[Dane Pound]

There are only four teams in the country that have a men's and women's basketball team that are undefeated in conference play. Albany is one of them.

[Eli]

Amazing. That HAS to get us some good PR on ESPN lol.

[UAalum72]

So who are the other three?

[UAalum72]

Jennifer Gish's column; Everything's perfect except for fan support

 

Since this may be a subscription-only link

 

The University at Albany women's basketball team recently did a meet-and-greet at one of the dorms, one of the many efforts the school is making to draw students to the stands. UAlbany figures if students knew the players, they might be more inclined to go to games, which incidentally, students can attend for free.

It was a start. Even if it was an awkward one.

"They were shocked, embarrassed," says UAlbany basketball coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, adding students were walking in the door to a lineup of basketball players and weren't sure what to do. "Kids today, they don't want to talk. They would have been happier if we would have texted them when they were in the door."

Mark Benson, the new athletic director at UAlbany, should take note of that as another way to build crowds. Get Shereesha Richards to text personal invites: "CU @ my game 2nite, K?"

It's stunning that filling the stands is even an issue at UAlbany, where the women have advanced to the NCAA Tournament the past three years, and the men's team has been there the past two. As of Tuesday, UAlbany was one of four schools in the nation to have both their men's and women's basketball teams undefeated in conference play. But too often, the biggest crowd of students is the UAlbany Pep band, which makes a lot of fine music and brings plenty of spirit but still leaves a lot of open acreage in the stands. Thanks to the success of their sports programs (and that goes beyond basketball) UAlbany students can feel a part of a winning tradition. But not if they won't even show up to grab a few slices of free pizza provided during the home doubleheader last weekend as an incentive to get them in the door. (The university says about 1,700 students were in attendance that day).

Overall attendance at games is fairly strong compared with the rest of the America East Conference schools. Last season, averaging 2,656 per game, the UAlbany men drew the second-highest crowds in the conference behind Binghamton. Yet seating capacity at SEFCU Arena is 4,538, which means the stands were more than 40 percent empty.

That's hardly a crowd at the Carrier Dome.

"I know that the student body doesn't come to Albany for the athletic program like they do when they think about going to Alabama," Abrahamson-Henderson says. "The student body goes to Alabama because it's cool, and they have an unbelievable football team, and they want to be part of that."

Benson says student crowds are up at UAlbany, noting that men's basketball game attendance through the first seven games of the year is up about 300 students per game from last year, hitting 921. That's based on tickets, but those of us who go to games wonder how many of those kids really settle into their seats.

The Student Association at UAlbany has been working to increase student involvement, says Marc Cohen, vice president of the group. But like Abrahamson-Henderson, Cohen believes students simply have other priorities. They have busy class loads and extracurricular activities of their own, so taking a couple of hours to go to a Wednesday night game doesn't sound like a good use of their time. And so, for now, if UAlbany wants to pack the stands it will have to try to lure the students with pizza and the promise of a free television if they can sink a few shots during halftime.

Benson says they're going to target freshmen and transfer students and try to connect them to the teams as soon as they arrive on campus, with events such as a big football tailgate in the fall. This Sunday, when the UAlbany women play at home, a lucky student will win a free Super Bowl pizza party.

It seems like bribery, but once that base is built, Cohen, from the Student Association, says he hopes kids will come to games for other reasons. His group, which has partnered with the athletic department and residence life in some of the crowd-growing efforts, spends a lot of its time on Twitter sharing game results.

"We're trying to show UAlbany students how much fun these games are without the incentives," Cohen says. "We don't want students to feel pride because they think they're going to get something out of it."

And that school pride translates into active — and generous — alumni, who stoke fundraising efforts.

Game attendance isn't just an issue for UAlbany. According to NCAA statistics, Division I men's basketball home game attendance was down by more than 350,000 fans last year. And women's programs — even strong ones like at UAlbany — have always struggled to draw fans. Many schools are working on incentive programs, and gone are the days when a coach might send a few kegs over to student housing hoping to create a little "atmosphere" in the arena later that day.

These days, Abrahamson-Henderson takes over the PA system after games to thank fans for coming out and encourages them to bring their friends next time. A couple of years ago, UAlbany men's basketball coach Will Brown bought a block of tickets to the America East Tournament and invited students to stop by his office and pick them up.

The apathy might be generational. With their parents priced out of taking them to live sporting events at the pro and even at the major college level, students might not have grown up feeling the rumble of a packed stadium on a Saturday afternoon or the deafening quake of an arena coming to life when their team closes to within three. If their sports-watching experience — assuming that they even care much about athletics — only ever played out in high definition, why bother in real life?

But those of us who have lost our voice to fandom, who have felt our heart race under our alma mater sweatshirt, know what they're missing.

And it's not the free pizza.

[Dane Pound]

So who are the other three?

I think two of them are in the Ivy League and have only played a 2 or 3 games. I don't know who the last team is.

[Eli]

Here are the standings in all of D1 NCAA M's and W's ball:

 

M:

 

Albany, 8-0

Tulsa, 8-0

Virginia Commonwealth, 7-0

Virginia, 7-0

North Florida, 5-0

Western Kentucky, 7-0

Yale, 2-0

North Carolina Central, 8-0

Wichita State, 9-0

Murray State, 7-0

Kentucky, 6-0

Stephen F. Austin, 7-0

Alabama State, 7-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

 

 

W:

 

Albany, 7-0

UConn, 9-0

George Washington, 7-0

Florida Gulf Coast, 5-0

Baylor, 8-0

Oklahoma, 7-0

Maryland, 8-0

James Madison, 8-0

Green Bay, 5-0

Cornell, 2-0

Yale, 2-0

Princeton, 1-0

Quinnipiac, 9-0

Wichita State, 7-0

Drake, 7-0

Fresno State, 8-0

Tenn-Martin, 8-0

Oregon State, 8-0

South Carolina, 7-0

Tennessee, 7-0

Chattanooga, 6-0

East Tennessee State, 5-0

Arkansas-Little Rock, 9-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

New Mexico State, 5-0

[UAalum72]

Thanks. Wilkin listed the men on his blog, but wasn't counting the Ivy because they've played so few games. Western Kentucky was in there until their women lost to UTSA Saturday. We lost at WKU before Thanksgiving.

[UA'08]

Like people have said in the past, they need to focus on getting the surrounding communities in to games. If it means lowering ticket prices then so be it. You can probably make back or break even with the amount of $5 tickets than the $15 they charge. You'll have more fans in the seats for sure. 4K would be nice for a Weds game against UNH.

 

Getting 4k/game to the rest of the home games this season would be awesome. I think it's not too far out of reach as long as they are winning and playing well.

 

UNH

Lowell

Stony Brook

Hartford

Vermont

[DanesRGood]

Like people have said in the past, they need to focus on getting the surrounding communities in to games. If it means lowering ticket prices then so be it. You can probably make back or break even with the amount of $5 tickets than the $15 they charge. You'll have more fans in the seats for sure. 4K would be nice for a Weds game against UNH.

 

Getting 4k/game to the rest of the home games this season would be awesome. I think it's not too far out of reach as long as they are winning and playing well.

 

UNH

Lowell

Stony Brook

Hartford

Vermont

 

I've sent my thoughts to the athletic department on this including things like "Family Night". Pick a weekend game and kids under 12 get in free of for $5 or something with paying parent(s). Pick a weekday game and get an electronic store to sponsor an Xbox/PS4/iPad/iPhone raffle for students only. Maybe school pays half the cost of the item and store gets sponsorship credit. There have got to be more ways to get people to games than hit some 3 pointers for a TV which no one seems to win. PACK THE HOUSE!!!

[TheLoudestTrumpet]

I for one can't wait for Big Purple Growl. Place should be rockin, will be my first trip up to SEFCU this year. Then I'll be at the NJIT game the next Friday, which should be interesting. Also, I am proud to see some of the pictures of the band from the last home game. Has to be the most people they've ever had, and you can count on one more being with them for BPG.

[Eli]

 

Like people have said in the past, they need to focus on getting the surrounding communities in to games. If it means lowering ticket prices then so be it. You can probably make back or break even with the amount of $5 tickets than the $15 they charge. You'll have more fans in the seats for sure. 4K would be nice for a Weds game against UNH.

 

Getting 4k/game to the rest of the home games this season would be awesome. I think it's not too far out of reach as long as they are winning and playing well.

 

UNH

Lowell

Stony Brook

Hartford

Vermont

 

I've sent my thoughts to the athletic department on this including things like "Family Night". Pick a weekend game and kids under 12 get in free of for $5 or something with paying parent(s). Pick a weekday game and get an electronic store to sponsor an Xbox/PS4/iPad/iPhone raffle for students only. Maybe school pays half the cost of the item and store gets sponsorship credit. There have got to be more ways to get people to games than hit some 3 pointers for a TV which no one seems to win. PACK THE HOUSE!!!

 

 

Someone won that TV last game. I think the warranty expired in the last decade...hahaha.

[Clickclack]

 

 

Like people have said in the past, they need to focus on getting the surrounding communities in to games. If it means lowering ticket prices then so be it. You can probably make back or break even with the amount of $5 tickets than the $15 they charge. You'll have more fans in the seats for sure. 4K would be nice for a Weds game against UNH.

 

Getting 4k/game to the rest of the home games this season would be awesome. I think it's not too far out of reach as long as they are winning and playing well.

 

UNH

Lowell

Stony Brook

Hartford

Vermont

 

I've sent my thoughts to the athletic department on this including things like "Family Night". Pick a weekend game and kids under 12 get in free of for $5 or something with paying parent(s). Pick a weekday game and get an electronic store to sponsor an Xbox/PS4/iPad/iPhone raffle for students only. Maybe school pays half the cost of the item and store gets sponsorship credit. There have got to be more ways to get people to games than hit some 3 pointers for a TV which no one seems to win. PACK THE HOUSE!!!

 

 

Someone won that TV last game. I think the warranty expired in the last decade...hahaha.

 

 

Good thing he didn't need three of his best friends to help him carry it out...last guy who won this contest in 1997 had to have help to load it into his car.

[Eli]

I miss those 200LB CRT's...hahaha.

 

[Dane Pound]

Here are the standings in all of D1 NCAA M's and W's ball:

 

M:

 

Albany, 8-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

 

 

W:

 

Albany, 7-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

 

So, then Albany actually is...wait for it...keep waiting...the Gonzaga of the east.

[Clickclack]

 

Here are the standings in all of D1 NCAA M's and W's ball:

 

M:

 

Albany, 8-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

 

 

W:

 

Albany, 7-0

Gonzaga, 9-0

 

So, then Albany actually is...wait for it...keep waiting...the Gonzaga of the east.

 

 

Sorry, position filled!