Shrink The Student Section

[Dr. Blackheart]

Playing the school theme song with 2:00 minutes to go, and the students who were left down 6 were slumped in their seats.  Really?

[PistolPete]

Forget the student section, the crowd was pathetic tonight. I couldn’t believe the lack of enthusiasm. Asses were in seats all but a couple possessions. We’d pull within a bucket and the sound of shoes squeaking on offense was deafening. A friend said ‘[the team] is giving us nothing’ to which I replied ‘what are we [the fans] giving them?’ Unusual and very disappointing.

[Boozemon Barro]

The crowd instinctively knows the team isn't that good.

[TallTitan34]

The crowd instinctively knows the team isn't that good.

They are ranked 19. What does it take for the students to think the team is good? Top 10? Top 5?

If that’s what it takes for them to show up, shrink their section.

[MUMonster03]

Back when I was in school we walked two miles uphill though the snow to every game at the Bradley Center!

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Then they should lose their seats.

Lol. Ok. That’ll work. 🙄

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Forget the student section, the crowd was pathetic tonight. I couldn’t believe the lack of enthusiasm. Asses were in seats all but a couple possessions. We’d pull within a bucket and the sound of shoes squeaking on offense was deafening. A friend said ‘[the team] is giving us nothing’ to which I replied ‘what are we [the fans] giving them?’ Unusual and very disappointing.

Actually that is the usual, never have heard the MU crowd get loud after a few makes n down 6-8.  Oh but they will go crazy if we take the lead.  Very poor fan base to bring energy n help team get over the hump.  When team needs the crowd the most, they are almost never there. Sad. MU down 6 is the quietest place on earth. Very sad.

[#UnleashSean]

This is exactly what happens when you have a Tuesday night game, have had a mediocre team since you've been a freshman, and have zero faith in the head coach.

Why is this surprising Marquette has very little fan support from the students.

[TallTitan34]

Why is this surprising Marquette has very little fan support from the students.

It was a top 15 team against a top 20 Marquette team.

If that’s not enough, time to shrink the section and make money off those seats.

[StillAWarrior]

This is exactly what happens when you have a Tuesday night game, have had a mediocre team since you've been a freshman, and have zero faith in the head coach.

I find it remarkable how many presumably college-educated people don't understand what that word means.

[TallTitan34]

Shoutout to the students who actually did show up and got Creighton to force up shots a couple times with the fake shot clock countdown.

[The Lens]

I’m guessing that MU has the students where they are bc they realized they can’t sell all the lowers at current lower prices so it made sense to configure as is.  It creates a false lower supply which helps prop up lowers & uppers for general fans.

The tarps look OK on TV.  It’s not ideal but the branding looks better than the empty upper deck of the BC.

[Mr. Nielsen]

It was a top 15 team against a top 20 Marquette team.

If that’s not enough, time to shrink the section and make money off those seats.

Make money off of what seats? It's not like we have a lower bowls sold out to season tickets holder. We still had about 1,900 students at the game.

[Litehouse]

Maybe a better solution would be to give the students additional sections on one side, like 109 & 114 so they'd have that entire end by the opponents bench (109-114).  That would at least let us sell 122, which are prime seats, and the lower half of 121 & 101 would make decent money too.

[BrewCity83]

Shoutout to the students who actually did show up and got Creighton to force up shots a couple times with the fake shot clock countdown.

Yes!  It's been years since I've seen that actually work. 

[MUfan12]

I'm not gonna get on the crowd for last night. It's hard to keep energy in the building when the home side is putting on a masonry clinic.

[dgies9156]

Back when I was in school we walked two miles uphill though the snow to every game at the Bradley Center!

For us it was Barefoot too! But we went to the Arena. And, we saw the national champions. And, there were only 10,400 seats total.

[BrewCity83]

Barefoot too!

But we saw the national champions. And, there were only 10,400 seats total.

10,938

[Mike Deane's Seat Belt]

I'm not gonna get on the crowd for last night. It's hard to keep energy in the building when the home side is putting on a masonry clinic.

classic !!!!!!! love it.

The student section is small potatoes, this program could very easily have a drop in attendance depending on what happens with wojo and the next man up here in the next 5 years that could justify moving into the arena or the AL. 

Opening up more lower bowl tickets to paying customers? You need demand before increasing supply makes any sense. 

[Dr. Blackheart]

Student sections have been hot and warm throughout the years. A lot depends on the fan captains which don't seem to happen anymore with the bow tie seating. The DJs, Jump Around Guy, Shake Shack and the promotions are the only time there appears to be any charge of energy. The students are looking to be led versus bringing some spontaneity.

The exception this year has been the band and the front row crew behind the band basket.  I have seen years where the students boycotted the team and were cold towards Buzz (alleged sexual assault teams), but when the students are booing the coach, not standing for the fight song, putting up signs of lack of support for the coach, something isn't right.

We joke about us Vesties being a get off my lawn crew, but at the the BC, the students were the show.  At FF, it seems the students are looking for game operations to orchestrate something for them. I see little to no originality as they just seem to show up to be entertained.

It's been a weird vibe lately with the students. What's going on there? Is there resentment because of the transfers and Ed?

[TallTitan34]

Make money off of what seats? It's not like we have a lower bowls sold out to season tickets holder. We still had about 1,900 students at the game.

Single game tickets and season tickets.

[mu03eng]

I'm sure I'll get yelled at for this take, but I came to the conclusion that the fanbase generally and the students in particular have just become spoiled and privileged. Fans were streaming out of the game with 6 or 7 minutes left and the outcome very much in doubt, especially the students. Maybe some of this is on Wojo because he's not a ra-ra, lead the fans in energy guy but the energy in the building for a top 20 match up was pretty pathetic. When did the fanbase become a bunch of Eeyore's?

I get that I'm generally a very optimistic person and sometimes overestimate this team, but good god there is no need to be so damn morose at a game.

[MUfan12]

It's been a weird vibe lately with the students. What's going on there? Is there resentment because of the transfers and Ed?

I think the seeds of this were planted during the last few years of Buzz's tenure. You would probably know better than me, but it sure felt like he tried to make it an "us v. them" thing to galvanize his team. The students don't like you, don't believe in you, etc.

But the section was still full, and pretty supportive, but the team was winning at a high level. We haven't come close to that level outside of last season, and the last 6 graduating classes have not seen MU win a tournament game.

The other factor, as I see it, is that everyone is slow to trust this team to actually build on success. Under Wojo, when it looks like they may finally break through, the bottom tends to fall out-

15-16: Beat #8 Providence on the road, drop 3 of the next 4.
16-17: Beat #1 Nova, lose 4 of the next 5.
17-18: Beat #13 hall by 20, lose 5 of the next 6.
18-19: One game away from a BE title, the locker room implodes after the Nova away game, and they lose 5 of their last 6.

[frozena pizza]

We've had zero NCAA tournament success in years. It was a Tuesday night. Hauser transfers. We were ice cold the first half. It's getting very hard to get young people to focus on what's in front of them when they have their phones out. Students are mostly wealthy, academically focused kids who are not prioritizing going to games.

There are just a lot of factors leading to the lack of enthusiasm in the building.  Some specific to that game, some to Marquette, and some broader social trends.

[SaveOD238]

Student sections have been hot and warm throughout the years. A lot depends on the fan captains which don't seem to happen anymore with the bow tie seating. The DJs, Jump Around Guy, Shake Shack and the promotions are the only time there appears to be any charge of energy. The students are looking to be led versus bringing some spontaneity.

The exception this year has been the band and the front row crew behind the band basket.  I have seen years where the students boycotted the team and were cold towards Buzz (alleged sexual assault teams), but when the students are booing the coach, not standing for the fight song, putting up signs of lack of support for the coach, something isn't right.

We joke about us Vesties being a get off my lawn crew, but at the the BC, the students were the show.  At FF, it seems the students are looking for game operations to orchestrate something for them. I see little to no originality as they just seem to show up to be entertained.

It's been a weird vibe lately with the students. What's going on there? Is there resentment because of the transfers and Ed?

The band is consistently the best organized, loudest, and most excitable part of the student section.  Year in and year out.