If
the Big East or another automatic-qualifying Bowl Championship Series
conference is perusing the landscape for a potential new member, East
Carolina's profile continues to become more visible.
The
Pirates, guided by first-year head coach Ruffin McNeill, led Conference
USA in football attendance for the third straight year in 2010 and
appear to be on pace to continue the trend.
With
the 2011 kickoff still four months away, ECU's flagship athletic program
has passed the 20,000 mark in season ticket sales for the fifth year in
a row, the school announced.
The
Pirates' average attendance over the course of six home games last
season was 49,665, an increase of more than 7,500 over the previous
average home attendance record of 42,016 set in 2008.
With
a lineup of 2011 visitors to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium that includes
prominent out-of-conference opponents Virginia Tech (Sept. 10)and North
Carolina (Oct. 1) and four C-USA rivals, the impetus is in place for ECU
to contend for an even higher attendance benchmark. The league contests
include marquee matchups with Southern Miss (Nov. 5) and Central Florida
(Nov. 19).
The
20,000 threshold in season ticket sales was surpassed by May 1,
according to school's athletic department, the first time the milestone
had been achieved by that date.
East
Carolina's momentum at the box office and on the field could have wider
implications as the jockeying among non-automatic qualifier schools for
membership in leagues with guaranteed berths in BCS bowls unfolds over
the near to intermediate terms.
The
Pirates have landed in bowls each of the past five seasons and captured
two of the last three C-USA championships. But the program's most
impressive credentials for a potential invitation to an AQ conference
have more to do with the wallop of its fans' wallets.
ECU's mammoth and rapidly-growing alumni base, the program's proclivity
for filling its ever-expanding stadium's seats, and the propensity of a
sizable contingent of the Pirates' most rabid, free-spending fans to
accompany the team to road and postseason contests are factors potential
suitors will notice.
The
team's high-flying, TV-friendly offense could be another plus as network
executives huddle with league big wigs over potential team migrations.
If
hoops becomes a consideration in league realignment moves, even East
Carolina's traditional albatross around the neck, men's basketball, is
on the upswing and generating conspicuous fan enthusiasm. Jeff Lebo,
entering his second year as coach of the Pirates, steered the team to
its first winning season in 14 years and its first postseason bid since
1994 in his inaugural campaign.
Given the reputation of the school's students, alumni and regional
partisans for wholeheartedly expressing their appreciation of winning
teams at the turnstiles and on the tube, ECU basketball could, in fact,
be a sleeping giant about to awaken in grand fashion.
Notes
and statistics of interest:
Football attendance information published by the NCAA casts East
Carolina in a markedly favorable light in comparison to its C-USA
brethren. The Pirates' 2010 average home attendance of 49,665 surpassed
by more than 10,000 their closest league challenger and far eclipsed
C-USA's overall average home attendance of 28,454.
CONFERENCE USA 2010 SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL
HOME ATTENDANCE
RANK TEAM
GAMES TOTAL AVG
1. East Carolina
6 297,987 49,665
2. Central Florida 7
277,301 39,614
3. Houston
6 190,366 31,728
4. Southern Miss
6 176,400 29,400
5. Texas-El Paso
6 176,097 29,350
6. Marshall
6 162,276 27,046
7. Rice
7 178,994 25,571
8. Memphis
6 143,509 23,918
9. Southern Methodist 7 164,602
23,515
10. Tulane
7 162,543 23,220
11. Tulsa
6 122,272 20,379
12. Alabama-Birmingham 6
110,162 18,360
East Carolina compiled the nation's eighth largest increase in home
attendance among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in 2010.
NCAA DIVISION I-FBS TOP TEN TEAM
INCREASES IN ATTENDANCE
RANK TEAM
GAMES AVG PREV INCREASE
1. Louisville
7 50,648 32,450 18,198
2. Northwestern
6 36,449 24,190 12,259
3. Rice
7 25,571 13,552 12,019
4. Eastern Michigan
5 15,885 5,016 10,869
5. Alabama
7 101,821 92,012 9,809
6. San Diego State
7 34,133 24,464 9,669
7. Florida International 6 19,808
10,204 9,604
8. East Carolina
6 49,665 41,742 7,923
9. Louisiana-Monroe
6 20,934 13,889 7,045
10. Texas Tech
6 57,108 50,249 6,859
East Carolina's 2010 home attendance average of 49,665 exceeded the
averages of all but three of the nine current and pending
football-playing members of the automatic-qualifying Big East
Conference.
BIG EAST CONFERENCE 2010
SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL HOME ATTENDANCE
RANK TEAM
GAMES TOTAL AVG
1. West Virginia 7 394,274
56,325
2. Pittsburgh 6
312,991 52,165
3. Louisville 7
354,537 50,648
4. Rutgers
7 323,368 46,195
5. Texas Christian* 6 254,797 42,466
6. South Florida 7 285,946
40,849
7. Syracuse
6 240,385 40,064
8. Connecticut 6
229,488 38,248
9. Cincinnati 7
245,472 35,067
*Texas Christian will become a member of the Big East in 2012.
Danny Whitford
contributed to this story.
