[NU Sports] March meh / season tickets ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

You could actually make the argument that the NIT has been more interesting -- the PSU games alone outnumber the good NCAA games and Stephon Curry's star power, the "no respect" runs of St. Mary's and SD State ... some upsets on home courts, etc.

Heck, the Division II championship that just finished was better than the NCAA tourney so far. And the women's tourney has had more upsets so far (a couple by Big Ten teams)

We better be in for a great Final Four to sit through this!

On the football ticket front, I must have missed the switch in our home schedule that they highlight - why was that done again?

BTW, I'm not sure my post made it through last week (I guess the attachment was too big), but my friend in Madison sent a chart UW sent him with the season ticket renewal form. Some highlights ...

On cost, NU ranks #11, with $228 for "a 50-yard-line" season ticket renewal and no seat contribution. Ohio State is on the other end, with $1,691 for a ticket, plus a $1,250 contribution - ouch!

OSU can be pricey, though, as can #3 Penn State and #5 Michigan. The big surprise is #2 Illinois, charging $1510 and the contribution of $1250. Despite four winning seasons in the past 15 years.

The chart also has the average finish over the past 15 years of each school and their winning seasons, bowl berths and (sadly) bowl wins.

NU is about right in the middle for Big Ten finishes, with a 6.2 average. No surprise that OSU (2.3) and Michigan (2.6) are tops. Illinois, the second-highest ticket, is third from the bottom at 7.3 - with only Minny and Indy below. Michigan and OSU have both had 14/15 on the winning season mark, with Wisconsin (13) right begind. Indiana is on the other end with 2 out of 15, Illinois is next with 4/15 and then NU.

As for that "bowl win" category that we, of course, have the goose-egg in, PSU and Wisconsin are tops with 8 wins (PSU is 8 for 10, Wisky 8 for 13), Michigan (7 out of 14) is next and Iowa is also above .500, winning 6 of 10 in that span.

Now if they had only included "single digit finishes" at home over those past 15 years, it would really have supported my statement that NU football gives its fans more "bang for the buck" than anyone else.

Just an interesting chart - no idea how the Illini get away with the high price. And as for NU, we know at least that it's not ticket price or product on the field for the annual attendance debate.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!