No excitement in LA for USC and UCLA basketball

[Local Shill]

Opening night attendance for the new Big Ten members
USC - 3294 (capacity 10,258)
UCLA - 4489 (capacity 13,800)

Yeah, both were playing low majors but both are expected to be good this year. There's just no buzz for these schools right now.

Oregon had 5,494 in the their 12,364 seat building. Washington plays tonight.

Schools like Purdue, Michigan State, Michigan all had either sellouts or big crowds. Iowa and State Penn announced a shade under 8K.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

People have had it with major colleges playing Alaska State in football and Adelphi in basketball. Folks who are not season ticket holders don’t want to see these schools and many season ticketholders decide they would rather watch Perry Mason or paint their garage floors. Personally, I can stomach the cupcakes in basketball and have really had it watching Howard/Norfolk State/Kent State/Alaska State etc. in football.

 

[Arizona Knight]

I believe UofA was the only PAC 12 hoops team that had a rabid fanbase.

 

[PatrickRU92]

USC cares nothing for basketball. They are like State Penn (just not as culty) --if its not football,its irrelevant.

UCLA --if they're great the fans will care. I've said many times (and been virtually shouted down on this very board) that Pauley Pavillion is nothing special as far as home courts go. Its the home of the greatest college bball dynasty of all time but as a home court its nothing wonderful. the sight lines aren't great, many seats are far from the court too. Give me the RAC 100x.

(USCs Galen Center for bball is far superior to Pauley, IMHO)

 

[Local Shill]

We tried to walk into Galen when we were out there for the football game, but no dice. All the doors were locked at 4 p.m.. Place does look really nice in photos and on TV - I kinda wanted to check it out.

 

[LotusAggressor]

USC has to be nationally relevant in basketball for people to care. Nobody cares about UCLA unless they're winning championships. They care even less about games against mathletes from Directional Drillbit Tech.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

It feels like the LA fanbases are a lot more similar to the East coast fanbases of RU, MD and others. Schools in metro areas with well established pro teams and a myriad of other things to do … have a hard time drawing consistent larger crowds in the absence of well above average performance/teams .

I think it’s just that simple. Tradition or not. If there’s lots of other things to do around you then the option of spending 3-6+ hours of your day better be pretty enticing and enjoyable.

 

[Scarlet83]

USC cares nothing for basketball. They are like State Penn (just not as culty) --if its not football,its irrelevant.

UCLA --if they're great the fans will care. I've said many times (and been virtually shouted down on this very board) that Pauley Pavillion is nothing special as far as home courts go. Its the home of the greatest college bball dynasty of all time but as a home court its nothing wonderful. the sight lines aren't great, many seats are far from the court too. Give me the RAC 100x.

(USCs Galen Center for bball is far superior to Pauley, IMHO)

Didn’t know that about Pauley Pavilion. It was talked about with such reverence and splendor back in the 70s and 80s. Good to know.

And love me my RAC!!!