June 23, 2005
Big Ten men's basketball has once again attracted more fans than any other conference, while also leading the country in tournament attendance for the first time in the eight-year history of the event.
The League topped the nation in total attendance for the 29th consecutive year according to numbers released by the NCAA this week. The Conference welcomed 2,255,332 fans through the turnstiles and led the way with an average attendance of 12,530 per game/session, over 1,000 more than the national runner-up (ACC - 11,097). For the 13th straight season, the Big Ten broke the two-million mark in total attendance as the League played host to 2,146,082 patrons in 175 games for an average of 12,623 fans per contest. The NCAA's final attendance numbers and rankings include both regular-season and conference tournament attendance.
In conference tournament action, the League also led nationally for the first time with an average per session attendance of 21,850 at the 2005 Big Ten Tournament held at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The ACC, which had led the nation in average tournament attendance the last seven seasons, ranked second with 20,301 fans per session. The Big Ten set a pair of attendance records in the final two days of the 2005 Tournament, as the event attracted a single-session record of 23,697 for the semifinal on Saturday before breaking the championship game attendance mark with 22,157 fans on site Sunday. A total of 109,250 fans attended the 2005 Big Ten Tournament, marking the second-highest attendance total in Tournament history behind the 109,769 fans that were present for the 2001 event.
Individually, the Big Ten placed seven universities among the country's top 25 in average attendance, highlighted by three programs among the top 10. No other conference placed more than four teams among the top 25. Wisconsin led the Big Ten charge for the third straight year, ranking fifth nationally with an average of 17,142 fans per game. Two other schools ranked among the top 10 as Illinois rated No. 7 with 16,387 fans per game and Michigan State ranked No. 10 with 14,759 patrons per outing. Other Conference programs among the top 25 included No. 11 Indiana (14,703), No. 16 Ohio State (13,716), No. 22 Iowa (11,901) and No. 24 Purdue (11,681).
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