An apology

[Ari Gold]

The student body president whoever he / she is needs to send a public apology to the CBH and the Men?s basketball team about the attendance at the game tonight. A ****ing Embarrassment

[Big4Dawg]

The student body president whoever he / she is needs to send a public apology to the CBH and the Men?s basketball team about the attendance at the game tonight. A ****ing Embarrassment

Non-students wasn't much better

[Homedawg]

Non-students wasn't much better

At least they pay for women's basketball to succeed... empty seat or not. Just a fact. And hell yes I'm glad we lose money on a winner. I'm serious.

[Ari Gold]

Non-students wasn't much better

No excuse. Zero . None .
The loudest it got all night from this section was the ****ing free T-shirt toss.

So CBH WE as season ticket holders apologize for our student section being a total embarrassment tonight
I hope the library was packed and everyone aces those tests this week.

[CJDAWG85]

Our student section is the worst in the SEC by a long shot. They provide no home court advantage. I’ve said this for years.

[Gutter Cobreh]

With all due respect Ari, I chose to watch the baseball team wrap up their SWAC thumping before I even turned on the basketball game. If I were a student, I would have been at the baseball game....

[DawgRockur]

With all due respect Ari, I chose to watch the baseball team wrap up their SWAC thumping before I even turned on the basketball game. If I were a student, I would have been at the baseball game....

Pathetic

[Gutter Cobreh]

Why?

[Covercorner2]

Delete

[mstatefan91]

But but but the season ticket holders.. boo hoo******

Go to the games, students. My goodness, this isn't hard. Quit making excuses. If you have to work, fine. If you have a lab or class at the time of that game, fine..

Otherwise, you are making excuses. You are contributing to the lackluster culture that is MSU men's basketball.. All of your asses manage to make it to the women's game (THANK YOU FOR THAT), but you can't make an effort to go to the men's games when it matters... I'm over your excuses.. go and put up or stay home and shut up.

There are 2500 seats or so available to students. There are 20,000+ students that attend MSU. A little over 10% of you are available for basketball games especially if you plan just two days ahead.. I know. I was there not that long ago.

[dantheman4248]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn’t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It’s midterm week and I’ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn’t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

[msugolf]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn’t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It’s midterm week and I’ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn’t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. We have 0 wins over teams projected to make it to the second round of the bracket by seeding. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

Ladies and gentlemen...today's youth summed up perfectly. Entitlement, demanding and whiny. I can't wait for you to enter the real world with that attitude and see how far that gets you. Guess you'll only work hard for your employer if he lets you work from home, sets your own hours, 2 hour lunches, etc.

[Big4Dawg]

"We have 0 wins over teams projected to make it to the second round of the bracket by seeding."

Lmao. Let's cherry pick some more stats.

[dantheman4248]

"We have 0 wins over teams projected to make it to the second round of the bracket by seeding."

Lmao. Let's cherry pick some more stats. Meant that for the year 2019. But anyways, how in the hell is that cherry picked?

2 top 32 wins and they came in 2018. It’s almost March 2019 and we haven’t beaten a single team that’s supposed to make it to the second round since the calendar flipped. It’s a plain fact we have not competed and won against good competition. We are not a top 25 team for this reason.

[RiverCityDawg]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn’t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It’s midterm week and I’ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn’t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

You could have just said you and most of our other students at this point don't really enjoy going to basketball games and saved all that other complete bull shit you typed. Plain and simple.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

You could have just said you and most of our other students at this point don't really enjoy going to basketball games and saved all that other complete bull shit you typed. Plain and simple.

They show up for the women so it's clearly not a basketball thing

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Ladies and gentlemen...today's youth summed up perfectly. Entitlement, demanding and whiny. I can't wait for you to enter the real world with that attitude and see how far that gets you. Guess you'll only work hard for your employer if he lets you work from home, sets your own hours, 2 hour lunches, etc.

Yeah because attending all MSU sports is the exact same as going to your job. Come on man, if I was a student I'd attend when I can but a student owes the team NOTHING. A student signed up to do school. If a student doesn't want to attend our sports that's their prerogative, just because you and I like sports doesn't mean they have to as well.

Also, where do you draw the line? Students should attend what, FB, women's BB, mens BB, baseball, softball, and tennis? Oh you don't give a crap about tennis so you wouldn't sham a student for not showing up? Sounds like a subjective personal standard you're imposing on him

[Dawg2003]

LOL. The student body president should send out an apology. Right. . . . It's amazing the amount of people who think they have a right to tell other people what they should do with their time and money.

[basedog]

Meant that for the year 2019. But anyways, how in the hell is that cherry picked?

2 top 32 wins and they came in 2018. It’s almost March 2019 and we haven’t beaten a single team that’s supposed to make it to the second round since the calendar flipped. It’s a plain fact we have not competed and won against good competition. We are not a top 25 team for this reason.

Dude, support the school and program, you have no idea about the history of our basketball program. Do you realize this 5 game winning streak is the longest since 2008!

It disgusts me that students today have no loyalty to the program. Good luck to your future, when you get a job, give back to the University.

[msugolf]

Yeah because attending all MSU sports is the exact same as going to your job. Come on man, if I was a student I'd attend when I can but a student owes the team NOTHING. A student signed up to do school. If a student doesn't want to attend our sports that's their prerogative, just because you and I like sports doesn't mean they have to as well.

Also, where do you draw the line? Students should attend what, FB, women's BB, mens BB, baseball, softball, and tennis? Oh you don't give a crap about tennis so you wouldn't sham a student for not showing up? Sounds like a subjective personal standard you're imposing on him

HA, he said he personally checked out because the team hadn't done anything noteworthy, which means he obviously cared enough to check out and to put a measure on the teams success in HIS opinion. So I don't know where you're coming from with this BS of not attending because of not caring about the sport. If you don't like basketball, tennis, WBB, football, etc., then don't attend. Doesn't matter to me. But that's not what was implied in his comments. Its a "you better do something really, really good for ME or I don't care" attitude prevalent among todays InstaTwit youth.

[Matty Dispatch]

But but but the season ticket holders.. boo hoo******

Go to the games, students. My goodness, this isn't hard. Quit making excuses. If you have to work, fine. If you have a lab or class at the time of that game, fine..

Otherwise, you are making excuses. You are contributing to the lackluster culture that is MSU men's basketball.. All of your asses manage to make it to the women's game (THANK YOU FOR THAT), but you can't make an effort to go to the men's games when it matters... I'm over your excuses.. go and put up or stay home and shut up.

There are 2500 seats or so available to students. There are 20,000+ students that attend MSU. A little over 10% of you are available for basketball games especially if you plan just two days ahead.. I know. I was there not that long ago.

I wonder what percentage of MSU fans are passionate enough to post on message boards? 2%? Maybe 10% view them but only 2% post. That's probably equals the student excitement level for basketball. 2% show up to every game, 10% follow it and will make sure they are there for big games but aren't going to go out of their way to attend.

The Hump used to be rocking in the early 2000s, but it did help that football completely sucked so basketball had everyone's attention. Now football has had sustained success (which was coupled with a decade of not dancing in basketball), then women's basketball comes out of nowhere to grab attention while baseball is doing things like winning the SEC, going to CWS and opening a new stadium. Sports at MSU are really good right now, but that also means there's a lot of things to attend. Add in the fact that every game is televised so it's pretty easy to just sit one or two out and watch on TV. I love steak but if you fed me a steak a day for 10 straight days I'm probably going to pass on it by the 8th or 9th day.....you may live on campus and get into games for free but you just went to 3 baseball games and 2 basketball games last weekend and you just want to chill on the couch with your girlfriend on Tuesday night and watch on TV.

[gravedigger]

The student body president whoever he / she is needs to send a public apology to the CBH and the Men?s basketball team about the attendance at the game tonight. A ****ing Embarrassment

So. To sum up (if someone reads this board):

Our AD has botched up a football, baseball hire and until 5 games ago, should be getting ready to get rid of the basketball coach.
Our basketball team is undisciplined and cant beat Ole Miss at home and probably wont make the tournament.
Everything in general sucks about our sports program (again, reading this board and pretty much every message board)
Other basketball programs give students premium seats. Ours takes seats away from long time givers and students to make an extra buck.

Conclusion: its a disgrace students dont attend games.

Be honest with yourself. If you check in on the boards to see the state of our athletics every now and then, would it leave you with the impression you SHOULD go to the games?

[PKADogs55]

Look your academics are priority #1, no one is disputing that but, ... Just keep in mind that the team(s) you "Checked Out On", are Student Athletes too, get off your ass and go support them Win, Lose, or Draw. Show a little pride ... after you leave school your going to wish you had.

[Ari Gold]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn?t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It?s midterm week and I?ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn?t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

Maybe you should have gone to MUW ... wouldnt have to worry about sporting events.

[Lord McBuckethead]

It sucks the men's game doesn't create a buzz. The reason it doesn't is because every time we have a chance to do something "special" the team loses. They haven't turned the corner yet, but I still attend games because dammit, these guys are putting it on the line for MSU.

[Liverpooldawg]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn?t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It?s midterm week and I?ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn?t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

Bulls$&@. We are going to the Dance for the first time in a decade. It's the best team we have had in probabaly at least 15 years. It's like you are saying if they aren't undefeated they are trash. This goes for the season ticket holders as well.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

It sucks the men's game doesn't create a buzz. The reason it doesn't is because every time we have a chance to do something "special" the team loses. They haven't turned the corner yet, but I still attend games because dammit, these guys are putting it on the line for MSU.

Punching a ticket to the dance isn't "special"? What's "special" then?

[Ari Gold]

With all due respect Ari, I chose to watch the baseball team wrap up their SWAC thumping before I even turned on the basketball game. If I were a student, I would have been at the baseball game....

With all due respect, if I was a student today I would have gone to the baseball game first , got a little liquored up , watched a few innings against a SWAC team and then walked over to the hump to watch a NCAA tourney team play.
To each his own.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It sucks the men's game doesn't create a buzz. The reason it doesn't is because every time we have a chance to do something "special" the team loses. They haven't turned the corner yet, but I still attend games because dammit, these guys are putting it on the line for MSU.

No the reason it doesn't is because the athletic department refuses to support it. For Christ sake we put out a video yesterday of McCowan losing her damn shoe and blocking a shot. Big 17 deal. She's 5 inches taller than everyone on the damn court. Half the time they don't even remind people that the men are even playing. But shut the town down when the women are playing! It's infuriating to me that we can't get the same level of commitment from the athletic department on down to the fans. Some say they can't win a big home game, their big games have been against Kentucky, who's probably going to be a 1 seed, an LSU team with two lottery picks, and an Ole Miss team who careered it from 3pt range. There's actual parity in men's college basketball, that's what makes the tournament so damn good to watch. Nobody is tuning in to the 3/14 matchup in the women's tournament because it's going to be a 40 pt blowout. But thank god they had good fundamentals right? I'm not saying that the women don't deserve the support they get, because they do. They're a top 5 team. But the men deserve that same support. Hell, some people need to realize Q is about to play his last home game for us. And if there's one thing we can all agree on its that that kid has given everything he's had for our program. Yes they are infuriating at times, but they're the best team we've had in a damn decade. They're a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament, and they're a team that could make a run.

[sleepy dawg]

Meant that for the year 2019. But anyways, how in the hell is that cherry picked?

2 top 32 wins and they came in 2018. It?s almost March 2019 and we haven?t beaten a single team that?s supposed to make it to the second round since the calendar flipped. It?s a plain fact we have not competed and won against good competition. We are not a top 25 team for this reason.

State has the 6th most Quadrant 1 wins in the country. The standard by which the NCAA judges teams, we are very solidly in the top 25. What other stats have you come up with to help you sleep at night?

Net ranks of teams with more Q1 wins than us:
#2 Virginia
#3 Duke
#5 Kentucky
#6 Michigan State
#17 Kansas

[Ari Gold]

Punching a ticket to the dance isn't "special"? What's "special" then?

It’s a pre excuse for those wanting to make an excuse not to come next Sat..
since it’s very possible we drop the next games on the road.
Buzz killer

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

No the reason it doesn't is because the athletic department refuses to support it. For Christ sake we put out a video yesterday of McCowan losing her damn shoe and blocking a shot. Big 17 deal. She's 5 inches taller than everyone on the damn court. Half the time they don't even remind people that the men are even playing. But shut the town down when the women are playing! It's infuriating to me that we can't get the same level of commitment from the athletic department on down to the fans. Some say they can't win a big home game, their big games have been against Kentucky, who's probably going to be a 1 seed, an LSU team with two lottery picks, and an Ole Miss team who careered it from 3pt range. There's actual parity in men's college basketball, that's what makes the tournament so damn good to watch. Nobody is tuning in to the 3/14 matchup in the women's tournament because it's going to be a 40 pt blowout. But thank god they had good fundamentals right? I'm not saying that the women don't deserve the support they get, because they do. They're a top 5 team. But the men deserve that same support. Hell, some people need to realize Q is about to play his last home game for us. And if there's one thing we can all agree on its that that kid has given everything he's had for our program. Yes they are infuriating at times, but they're the best team we've had in a damn decade. They're a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament, and they're a team that could make a run.

This guy gets it.

I really don't understand the grudge our own fans hold against the men's basketball team. There are a lot of excuses on this board about why people can't go to the games, and I get that. Sometimes other commitments hold people back from going, but that's not the reason why fans don't show up for the men's games. People have the same commitments (in general) on a Thursday night that they do on a Tuesday night, but there are going to be 7,000 + at the women's game.

I honestly think it's because our fans think the men should have the same level of success as the women. Also, our fans believe that the women have their level of success simply because they hustle and play fundamental basketball, which is laughable. As Starkville Steve alluded to above, the women win because they have the tallest girl in the game. Also, I don't think our fans know enough about men's college basketball to realize how hard it is to win ANY game. There is a lot of parity in the men's game, and there just isn't in the women's game.

Lastly, the student in this thread specifically mentioned the home loss to Ole Miss. I am kind of convinced that we are obsessed with them as a fan base (I am sure I will be called a Rebel for this). Our fanbase cares WAY too much about beating them. Was it a disappointing loss? -Sure, but is it a reason to give up on the team for the season? HELL NO. I really think a lot of our fans would rather beat Ole Miss twice rather than go to the NCAA tournament. To say this team has done nothing of note is stupid.

[chef dixon]

I can see where the student is coming from to an extent. This team, while ultimately doing really well this season, did most of its best work before football was over and during Christmas break. Our overall SEC play has been mediocre, but obviously improving lately taking care of business with scrub row.

With that said, If I were still a student or lived in Starkville, I would without a doubt be at these games.

[Jack Lambert]

Non-students wasn't much better

Non Students have jobs and families. Many live 2 hrs away. It's damn hard to make mid week games.

[Gutter Cobreh]

With all due respect, if I was a student today I would have gone to the baseball game first , got a little liquored up , watched a few innings against a SWAC team and then walked over to the hump to watch a NCAA tourney team play.
To each his own.

I would have probably been right beside you... It doesn't get much better then that!!!!

My only issue with this topic is that I don't necessarily blame the students for it not being packed against Missouri (who gets excited to watch Missouri do anything?)... we had posters here yesterday asking for "free" floor tickets because they thought it wouldn't be heavily attended (looking at you McBuckethead)... there was also a ticket promo or something I saw where for $10 you could get a ticket to the men's and women's game (if I read it correctly). This tells me that attendance wasn't expected to very high, so no real reason to come on here to complain.

[Liverpooldawg]

I would have probably been right beside you... It doesn't get much better then that!!!!

My only issue with this topic is that I don't necessarily blame the students for it not being packed against Missouri (who gets excited to watch Missouri do anything?)... we had posters here yesterday asking for "free" floor tickets because they thought it wouldn't be heavily attended (looking at you McBuckethead)... there was also a ticket promo or something I saw where for $10 you could get a ticket to the men's and women's game (if I read it correctly). This tells me that attendance wasn't expected to very high, so no real reason to come on here to complain.

Why even mention the opponent? Do you only go to games to see the opponent?

[The Federalist Engineer]

Ladies and gentlemen...today's youth summed up perfectly. Entitlement, demanding and whiny. I can't wait for you to enter the real world with that attitude and see how far that gets you. Guess you'll only work hard for your employer if he lets you work from home, sets your own hours, 2 hour lunches, etc.

I don't get that message, the young fellow is saying this team is not worth the emotional investment. I can understand that. Teams gotta earn the customer's investment.

Plus, I love the fact that he is prioritizing his midterms. That is his primary job, not sports. Sports are for alumni and little kids.

Of course, i have not watched a men's or NBA basketball game in 25 years. I would want a free ticket, free parking, free food, free high quality vodka shots, free baby sitter, and a large screen TV so I can watch college baseball from my free seat.

[sleepy dawg]

I can see where the student is coming from to an extent. This team, while ultimately doing really well this season, did most of its best work before football was over and during Christmas break. Our overall SEC play has been mediocre, but obviously improving lately taking care of business with scrub row.

With that said, If I were still a student or lived in Starkville, I would without a doubt be at these games.

I don't think this is true. We have improved our NET ranking since football I'm pretty sure. SEC schedules are hard. We're not playing like Kentucky, but we've been damn solid.

[smootness]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn?t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It?s midterm week and I?ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn?t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

This is the whiniest thing I've read in a long time. 'I did go one time, and they lost. Boo hoo, I'll never go again.'

[chef dixon]

I don't think this is true. We have improved our NET ranking since football I'm pretty sure. SEC schedules are hard. We're not playing like Kentucky, but we've been damn solid.

Well when we were sitting at 4-6, if that?s not considered mediocre, then its not considered good. But as noted we have been taking care of business lately.

[RougeDawg]

I don't get that message, the young fellow is saying this team is not worth the emotional investment. I can understand that. Teams gotta earn the customer's investment.

Plus, I love the fact that he is prioritizing his midterms. That is his primary job, not sports. Sports are for alumni and little kids.

Of course, i have not watched a men's or NBA basketball game in 25 years. I would want a free ticket, free parking, free food, free high quality vodka shots, free baby sitter, and a large screen TV so I can watch college baseball from my free seat.

Any way you could drop a hint if you work for a publicly traded company? I want to avoid purchase of the stock at all cost if only 5% of your work force has your attitude. Just the stock symbol will work for me. Thanks.

[JoseBrown]

I heard something from a student last night that was very disturbing if true, but I don't think I believe it to be true. She said " only nerds are allowed to go". Said the student ticket availability has been made too inconvenient for some, and damn near impossible for some to attend. Said grades were tied into qualifying for student Tix. I can't see that being true, but she seemed to think it for some reason and didn't try to attend because of it.

Since when does your school team require to be top level performers for students to go? That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. That shitty team represents the school you currently attend. They go to the same school even!! Take classes! Do homework! Take tests! Are your neighbors! And play basketball! That's why you go to games kids! To support your peers! Not to see a team beat top ranked teams only. What kinda shit is that? You have some school spirit, remember high school? I know it's been quite a while...

I've been to many basketball games in different levels and cities, playing, coaching, as a parent, a student, a fan and never had a bad time, and it's freaking two hours. That's it kids. Support your dam classmates...

[Matty Dispatch]

I honestly think it's because our fans think the men should have the same level of success as the women. Also, our fans believe that the women have their level of success simply because they hustle and play fundamental basketball, which is laughable. As Starkville Steve alluded to above, the women win because they have the tallest girl in the game. Also, I don't think our fans know enough about men's college basketball to realize how hard it is to win ANY game. There is a lot of parity in the men's game, and there just isn't in the women's game.



MSU fans prefer the women because:

1. they have a shot at a national title
2. it's fun to dominate in a sport
3. they do exactly what they are coached to do all the time, not just some of the time
4. they have fun and engage the fans
5. the last time MSU men's basketball made the NCAAT, freshmen were in the 3rd grade....meanwhile Vic Scheafer has more NCAAT wins in the last 2 years than the history of MSU men's basketball, so it's easy to see why they have a lot more momentum

[RougeDawg]

Well when we were sitting at 4-6, if that?s not considered mediocre, then its not considered good. But as noted we have been taking care of business lately.

Even Stevie wonder could see that us sitting at 4-6 was an anomaly. Has context been lost on the human race. Do we just disregard context to situations and statements? 4-6 by itself was bad. But add in some basic context to the way we got there, and it looks completely different.

[mstatefan91]

I don't get that message, the young fellow is saying this team is not worth the emotional investment. I can understand that. Teams gotta earn the customer's investment.

Plus, I love the fact that he is prioritizing his midterms. That is his primary job, not sports. Sports are for alumni and little kids.

Of course, i have not watched a men's or NBA basketball game in 25 years. I would want a free ticket, free parking, free food, free high quality vodka shots, free baby sitter, and a large screen TV so I can watch college baseball from my free seat.
I know this is hard to believe, but it is possible to do well in school and to attend Men's Basketball..

Now, if you don't want to go then just say you don't want to go.. stop with the BS whining.. cause that's what it is (directed at the student, not you)

[mstatefan91]

I heard something from a student last night that was very disturbing if true, but I don't think I believe it to be true. She said " only nerds are allowed to go". Said the student ticket availability has been made too inconvenient for some, and damn near impossible for some to attend. Said grades were tied into qualifying for student Tix. I can't see that being true, but she seemed to think it for some reason and didn't try to attend because of it.

Since when does your school team require to be top level performers for students to go? That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. That shitty team represents the school you currently attend. They go to the same school even!! Take classes! Do homework! Take tests! Are your neighbors! And play basketball! That's why you go to games kids! To support your peers! Not to see a team beat top ranked teams only. What kinda shit is that? You have some school spirit, remember high school? I know it's been quite a while...

I've been to many basketball games in different levels and cities, playing, coaching, as a parent, a student, a fan and never had a bad time, and it's freaking two hours. That's it kids. Support your dam classmates...

That is absolutely false. Student tickets are included in every student's tuition, regardless of grades.. You simply swipe your student ID at the gate/door and get in for free..

[JNC23]

I heard something from a student last night that was very disturbing if true, but I don't think I believe it to be true. She said " only nerds are allowed to go". Said the student ticket availability has been made too inconvenient for some, and damn near impossible for some to attend. Said grades were tied into qualifying for student Tix. I can't see that being true, but she seemed to think it for some reason and didn't try to attend because of it.

Since when does your school team require to be top level performers for students to go? That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. That shitty team represents the school you currently attend. They go to the same school even!! Take classes! Do homework! Take tests! Are your neighbors! And play basketball! That's why you go to games kids! To support your peers! Not to see a team beat top ranked teams only. What kinda shit is that? You have some school spirit, remember high school? I know it's been quite a while...

I've been to many basketball games in different levels and cities, playing, coaching, as a parent, a student, a fan and never had a bad time, and it's freaking two hours. That's it kids. Support your dam classmates...

I won't get into the why's and how's of our pitiful fanbase's pitiful commitment to men's basketball, but as a current student who hasn't missed a men's or women's game in the Hump this year this is 1000% fictional.

Student tickets are free to all students for every sport except for football. Football just implemented a system that rewards students who attend every game with priority ticket purchase for the next year. All that students have to do at MSU to attend every basketball game is have a full-time student ID.

I rarely post here but i feel it necessary to clear this up so that no one believes that it's an actual issue. There is no correlation between academic performance and access to sporting events for MSU students. The student you heard this from is clueless and uninformed about athletics at MSU.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

MSU fans prefer the women because:

1. they have a shot at a national title
2. it's fun to dominate in a sport
3. they do exactly what they are coached to do all the time, not just some of the time
4. they have fun and engage the fans
5. the last time MSU men's basketball made the NCAAT, freshmen were in the 3rd grade....meanwhile Vic Scheafer has more NCAAT wins in the last 2 years than the history of MSU men's basketball, so it's easy to see why they have a lot more momentum

Number 1 is the only reason people care. Next year when McCowan and Howard are gone, and we have lost 5 or 6 games, not a single person will notice that they are doing what they are coached to do or engaging the fans and taking pictures.

Our fans are so starved for a national championship in something that they are willing to follow whatever sport we have a chance in. People have just convinced themselves that they have loved women's basketball for years. Hell, a majority of this board used to use sarcastic and derogatory names when referring to the women's team.

[tcdog70]

17 Me running, what a crock of shit. When I was a student we were lucky to win a SEC game. But the students showed up every SEC game. Who wouldn't want to go see Q play. Our 2 Freshmen are among the best in the Nation. If you are sitting you ass in Starkville and the cost is 0 , please go to,the Hump and support our Team. The HUMP was at one time the rockingest place to play in the SEC. this team is on a run and playing their hearts out. Get up off your lazy ass and go help them.

[MadDawg]

MSU fans prefer the women because:

1. they have a shot at a national title
2. it's fun to dominate in a sport
3. they do exactly what they are coached to do all the time, not just some of the time
4. they have fun and engage the fans
5. the last time MSU men's basketball made the NCAAT, freshmen were in the 3rd grade....meanwhile Vic Scheafer has more NCAAT wins in the last 2 years than the history of MSU men's basketball, so it's easy to see why they have a lot more momentum

There is so much jealousy on here towards the women's program, it's pretty ugly actually.

[Rawdawg]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn?t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It?s midterm week and I?ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn?t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.

Earn goodwill??? We?re a 6 seed at worst right now which means we?re one of the top 30 out of 350 basketball teams in America. No good wins??? We have played 12 quad 1 games which is 3rd nationally and are 8-4 in those games which is tied for 3rd nationally. Our strength of schedule is 12, tops in the SEC. You sir, have no idea what you?re talking about and couldn?t be a softer human being.

[MadDawg]

17 Me running, what a crock of shit. When I was a student we were lucky to win a SEC game. But the students showed up every SEC game. Who wouldn't want to go see Q play. Our 2 Freshmen are among the best in the Nation. If you are sitting you ass in Starkville and the cost is 0 , please go to,the Hump and support our Team. The HUMP was at one time the rockingest place to play in the SEC. this team is on a run and playing their hearts out. Get up off your lazy ass and go help them.

I'm as surprised as anyone that the fan base hasn't returned for the men's team. They are playing really good ball this year and it's a fun and entertaining product. But let's at least be honest about it. We did this to ourselves. We blew up the men's program and then decided to keep the program in the dumpster for several years by making the worst basketball hire in modern times with Ray. We killed any tradition we had for filling up the Hump for men's games. The product was putrid. But we are light-years better now. Why the fans haven't come back yet is beyond me.

[Big4Dawg]

I'm as surprised as anyone that the fan base hasn't returned for the men's team. They are playing really good ball this year and it's a fun and entertaining product. But let's at least be honest about it. We did this to ourselves. We blew up the men's program and then decided to keep the program in the dumpster for several years by making the worst basketball hire in modern times with Ray. We killed any tradition we had for filling up the Hump for men's games. The product was putrid. But we are light-years better now. Why the fans haven't come back yet is beyond me.

Cohen really needs to fix this - it's his responsibility. The product is there. If people who have season tickets don't get their tickets scanned - DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

[StarkVegasSteve]

MSU fans prefer the women because:

1. they have a shot at a national title
2. it's fun to dominate in a sport
3. they do exactly what they are coached to do all the time, not just some of the time
4. they have fun and engage the fans
5. the last time MSU men's basketball made the NCAAT, freshmen were in the 3rd grade....meanwhile Vic Scheafer has more NCAAT wins in the last 2 years than the history of MSU men's basketball, so it's easy to see why they have a lot more momentum

Lot to unpack here.

1. They do have a shot at a national title, no one is denying that. I'm happy that they've been able to become that type of program.
2. Is it really fun to dominate a sport with no parity and only about 15 good teams?
3. They actually don't do what they're coached to do all the time. If you listen to Schaefer in just about every post game press conference he talks about the defense and blocking out being crap for large stretches of games
4. They do engage the fans. But so do the men. They just go in the locker room first after the game instead of staying to take photos. They actually come out after and you're more than welcome to get photos with them. Seen plenty of people do it.
5. He does have a lot of wins in the tournament. Congrats. But again it goes back to the parity in men's basketball. It's a hell of a lot easier to make the women's tournament. It's also a lot easier to win all those games when you're playing at home. Hell, we'd have been downright dominant in the mid 2000s had we gotten home games in the mens tourney. Instead we were shipped to Dallas as a 3 seed to play Texas, a 6 seed in 02. Ran up against a 12 seed Butler in 03, who made the Sweet 16 and in 04 played a Xavier team who made it to the Elite 8. If we play those games at home. Stansbury has at least 3 more NCAA tournament wins and we're probably a Final 4 team in 04. Also you don't see those types of things happen in the women's tournament. When was the last time a team lower than a 4 seed made it to the Final 4 in the women's tourney? Once since 2008, Louisville a 5 seed. Since 2008 in the men's tourney, 10 teams have made the Final 4 seeded higher than a 4.

Again, not taking anything away from Vic and his team. What he's done is great and I'm proud of what he's built for Mississippi State. I'm just saying it's not as easy as saying they're dominant because they play hard. They're a lot more factors that go into that. Parity being the biggest thing.

[DudyDawg]

I heard something from a student last night that was very disturbing if true, but I don't think I believe it to be true. She said " only nerds are allowed to go". Said the student ticket availability has been made too inconvenient for some, and damn near impossible for some to attend. Said grades were tied into qualifying for student Tix. I can't see that being true, but she seemed to think it for some reason and didn't try to attend because of it.

Since when does your school team require to be top level performers for students to go? That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. That shitty team represents the school you currently attend. They go to the same school even!! Take classes! Do homework! Take tests! Are your neighbors! And play basketball! That's why you go to games kids! To support your peers! Not to see a team beat top ranked teams only. What kinda shit is that? You have some school spirit, remember high school? I know it's been quite a while...

I've been to many basketball games in different levels and cities, playing, coaching, as a parent, a student, a fan and never had a bad time, and it's freaking two hours. That's it kids. Support your dam classmates...

Lol. Calling any student athletes, much less men?s hoops or FB, ?peers? with regular students is laughable. As if these guys are Joe accounting major stumbling into class like the rest of the students. That?s just a stupid argument to cite as a reason to go.

But I can understand why students don?t care. Why would you be motivated to go to a game, sit in row 30 and look thru the back of the goal while row 3 on the sideline is wide open? Students, alumni, no one is committed. Full stop. And college basketball as a whole is just not very good basketball


ETA: meant to quite the guy saying students need to support peers, apologies

[mstatefan91]

Lol. Calling any student athletes, much less men?s hoops or FB, ?peers? with regular students is laughable. As if these guys are Joe accounting major stumbling into class like the rest of the students. That?s just a stupid argument to cite as a reason to go.

But I can understand why students don?t care. Why would you be motivated to go to a game, sit in row 30 and look thru the back of the goal while row 3 on the sideline is wide open? Students, alumni, no one is committed. Full stop. And college basketball as a whole is just not very good basketball


ETA: meant to quite the guy saying students need to support peers, apologies

Student athletes are the student's peers.. You do realize that those student athletes spend just as much (usually more) time on campus? I saw student athletes everywhere in my time there. Ate meals with quite a few and had a study group with a few of them as well. They absolutely were my peers. They just played a sport (and dedicated a ton of time and energy to it) and some of them were looking to make it their profession..

[Rayburn8]

The student body president whoever he / she is needs to send a public apology to the CBH and the Men?s basketball team about the attendance at the game tonight. A ****ing Embarrassment

It?s midterm week and we?re playing Mizzou.

I and many others have test today and Thursday, so I didn?t go.

Also SA elections were yesterday and they have an event to announce results. A lot of the involved people who all go to games were there.

Lastly it?d help if athletics advertised games on campus at all. You?d get a lot of people with nothing to do who just didn?t know there was a game.

Also the get off my lawn people really got to take a break. School is more time consuming now than it was back then for people who care. There are way less jobs than when you went to school and so the current students have to do extra crap to ensure they get a job. Degree doesn?t equal job anymore. So all the extra crap students have to do contributes. Especially on mid-week games. Also college is significantly more expensive then it used to be, so a lot of students have jobs.

Quit talking down and tell students what they need to do just because your college experience was different and you had more time to do shit and cared more about sports.

ETA: I’m aware that student athletes are students too btw. I’ve studied with players before, but they also get a lot of resources that help them with school we don’t. Also their sport is thier extra-curricular stuff.

[mstatefan91]

It?s midterm week and we?re playing Mizzou.

I and many others have test today and Thursday, so I didn?t go.

Also SA elections were yesterday and they have an event to announce results. A lot of the involved people who all go to games were there.

Lastly it?d help if athletics advertised games on campus at all. You?d get a lot of people with nothing to do who just didn?t know there was a game.

Also the get off my lawn people really got to take a break. School is more time consuming now than it was back then for people who care. There are way less jobs than when you went to school and so the current students have to do extra crap to ensure they get a job. Degree doesn?t equal job anymore. So all the extra crap students have to do contributes. Especially on mid-week games. Also college is significantly more expensive then it used to be, so a lot of students have jobs.

Quit talking down and tell students what they need to do just because your college experience was different and you had more time to do shit and cared more about sports.
It is amazing to me that college students today think that it is so much harder now than literally just a decade or less (for some) ago.

Oh, and there are currently more jobs available than in the past decade.. but I guess that would depend on your desired career path.

I guess students at other universities have it easier.. they seem to attend the games lol what a weak argument.. college hard, sports bad.

[DudyDawg]

Student athletes are the student's peers.. You do realize that those student athletes spend just as much (usually more) time on campus? I saw student athletes everywhere in my time there. Ate meals with quite a few and had a study group with a few of them as well. They absolutely were my peers. They just played a sport (and dedicated a ton of time and energy to it) and some of them were looking to make it their profession..

I'm sorry, but they just aren't anymore. Look at the money and benefits thrown at these guys.

The time (usually more as you say) spent on campus is spent in multi-million dollar training facilities, not wooden desks in a library corner. A lot of the "study halls" premier athletes go to are them getting tests- see: University of North Carolina. In the past, yes, student athletes were students that happened to play a sport. That is no longer the case. I am not saying most don't work hard on the court or even in class, but to act like they are the same as a regular student is laughable.

[chef dixon]

Even Stevie wonder could see that us sitting at 4-6 was an anomaly. Has context been lost on the human race. Do we just disregard context to situations and statements? 4-6 by itself was bad. But add in some basic context to the way we got there, and it looks completely different.

I just stated we were playing mediocre, which is what we were doing at 4-6 at best. There's context in everything. Starting SEC play 0-2 with losses to a misfit South Carolina team then Ole Miss on our home floor when everyone is back to school and ready to try embrace basketball season was killer. We haven't really had any defining big win since that time either. For the most part it has been very workman like to get to where we are now, and casual fans may not appreciate that as much.

Look, I'm not disagreeing that the support for the team sucks, just giving some reasons as to possibly why.

[Dawg2003]

Number 1 is the only reason people care. Next year when McCowan and Howard are gone, and we have lost 5 or 6 games, not a single person will notice that they are doing what they are coached to do or engaging the fans and taking pictures.

Our fans are so starved for a national championship in something that they are willing to follow whatever sport we have a chance in. People have just convinced themselves that they have loved women's basketball for years. Hell, a majority of this board used to use sarcastic and derogatory names when referring to the women's team.

A lot of the women's basketball fan base is local. You get more attendance for big games and on weekends, but Schaefer has specifically stated that he did certain things to build a local fan base. It didn't just happen. The die hards of that fan base are all locals that will be there for years to come. They don't even rely on students. Schaefer and the players went out into the community to build a fan base that will stick with them. This was all done purposefully because he knew how to do it from experience.

Men's basketball failed to do this. You have to build a local fan base that is your ride or die core. You can't rely on people living 2 hours away to come to a game here and there. You can't rely on people who get to pick out a few games a year to attend.

[mstatefan91]

I'm sorry, but they just aren't anymore. Look at the money and benefits thrown at these guys.

The time (usually more as you say) spent on campus is spent in multi-million dollar training facilities, not wooden desks in a library corner. A lot of the "study halls" premier athletes go to are them getting tests- see: University of North Carolina. In the past, yes, student athletes were students that happened to play a sport. That is no longer the case. I am not saying most don't work hard on the court or even in class, but to act like they are the same as a regular student is laughable.

I was quite literally at Mississippi State within the last few years as a student.. I attended class with a lot of baseball, softball, some football, and other athletes.. they attended group meetings, ate at the same cafeteria as us and in the union with us.

You can believe me or not. But student athletes at Mississippi State are generally peers of other students.. not to say all of them are, but a lot of them are.

[chef dixon]

I'll also add that the crowd on Saturday was very noticeably loud on TV, although may not have been full. Granted it was a Saturday and the match up was more important/exciting.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It?s midterm week and we?re playing Mizzou.

I and many others have test today and Thursday, so I didn?t go.

Also SA elections were yesterday and they have an event to announce results. A lot of the involved people who all go to games were there.

Lastly it?d help if athletics advertised games on campus at all. You?d get a lot of people with nothing to do who just didn?t know there was a game.

Also the get off my lawn people really got to take a break. School is more time consuming now than it was back then for people who care. There are way less jobs than when you went to school and so the current students have to do extra crap to ensure they get a job. Degree doesn?t equal job anymore. So all the extra crap students have to do contributes. Especially on mid-week games. Also college is significantly more expensive then it used to be, so a lot of students have jobs.

Quit talking down and tell students what they need to do just because your college experience was different and you had more time to do shit and cared more about sports.

ETA: I’m aware that student athletes are students too btw. I’ve studied with players before, but they also get a lot of resources that help them with school we don’t. Also their sport is thier extra-curricular stuff.

I'll agree with you that the university does a S*** job promoting the fact we play. All the other stuff though.........that's a bunch of BS. And this isn't directed solely at you because these same excuses are used by hundreds of students as to why they can't attend the games. School isn't any more time consuming now than it was when I was a student, during the Ray era and first part of Howland. I went to every game and got a great job. And btw had a job my last 3 years in school. Never affected me missing a game. Were you really studying from the time you got out of class til the time you went to bed? If you were, awesome, you're a 1000x better student than I was. But I imagine you took a break to watch Netflix and dick around. You could've spent that break at the game. And who in the 17 goes to an event announcing the winners of SA elections? Hell I bet 65% of the campus didn't know who was running.

If you chose not to go that's your decision, you certainly don't have to. But don't come with all the BS excuses.

[mstatefan91]

I'll agree with you that the university does a S*** job promoting the fact we play. All the other stuff though.........that's a bunch of BS. School isn't any more time consuming now than it was when I was a student, during the Ray era and first part of Howland. I went to every game and got a great job. And btw had a job my last 3 years in school. Never affected me missing a game. Were you really studying from the time you got out of class til the time you went to bed? If you were, awesome, you're a 1000x better student than I was. But I imagine you took a break to watch Netflix and dick around. You could've spent that break at the game. And who in the 17 goes to an event announcing the winners of SA elections? Hell I bet 65% of the campus didn't know who was running.

If you chose not to go that's your decision, you certainly don't have to. But don't come with all the BS excuses.

https://media.giphy.com/media/14ceV8wMLIGO6Q/giphy.gif

[DudyDawg]

It is amazing to me that college students today think that it is so much harder now than literally just a decade or less (for some) ago. .

I'm not saying it is harder, but the average student in the class of 2016 was $36,000 in student debt. The average. Things have changed in the last decade.

[Rayburn8]

It is amazing to me that college students today think that it is so much harder now than literally just a decade or less (for some) ago.

Oh, and there are currently more jobs available than in the past decade.. but I guess that would depend on your desired career path.

I guess students at other universities have it easier.. they seem to attend the games lol what a weak argument.. college hard, sports bad.

The irony here is students don?t attend games at other schools. Everyone is having these issues except blueboolds.

And you know what, I?ll just tell my roommates to quit theur job and not make rent to go to a 17n basketball game.

You know what I?ll fail my test tomorrow to watch is crush Mizzou.

Get out of here with your sports over everything BS.

[DudyDawg]

I guess students at other universities have it easier.. they seem to attend the games lol what a weak argument.. college hard, sports bad.

The head coach of literally the best football program of all time has to beg students to come and stay at games. This isnt just an MSU problem.

[Rayburn8]

I'll agree with you that the university does a S*** job promoting the fact we play. All the other stuff though.........that's a bunch of BS. And this isn't directed solely at you because these same excuses are used by hundreds of students as to why they can't attend the games. School isn't any more time consuming now than it was when I was a student, during the Ray era and first part of Howland. I went to every game and got a great job. And btw had a job my last 3 years in school. Never affected me missing a game. Were you really studying from the time you got out of class til the time you went to bed? If you were, awesome, you're a 1000x better student than I was. But I imagine you took a break to watch Netflix and dick around. You could've spent that break at the game. And who in the 17 goes to an event announcing the winners of SA elections? Hell I bet 65% of the campus didn't know who was running.

If you chose not to go that's your decision, you certainly don't have to. But don't come with all the BS excuses.

Not excuses, and that post wasn’t directed at the 10 years ago crowd. That was directed at the very loud older crowd.

I’m giving reasons I hear people choose not to go to games. It can be a reason something happens, without being an excuse.

There are a lot fo contributing factors, what I listed above are some of them.

These are for mid-wek games. Saturday games the reasons go way down and I think we should be doing a better job there.

Women games probably get better attendance because they are usually on Thursday and Sunday, which are better than Tuesday and Saturday for people to attend.

[mstatefan91]

I'm not saying it is harder, but the average student in the class of 2016 was $36,000 in student debt. The average. Things have changed in the last decade.

I was there.

[Homedawg]

Cohen really needs to fix this - it's his responsibility. The product is there. If people who have season tickets don't get their tickets scanned - DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

like what? not take their money???? I'd love to see a packed hump, but we have a small bulldog club as it is and need all the money we can get. And ticket access isn't the problem. I've been to 2 games this year with an extra ticket and never even had one person walk up asking for it, not one. Walked by 20 scalpers in the meantime too. The demand is about zero.

[mstatefan91]

The irony here is students don?t attend games at other schools. Everyone is having these issues except blueboolds.

And you know what, I?ll just tell my roommates to quit theur job and not make rent to go to a 17n basketball game.

You know what I?ll fail my test tomorrow to watch is crush Mizzou.

Get out of here with your sports over everything BS.

Man your sob story is amazing. It's like people didn't have to work or study until the last few years.

If you don't want to go to the games then don't go to the games but I worked and studied and made it to the majority of them..

[StarkVegasSteve]

The irony here is students don?t attend games at other schools. Everyone is having these issues except blueboolds.

And you know what, I?ll just tell my roommates to quit theur job and not make rent to go to a 17n basketball game.

You know what I?ll fail my test tomorrow to watch is crush Mizzou.

Get out of here with your sports over everything BS.

Ole Miss and Auburn have a packed student section every game. They ain't bluebloods. But I'm sure that's because they have better seats. Another great excuse our students use of why they don't come. Be the difference wherever you're sitting. And yes I understand that us non students aren't standing the whole game like students. If it wouldn't cause I riot in my section I'd stand the whole game as well. Unfortunately, I've had Rent-A-Cop called on me twice this year because some old lady behind me complained she couldn't see.

[DudyDawg]

Ole Miss and Auburn have a packed student section every game. They ain't bluebloods. But I'm sure that's because they have better seats. Another great excuse our students use of why they don't come. Be the difference wherever you're sitting. And yes I understand that us non students aren't standing the whole game like students. If it wouldn't cause I riot in my section I'd stand the whole game as well. Unfortunately, I've had Rent-A-Cop called on me twice this year because some old lady behind me complained she couldn't see.

They are in brand new arenas, right next to the sideline. I went to a handful of games in school. I'd have gone to more if my seats were sideline seats in row 5, not row 25 in a spot where I can see one of two rims. The product SUCKED for a whole generation of students. It takes more than one year of a tourney team (who isnt even ranked) to get those people invested. Myself included.

[StarkVegasSteve]

They are in brand new arenas, right next to the sideline. I went to a handful of games in school. I'd have gone to more if my seats were sideline seats in row 5, not row 25 in a spot where I can see one of two rims. The product SUCKED for a whole generation of students. It takes more than one year of a tourney team (who isnt even ranked) to get those people invested. Myself included.

I don't disagree with you that the product was BAD for a generation of students. But, it's not anymore. This team is good. And if you're sitting directly behind the goal then yea your view probably isn't very good. But you could sit to the side of the goal as well. The students have three sections in the lower bowl. For this season I guess it doesn't really matter anymore cause we know no students will be at the A&M game because of spring break. But next season the students need to be better. This year was terrible outside of one game.

[MaroonBelle]

It?s midterm week and we?re playing Mizzou.

I and many others have test today and Thursday, so I didn?t go.

Also SA elections were yesterday and they have an event to announce results. A lot of the involved people who all go to games were there.

Lastly it?d help if athletics advertised games on campus at all. You?d get a lot of people with nothing to do who just didn?t know there was a game.

Also the get off my lawn people really got to take a break. School is more time consuming now than it was back then for people who care. There are way less jobs than when you went to school and so the current students have to do extra crap to ensure they get a job. Degree doesn?t equal job anymore. So all the extra crap students have to do contributes. Especially on mid-week games. Also college is significantly more expensive then it used to be, so a lot of students have jobs.

Quit talking down and tell students what they need to do just because your college experience was different and you had more time to do shit and cared more about sports.

ETA: I?m aware that student athletes are students too btw. I?ve studied with players before, but they also get a lot of resources that help them with school we don?t. Also their sport is thier extra-curricular stuff.

I find it absolutely impossible to believe that any student who is even remotely dialed in to what is going on on this campus did not know there was a game. They have TWITTER. They have INSTAGRAM. They have FACEBOOK. I have all of those and my social media feeds have been inundated for days promoting this game. Hell, my 70 year old parents follow all the sports accounts on Twitter to find out about games times, etc. This is a ridiculous excuse. What do you want the school to do, drop flyers from a helicopter and paper the campus? They knew, they chose not to come. Full stop. Period.

I will say this, as I have said before, they should run buses later on campus on game days. Buses stop running at 6 pm. This is definitely prohibitive to getting students from the dorms to the games.

All those who say they do a poor job promoting...what should they do to get your attention? They are constantly on social media asking people to attend, they send out the hailstate update newsletter to email every week which details every game and has links to purchase tickets. Do you want them to call you? Some of the impetus to keep up with what is going on in athletics is on the consumer themselves. If you just sit back and say "well, they should let me know when these things happen." but take no action to subscribe to the methods you know that they do use to notify fans then you are failing as much as them.

[DudyDawg]

I don't disagree with you that the product was BAD for a generation of students. But, it's not anymore. This team is good. And if you're sitting directly behind the goal then yea your view probably isn't very good. But you could sit to the side of the goal as well. The students have three sections in the lower bowl. For this season I guess it doesn't really matter anymore cause we know no students will be at the A&M game because of spring break. But next season the students need to be better. This year was terrible outside of one game.

I do agree it should be better, and i think next year will be coming off an NCAA bid. But I do think seating is a factor. As well as poor promotion like someone mentioned previously. I am a recent grad, and live in Memphis. I haven't been to a game in Starkville this year, and didnt even know we were playing South Carolina the other day until my phone buzzed w the final score. I love basketball, live fairly close, and am a recent grad with a job. I am THE target market for the Ath. Department to be getting invested in the program, and I'm just meh. And being a 6/7 seed after a decade of suck just isn't enough by itself to get me invested.

[Jarius]

The irony here is students don?t attend games at other schools. Everyone is having these issues except blueboolds.

And you know what, I?ll just tell my roommates to quit theur job and not make rent to go to a 17n basketball game.

You know what I?ll fail my test tomorrow to watch is crush Mizzou.

Get out of here with your sports over everything BS.

Sounds like a time management class is needed. Maybe students should all join the military. We are awesome at teaching backwards planning. If you guys don’t think you have time now, I can’t wait to see what you think when you actually get busy in life.

[Matty Dispatch]

I do agree it should be better, and i think next year will be coming off an NCAA bid. But I do think seating is a factor. As well as poor promotion like someone mentioned previously. I am a recent grad, and live in Memphis. I haven't been to a game in Starkville this year, and didnt even know we were playing South Carolina the other day until my phone buzzed w the final score. I love basketball, live fairly close, and am a recent grad with a job. I am THE target market for the Ath. Department to be getting invested in the program, and I'm just meh. And being a 6/7 seed after a decade of suck just isn't enough by itself to get me invested.

One of the things I've always found interesting, is that people will tear you up if you aren't a big fan of the sport of basketball, but if you aren't a big fan of baseball then that's ok you just don't like it.

The fact is, a lot of people just don't like basketball that much. When football and baseball are good too, it kind of turns basketball season into a secondary sports option. 10 years ago football and baseball sucked, and basketball was all there was. 15 years ago football sucked, baseball was ok and basketball was the only real show in town......so even if you didn't like basketball that much it was your priority.

I count myself in this boat. When I was in school we absolutely sucked in football, but basketball made the NCAAT every year. I showed up for basketball games 2 hours early and loved every minute of it. After I graduated I came to the realization that I didn't actually like basketball that much, I just like winning and having fun with friends at the game....and with football and baseball doing better it was more fun to save my time and money for those sports.

If I was a student right now, the football and baseball games are just more fun to attend. There's tailgating and girls at both. Basketball games just aren't what they used to be because they aren't the only show in town anymore, which severely dampens the student body excitement level.

[bluelightstar]

A lot of the women's basketball fan base is local. You get more attendance for big games and on weekends, but Schaefer has specifically stated that he did certain things to build a local fan base. It didn't just happen. The die hards of that fan base are all locals that will be there for years to come. They don't even rely on students. Schaefer and the players went out into the community to build a fan base that will stick with them. This was all done purposefully because he knew how to do it from experience.

Men's basketball failed to do this. You have to build a local fan base that is your ride or die core. You can't rely on people living 2 hours away to come to a game here and there. You can't rely on people who get to pick out a few games a year to attend.

Isn't WBB general admission and/or no huge donation for season tickets? Easier to get a local fanbase when it costs significantly less. And again, our Starkville campus has like 17,000 students. You telling me we can't get 10% of that number to the Hump?

[DawgFromOxford]

As a current student, I was not at the game last night. I actually had an obligation to take care of last night, but even if I didn't I was undecided on whether or not I was going to go to the game.
Here's why:

1. I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT BASKETBALL THAT MUCH. It's easily third priority for me out of the big 3.

2. Emotionally, I'm just not invested (this is different than not supporting the team completely). I tried to be, but watching the team not play to their potential early in SEC play combined with point number 1 lost me. I'm glad they are playing well now and happy they are winning, but I'm just emotionally not in it. It's going to take a highlight win or two to get me back in emotionally. No qualifying for the dance (something we haven't done in a decade, I get it) doesn't have me emotionally invested. Every time the team hits a major turning point we seem to squander it. I'm glad we will make the big dance, but if we lose game 1 it does nothing for me when we are a talented, seasoned team.

3. The men's games in terms of ones I have been to this year (there have been multiple), just haven't been that exciting in terms of actual game play in my opinion. I'd rather sit at home and work on a paper thats due while streaming the game rather than spend 2 hours at the hump watching a game that just doesn't excite me.

It's not that I don't support the team, or even that I don't care. I want them to win every game they play. I just don't care enough to spend 2 hours of my day every single time we have a home game to go watch in person, especially when playing a team like mizzou. I've been to games this season, and who knows, maybe I'll stick around an extra day on my spring break and watch us play our final home game. I sat in the student section for many games during the Rick Ray era to watch us score 43 points when there were maybe 500 people in the hump, so please tell me I'm ungrateful. And quit with the "there's 20,000 students. there's no reason it shouldn't be full." The Golden Triangle has a population of 128,000 but I don't see any complaints about why we can't get 10% of them to show up every game.

TLDR: Don't really care about basketball. No emotional investment. Game play isn't a good product. Students don't have to go to games just because you think they should. Give them a product that's fun and exciting consistently, and they'll be back.

[Dawg2003]

Isn't WBB general admission and/or no huge donation for season tickets? Easier to get a local fanbase when it costs significantly less.

There is reserved seating and general admission for season ticket holders, but it's cheaper. Don't know about the donation.

[DogsofAnarchy]

Speaking as a current student.

L. O. Freaking. L.

We went to the Ole Miss game. Packed it out. They shit the bed. This team doesn?t respond to home court advantage.

I personally checked out and only go if I have nothing better to do. It?s midterm week and I?ve also got a senior design project to work on. I have plenty of better things to do than watch us play against one of the 3 worst teams in the SEC. Most students are in the same boat.

This team wants support? Do something noteworthy. There isn?t a single noteworthy win we have had in 2019. Wofford (8) and Cincinnati (7) are the only two wins we have over teams seeded to win their first round game.

This team has had an uninspiring year for being so full of hope. On top of this, they lost at home to ole miss when support was at its highest. Their performance left no goodwill for the students. The incentive to support someone in the middle of midterm week against a basement dweller who has that black eye on their resume is close to zero.

This basketball team has to earn its goodwill in big games for anyone to care about little games. Plain and simple.


You’re full of shit titty baby. Go home and jack off to Dixie...it might make you feel better you total waste of space!!

[mstatefan91]

As a current student, I was not at the game last night. I actually had an obligation to take care of last night, but even if I didn't I was undecided on whether or not I was going to go to the game.
Here's why:

1. I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT BASKETBALL THAT MUCH. It's easily third priority for me out of the big 3.

2. Emotionally, I'm just not invested (this is different than not supporting the team completely). I tried to be, but watching the team not play to their potential early in SEC play combined with point number 1 lost me. I'm glad they are playing well now and happy they are winning, but I'm just emotionally not in it. It's going to take a highlight win or two to get me back in emotionally. No qualifying for the dance (something we haven't done in a decade, I get it) doesn't have me emotionally invested. Every time the team hits a major turning point we seem to squander it. I'm glad we will make the big dance, but if we lose game 1 it does nothing for me when we are a talented, seasoned team.

3. The men's games in terms of ones I have been to this year (there have been multiple), just haven't been that exciting in terms of actual game play in my opinion. I'd rather sit at home and work on a paper thats due while streaming the game rather than spend 2 hours at the hump watching a game that just doesn't excite me.

It's not that I don't support the team, or even that I don't care. I want them to win every game they play. I just don't care enough to spend 2 hours of my day every single time we have a home game to go watch in person, especially when playing a team like mizzou. I've been to games this season, and who knows, maybe I'll stick around an extra day on my spring break and watch us play our final home game. I sat in the student section for many games during the Rick Ray era to watch us score 43 points when there were maybe 500 people in the hump, so please tell me I'm ungrateful. And quit with the "there's 20,000 students. there's no reason it shouldn't be full." The Golden Triangle has a population of 128,000 but I don't see any complaints about why we can't get 10% of them to show up every game.

TLDR: Don't really care about basketball. No emotional investment. Game play isn't a good product. Students don't have to go to games just because you think they should. Give them a product that's fun and exciting consistently, and they'll be back.

At least you’re honest. Thank you

[StarkVegasSteve]

As a current student, I was not at the game last night. I actually had an obligation to take care of last night, but even if I didn't I was undecided on whether or not I was going to go to the game.
Here's why:

1. I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT BASKETBALL THAT MUCH. It's easily third priority for me out of the big 3.

2. Emotionally, I'm just not invested (this is different than not supporting the team completely). I tried to be, but watching the team not play to their potential early in SEC play combined with point number 1 lost me. I'm glad they are playing well now and happy they are winning, but I'm just emotionally not in it. It's going to take a highlight win or two to get me back in emotionally. No qualifying for the dance (something we haven't done in a decade, I get it) doesn't have me emotionally invested. Every time the team hits a major turning point we seem to squander it. I'm glad we will make the big dance, but if we lose game 1 it does nothing for me when we are a talented, seasoned team.

3. The men's games in terms of ones I have been to this year (there have been multiple), just haven't been that exciting in terms of actual game play in my opinion. I'd rather sit at home and work on a paper thats due while streaming the game rather than spend 2 hours at the hump watching a game that just doesn't excite me.

It's not that I don't support the team, or even that I don't care. I want them to win every game they play. I just don't care enough to spend 2 hours of my day every single time we have a home game to go watch in person, especially when playing a team like mizzou. I've been to games this season, and who knows, maybe I'll stick around an extra day on my spring break and watch us play our final home game. I sat in the student section for many games during the Rick Ray era to watch us score 43 points when there were maybe 500 people in the hump, so please tell me I'm ungrateful. And quit with the "there's 20,000 students. there's no reason it shouldn't be full." The Golden Triangle has a population of 128,000 but I don't see any complaints about why we can't get 10% of them to show up every game.

TLDR: Don't really care about basketball. No emotional investment. Game play isn't a good product. Students don't have to go to games just because you think they should. Give them a product that's fun and exciting consistently, and they'll be back.

to each his own, may not like it but I respect the honesty

[Matty Dispatch]

3. The men's games in terms of ones I have been to this year (there have been multiple), just haven't been that exciting in terms of actual game play in my opinion. I'd rather sit at home and work on a paper thats due while streaming the game rather than spend 2 hours at the hump watching a game that just doesn't excite me.



I bet if you enforced a blackout in Starkville from streaming or watching on TV then the student section would instantly fill up. Being able to watch it on TV makes it so much easier to just stay home. For most of the people in this thread, probably only a few games per year were televised so this wasn't an issue when we were students, but it is now.

[TheLostDawg]

CBS Sports: Pete Prisco's 2019 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: Giants take Dwayne Haskins, Redskins land Kyler Murray, Broncos select Drew Lock.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/pete-priscos-2019-nfl-mock-draft-giants-take-dwayne-haskins-redskins-land-kyler-murray-broncos-select-drew-lock/

Pete needs to apologize to Abram

[mstatefan91]

CBS Sports: Pete Prisco's 2019 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: Giants take Dwayne Haskins, Redskins land Kyler Murray, Broncos select Drew Lock.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/pete-priscos-2019-nfl-mock-draft-giants-take-dwayne-haskins-redskins-land-kyler-murray-broncos-select-drew-lock/

Pete needs to apologize to Abram

Thread hijack alert!

[LC Dawg]

We can bitch and point fingers on a message board all we want but it's up to the athletic department to fix the attendance problem - both students and regular fans. Just winning is not the answer which has been proven many years with baseball when Omaha bound teams played in front of 25% full grandstands until they let the bleacher crowds in. A large chunk of the best basketball seats are owned by people who obviously don't care about attending basketball games. This was done for monetary purposes and it worked because the seats are sold but now it's on the administration to sell the seats to someone who will attend or at least get the tickets to someone who will put an ass in the seat.
It's bullshit to say it's harder to be a student today than 25 years ago when I was in school but I do know that students and the world are different today. If the students enjoy going to the women's games and not the men's games no amount of message board shaming is going to change that. The athletic department needs to figure out what will make the students enjoy the games.
I personally think you won't get the students to go all in until you get the alumni and regular fans to go all in. There is a void created by the losing years. I graduated in 93 so as a student I witnessed the start of the run to the Final Four and the Hump was an awesome place to be. For the next 15 years I would gladly leave work early during the week and drive 3 hours to Starkville and sit in the upper decks and then drive the 3 hours back home. Then the end of Stansbury and the Rick Ray years came and it just wasn't fun anymore. It's hard for me to get back to that point and I'm old enough that it's not easy to do.
My daughter attended from 12-16 and went to maybe 4 basketball games. She's not a huge sports fan but she did attend most football games while she was at State because it was fun. Men's basketball was not fun to her.
Those that attended during Stanbury's final years and Rick Ray's tenure and even into Howland's tenure did not attend basketball games and after they graduated they still, for the most part, do not attend. It will be a battle to get them to attend because they have never experienced a good atmosphere at the Hump. I know I don't want to drive 6 hours round trip to sit in the upper deck and look down at a 50% full lower deck and I can't expect that from someone who has never enjoyed a game at the Hump.
I'm surprised the crowd hasn't come back now that the team is winning and I'm sure the administration is also surprised but that's not an excuse for them. They need to do something about it. I don't know exactly what they should do but it's not my job.
I do know that if it doesn't improve soon our basketball program will start to suffer from it and may never recover.

[Homedawg]

We can bitch and point fingers on a message board all we want but it's up to the athletic department to fix the attendance problem - both students and regular fans. Just winning is not the answer which has been proven many years with baseball when Omaha bound teams played in front of 25% full grandstands until they let the bleacher crowds in. A large chunk of the best basketball seats are owned by people who obviously don't care about attending basketball games. This was done for monetary purposes and it worked because the seats are sold but now it's on the administration to sell the seats to someone who will attend or at least get the tickets to someone who will put an ass in the seat.
It's bullshit to say it's harder to be a student today than 25 years ago when I was in school but I do know that students and the world are different today. If the students enjoy going to the women's games and not the men's games no amount of message board shaming is going to change that. The athletic department needs to figure out what will make the students enjoy the games.
I personally think you won't get the students to go all in until you get the alumni and regular fans to go all in. There is a void created by the losing years. I graduated in 93 so as a student I witnessed the start of the run to the Final Four and the Hump was an awesome place to be. For the next 15 years I would gladly leave work early during the week and drive 3 hours to Starkville and sit in the upper decks and then drive the 3 hours back home. Then the end of Stansbury and the Rick Ray years came and it just wasn't fun anymore. It's hard for me to get back to that point and I'm old enough that it's not easy to do.
My daughter attended from 12-16 and went to maybe 4 basketball games. She's not a huge sports fan but she did attend most football games while she was at State because it was fun. Men's basketball was not fun to her.
Those that attended during Stanbury's final years and Rick Ray's tenure and even into Howland's tenure did not attend basketball games and after they graduated they still, for the most part, do not attend. It will be a battle to get them to attend because they have never experienced a good atmosphere at the Hump. I know I don't want to drive 6 hours round trip to sit in the upper deck and look down at a 50% full lower deck and I can't expect that from someone who has never enjoyed a game at the Hump.
I'm surprised the crowd hasn't come back now that the team is winning and I'm sure the administration is also surprised but that's not an excuse for them. They need to do something about it. I don't know exactly what they should do but it's not my job.
I do know that if it doesn't improve soon our basketball program will start to suffer from it and may never recover.

Again, more than once this year I couldn't give a ticket away. You can blame whomever, but the demand isn't there. For whatever reason.

[Choctaw Dawg]

I'll throw in my two cents I guess.....

I don't have season tickets, however I am local and before conference play started knew a friend of mine that had a girl that he knew give him tickets because her family NEVER went to basketball games. So we had tickets to every single SEC game this season (save Kentucky and Auburn) that we could attend.

Now we were given four tickets, if we didn't have anybody with us we were trying to sell/scalp them outside and get rid of them. Problem is, nobody would buy them. Nobody. So we just resorted to giving them away to whatever family we saw that looked like they needed tickets because we were obviously not going to make a buck off of them.

People do not value our sport anymore and.... maybe I understand? Although I have definitely notice the decline in quality of play the past 6-7 year and the God awful officiating decline. Locals are not throwing their support into the mens program because of the terrible promotions and attitude about the team from the athletic department. Have more two dollar ticket nights like the baseball team does, do more ticket combos for mens and women games, actually pretend like you care about the program you're suppose to support and promote. I'm under the opinion that the AD has not been able to figure out how to manage Mens and womens teams at the same time and that is something that needs to be corrected. All of their support and promotion has been behind the womens and turned the mens game into an afterthought.

[CovertDawg]

I want us to keep paying Vic whatever he wants and for us to keep packing the house for the Women....BUT we do need to really get behind the Men's basketball team as well if we want to promote the university. Sweet 16 Men's games get on average twice as many television viewers as the NCAA Women's Final game for some perspective. No reason we can't rally behind both our Men's and Women's teams.

[Dawg2003]

Again, more than once this year I couldn't give a ticket away. You can blame whomever, but the demand isn't there. For whatever reason.

This is what I've tried to tell people. The interest isn't there. It's always going to be difficult for basketball at an SEC school anyway. Scolding people and demanding apologies for not attending is silly. No one cares. They will just roll their eyes and move on.

[LC Dawg]

Again, more than once this year I couldn't give a ticket away. You can blame whomever, but the demand isn't there. For whatever reason.

I commend you for trying to give away tickets you do not use. I do the same thing with tickets I can't use because I just want someone to use the ticket.
I agree that the demand is not there but I still feel it's up to the athletic department to do something about the demand. Maybe they can approach the Starkville Boys and Girls Club, or something similar, and start a program where a kid and their parent or a mentor get tickets not used by season ticket holders. Do the same in surrounding communities. I have to believe there are kids in Starkville that would love to go to a game and this would also be a step towards creating new fans.
The athletic department could also reach out to the alumni association. There are many local chapters across the state that would love to have John Cohen or Ben Howland come speak and this would help with alumni getting back on board with men's basketball.

[Gutter Cobreh]

Why even mention the opponent? Do you only go to games to see the opponent?

I go to see a good game, so in turn - yes I also go to see the opponent. Is that too hard to believe? Am I not a true fan because I look at the matchups and plan my attendance accordingly?

[shannondawg]

AD dept should make a promotion urging fans that cannot attend to use social media or whatever to make them available to fans that want seats. With dogtags all you need is name and email address to forward the tickets.

I give mine away, but thats just me. i enjoy having butts in my seats. I'm just not able to come to games now, hopefully it won't last.

Last night it appeared the sections across from the bench seemed pretty full while behind the bench only about 50/50 if that much. I guarantee those folks have access to dogtags to easily transfer them. I bet most don't know you can.

[Todd4State]

My two cents:

1. The Men's basketball team hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament in a few years. Baseball has been to Omaha and three SR's in a row won the SEC and in the past ten years has played for the National Title and won the SEC Tournament, the football team has been to nine bowls in a row, and Women's basketball has played for the National Title the past two seasons and will go dancing again. I get that the basketball team has done well and will probably go dancing this year but it's going to take more than that to build a loyal following especially after so many years of unsuccessful seasons.


2. The loss to Ole Miss early in the season hurt from a fan standpoint. I get that we beat them later but had we won that game I think it would have helped support some.


3. I think there is the perception that some of the players are lazy and MSU fans in general are turned off by that in general no matter the sport. See Aric Holman and now fair or not- Nick Weatherspoon getting suspended. Now compare that to the baseball and women's basketball team. There is the perception (may or may not be reality) that the players in those sports work hard and MSU fans appreciate that. You could say the same in general for the football team as well although I definitely questioned Nick Fitzgerald's wok ethic plenty of times that doesn't appear to be something that is pervasive throughout the team as a whole. And I don't think the basketball players are lazy throughout the entire team but there is enough there to make it a reality and a turnoff for some fans. Especially since it took Howland awhile to cut Holman's minutes back.


4. I agree that MSU for whatever reason doesn't promote the men's basketball team well enough. And I don't know why. I guess they felt like "well, Ben Howland is a big name coach and he will win and everything will take care of itself" and it just hasn't really gone like that. But then again- back to my point about this being the first time that our team will likely go dancing in awhile. There is still going to be the need to promote the team better even after this season no matter how we do in the postseason.


5. I do think the success in other sports has to a degree stretched a lot of MSU fans out budget wise. Which I think is good thing! But between going to Florida for a bowl game, going to Omaha, going to watch the women play for the National Championship, and then buying season tickets as well as Bulldog Club donations for all of those some fans are going to make decisions about how they spend their money and the thing is the least successful- men's basketball- is probably going to get cut. At some point schools are probably going to have to reduce season ticket prices to entice people to come but seeing as how we raised our football ticket prices we aren't there yet.


6. A lot of people would just rather watch the game on TV. That's becoming an issue for football as well. A school like MSU can't compete with the cost and convenience of TV. Or most schools seeing as how Alabama has the same issue in football.


7. I can't speak for the students since I'm not one but obviously MSU needs to do a better job there as well.

[GeoDawg]

I'm sure this will float like a lead balloon, but I'm going to give my two cents on why I rarely attend MSU Sporting Events anymore. (Oh and by the way, I plan on going to the baseball game this afternoon. First one I will attend this year.) Before I go into the myriad of reasons I don't attend, let me give a little background.

I'm 56 years old and grew up in Louisville, MS. I graduated from State in 1986 with a BS degree in Forestry. I'm the father of two (18 year old daughter and a 12 year old son). I married late. Since I graduated, I have lived in Columbus, Ms. So, I'm close to the campus. I have worked for the same federal agency for almost 34 years.

My first real experience attending an MSU sporting event was for baseball, back when the wooden bleachers still existed (Bruce Castoria, Pete White, etc. days). I was hooked and I started attending on a regular basis. Then came Raphael, Will, and the crew. So many good memories. I'll never forgive a dear friend getting married on the day Burke Masters hit the grand slam homer. I should have missed the wedding and not the game. :-) I once drove 12 hours from Indianapolis after attending my Sister-in-Law's funeral and went straight to baseball stadium because I didn't want to miss the regional. When the new stadium was built, I would scrounge (normally free) chairback tickets before the game and then sit right behind the 3rd base dugout (There were four seats owned by Dowdle Gas that nobody ever used). I met Rex Buckner's dad and Brad Jones family there. Rex Buckner's Dad introduced me to Mr. Tribble and Everett Kinard. I think Mr. Tribble must have thought I was connected to a player because he started giving me tickets to games. I didn't tell him I was a nobody. Later, I started buying season baseball tickets from a State alum who worked for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Las Alamos, Nevada. He mainly bought the tickets because they increased his seating priority for football. And for a few years, I bought season tickets with a group of friends for football and basketball. I've always been a fan, but not a "fanatic". As long as it made economical sense and was convenient, I attended.

After I got married and had two kids, things started to change. No longer could I buy just one ticket, I was looking at four. In addition, those two kids began playing travel sports (softball and baseball). If I could afford to purchase season tickets, I would only be attending a few times a season. Then prices started to rise, the basketball reseating took place, concessions were high (glad to see that has changed), parking became inconvenient, and then came the metal detectors. My family and I started looking for alternatives for our sports entertainment and started attending soccer and women's basketball. I could get two women's basketball season tickets for $15 each and my kids got in free. So for $30 I got to watch Morgan, DD, and V. play for a couple of years. It was awesome. Then demand crept up and the University increased cost. With demand came long lines for GA tickets and long walks for parking. I don't begrudge the University for raising ticket prices, changing seating arrangements for more money, building new stadiums, selling parking passes, or installing metal detectors; but all of that combined took me out of the market. The economics and convenience is no longer there. As I stated earlier, I'm a fan not a "fanatic" about MSU Sports. If the University wants people like me to attend more games, they are going to have to make it more economical and convenient. The median income of Oktibbeha and the surrounding counties is $33,000 to $43,000. It is what it is.

There you have it.

[Todd4State]

AD dept should make a promotion urging fans that cannot attend to use social media or whatever to make them available to fans that want seats. With dogtags all you need is name and email address to forward the tickets.

I give mine away, but thats just me. i enjoy having butts in my seats. I'm just not able to come to games now, hopefully it won't last.

Last night it appeared the sections across from the bench seemed pretty full while behind the bench only about 50/50 if that much. I guarantee those folks have access to dogtags to easily transfer them. I bet most don't know you can.

It's the same issue in baseball. I think it needs to be even simpler. I like the text message idea from the baseball thread. Even the most computer illiterate 95 year old knows how to text "yes" or "no". Probably could use the same system for both sports. That way people don't have to check their e-mail, log in to their dogtag with a password a lot of them probably can't remember and have to go through the recover password process, or use any social media.

[fader2103]

I see both sides of the argument especially this week with midterms and tests. I will always support a student who is working whatever job they can to get a little extra money in their pocket or a student who is in their dorm studying for a test.

I also think that the University does a horrible job on promoting events for students pre and during the games.

Has Howland actually made an attempt to recruit student associations to attend the games. Like going to frat houses or Student Government or working on getting the other sports involved with each other?

On the flip side..
I know not every student was cramming for tests, had jobs, or in class.

Support your team no matter if their record is 0-28.

I was in school during the Croom days and I remember sitting in an empty student section being maybe 1 of 30 people left at the end of 2006 Arkansas game.

[DudyDawg]

I see both sides of the argument especially this week with midterms and tests. I will always support a student who is working whatever job they can to get a little extra money in their pocket or a student who is in their dorm studying for a test.

I also think that the University does a horrible job on promoting events for students pre and during the games.

Has Howland actually made an attempt to recruit student associations to attend the games. Like going to frat houses or Student Government or working on getting the other sports involved with each other?

On the flip side..
I know not every student was cramming for tests, had jobs, or in class.

Support your team no matter if their record is 0-28.

I was in school during the Croom days and I remember sitting in an empty student section being maybe 1 of 30 people left at the end of 2006 Arkansas game.

When I was there, Ray and Howland both went to Frat houses to plug games, and some folks went because of it, but I don't think that's the solution.

Besides seating, I think a big problem as far as students go is the fun of other sports, especially football and baseball. For football, you can tailgate all day and get loaded, sneak in booze, and drink all game. At baseball games, you can drink outside all day and mingle with friends and skirts and food. In basketball, you're sitting in a chair with no ability to socialize with anyone not right next to you, and cant eat and drink anything but coke and nachos. They obviously can't put in tents and allow kegs in games, but something needs to be done to make games more fun compared to other options. Even if I was still in school, there would be a lot of games where the bar or my couch and a room full of friends and coolers sounds like much more fun than the Hump.

[Ari Gold]

Holy Shit...

I’m glad I struck a nerve with the post.
I was basically just saying what CBH has been asking for all year I just went at it at a sarcastic manner. Did I honestly think and expect anyone from the student body to do that. Well **** no.

First off I don’t give a shit if ur a student and do or don’t come to a game or not . I dont care if you go or don’t go to any sporting events. If sports isn’t your cup of tea so be it. Just kind of strange some of you are posting on a sports message board.

If men’s basketball isn’t in ur wheel house then this thread doesnt concern you so no need to post.
If y’all started a thread about how awesome Fort Night is or how great the bachelor was last night I wouldnt respond cause I don’t give a damn .

Just hard to bitch and complain about not having better seats when you can’t even fill up the lower sections you have now
And for the ones that did show, on behalf of CBH and the team .. Thanks . We need more fans like you
It’s just embarrassing as an alumni when you have a tourney team and watch ur coach at his presser basically begging fans to show up

So next Saturday in the final home game come , don’t come Whatever .. it’s not like you been filling it up all year anyway

[confucius say]

As a current student, I was not at the game last night. I actually had an obligation to take care of last night, but even if I didn't I was undecided on whether or not I was going to go to the game.
Here's why:

1. I JUST DON'T CARE ABOUT BASKETBALL THAT MUCH. It's easily third priority for me out of the big 3.

2. Emotionally, I'm just not invested (this is different than not supporting the team completely). I tried to be, but watching the team not play to their potential early in SEC play combined with point number 1 lost me. I'm glad they are playing well now and happy they are winning, but I'm just emotionally not in it. It's going to take a highlight win or two to get me back in emotionally. No qualifying for the dance (something we haven't done in a decade, I get it) doesn't have me emotionally invested. Every time the team hits a major turning point we seem to squander it. I'm glad we will make the big dance, but if we lose game 1 it does nothing for me when we are a talented, seasoned team.

3. The men's games in terms of ones I have been to this year (there have been multiple), just haven't been that exciting in terms of actual game play in my opinion. I'd rather sit at home and work on a paper thats due while streaming the game rather than spend 2 hours at the hump watching a game that just doesn't excite me.

It's not that I don't support the team, or even that I don't care. I want them to win every game they play. I just don't care enough to spend 2 hours of my day every single time we have a home game to go watch in person, especially when playing a team like mizzou. I've been to games this season, and who knows, maybe I'll stick around an extra day on my spring break and watch us play our final home game. I sat in the student section for many games during the Rick Ray era to watch us score 43 points when there were maybe 500 people in the hump, so please tell me I'm ungrateful. And quit with the "there's 20,000 students. there's no reason it shouldn't be full." The Golden Triangle has a population of 128,000 but I don't see any complaints about why we can't get 10% of them to show up every game.

TLDR: Don't really care about basketball. No emotional investment. Game play isn't a good product. Students don't have to go to games just because you think they should. Give them a product that's fun and exciting consistently, and they'll be back.

"Entertain me, be there for my enjoyment"

We need more "I'm a diehard fan who wants to help my team win"

Bottom line: it's not a priority to enough of our students.

[shannondawg]

There are plenty excuses , and all of them are good.

Let this team go to the sweet sixteen and most of those excuses will dry up pretty quick.

How many of you even talked about the ladies team until they started winning under Vic , much less attending games?

[BrunswickDawg]

Being 10 hours away, I haven't been to a game in Starkville since 1994. But, I do have a kid on campus - who admittedly doesn't go to basketball. She goes to every football game, and at least 1-2 baseball games in a weekend series (depending on school work). She doesn't care about basketball. In fact, neither of my kids like basketball. I asked her why she didn't care - "You used to get so worked up about basketball when we were little, and then you quit watching it. And no one at our high school went to games or cared about our team. I figured it just wasn't as good of sport." Now- to give some context - she would have been 12 when we fired Stans - and I spent the last 5 years of the Stans years way too worked up about every game - especially in the Sydney years. And I did quit watching during Ray's first season. Basketball didn't matter at all to me until Ray was gone. As bad as Croom was, I never missed a televised game. I have a feeling a lot of kids who grew up in our fan base had similar experiences - growing up in a household that had turned off basketball.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Holy Shit...

I’m glad I struck a nerve with the post.
I was basically just saying what CBH has been asking for all year I just went at it at a sarcastic manner. Did I honestly think and expect anyone from the student body to do that. Well **** no.

First off I don’t give a shit if ur a student and do or don’t come to a game or not . I dont care if you go or don’t go to any sporting events. If sports isn’t your cup of tea so be it. Just kind of strange some of you are posting on a sports message board.

If men’s basketball isn’t in ur wheel house then this thread doesnt concern you so no need to post.
If y’all started a thread about how awesome Fort Night is or how great the bachelor was last night I wouldnt respond cause I don’t give a damn .

Just hard to bitch and complain about not having better seats when you can’t even fill up the lower sections you have now
And for the ones that did show, on behave of CBH and the team .. Thanks . We need more fans like you
It’s just embarrassing as an alumni when you have a tourney team and watch ur coach at his presser basically begging fans to show up

So next Saturday in the final home game come , don’t come Whatever .. it’s not like you been filling it up all year anyway

Spot on, hell of a post. But we already know they won't come next Saturday. Hell, they actually have an excuse this time since it'll be Spring Break. And God forbid they delay leaving for a couple of hours so that they can stay and support Q in his last home game.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Any way you could drop a hint if you work for a publicly traded company? I want to avoid purchase of the stock at all cost if only 5% of your work force has your attitude. Just the stock symbol will work for me. Thanks.

Stock is doing great, we have great stewards of shareholder value and world class capital allocation with box seats for Cardinals but would not waste a dime on basketball.

It's personal taste, I know basketball has lots and lots of fans globally.

Kids need to keep their eyes on the prize and study

Cheers Rouge

[dantheman4248]

Someone earlier hit the nail on the head. Where does it extend to / stop? Should we be at every tennis game? We are actually pretty darn good there.

The entitledness is on the shoulders of the basketball team expecting because they are a sport that all students have this requirement to attend. They don’t inspire near as much attendance as the women’s do. Students aren’t entitled because we want something for our attendance at these games. The only attendance that a student owes to anyone is attendance in class which they only owe to themselves. This is college. We are students. Not athletes. Priority is learning. Recreation is secondary.

And the audacity to tell me that this thread doesnt concern me (a student) when you title it “an apology” and bitch and moan about how a middling team has done nothing energetic all season is getting meh support from the students (keyword there, this thread was attacking student attendance) for a game against a horrible opponent midweek during midterms. That reeks of self righteous idiocy, Ari.

And to the point of howland begging for support. My point about the ole miss game was that we DID listen. We DID show up. They DID shit the bed. That left a lot of sour tastes in our mouth. I’ve personally been to games since; however, that point was meant to illustrate how disillusioned they made the fan base. When it’s your best year in a decade and you can’t beat your rival in a packed out home game in a supposed down year for them, you’re not gonna inspire any confidence to come back. Period.

Men’s basketball is a solid 4th on the totem pole here. The atmosphere is nowhere near as fun as football or baseball and the women’s team is better and more engaging. Maybe fix that issue yourself instead of having an entitled nature thinking because you’re a sport that you deserve to have students show up.

[bluelightstar]

We don't deserve a good basketball team if this is how our fanbase behaves.

[TheLostDawg]

We don't deserve a good basketball team if this is how our fanbase behaves.

I agree. When I was in college, before Rick Ray, we weren't great but the students always showed up. They filled the lower and upper student section on every SEC game. We weren't great but State always competed. Look at what ole Miss is doing this year. That team doesn't have near our talent but they play with everyone that comes to Oxford. If you just click over to see the score, pay attention to their attendance. The whole place is full. We all need to do better at State but the people in Starkville, students or not, have no excuse not to attend. I see everyone complaining about how we aren't that good. Well we're better than ole Miss and they pack their house. I blame Strickland for having a generation of students that don't care about men's basketball. The only way it's going to go back to how it was is students showing up. If they show up, our team can do just what ole Miss is doing plus a whole lot more. Once the students realize that, overall attendance will go up. Ole Miss right now is competing with Tennessee. Just imagine what we could do if we packed our house out every game. Also saying we packed the hump out at the ole Miss game is a joke. I was pleased but until you ride outside the hump two days before an SEC and see people camped out, we still have a long way to go.
Also we don't expect that in every sport. We do expect it in football, basketball, and baseball.

[Gutter Cobreh]

We don't deserve a good basketball team if this is how our fanbase behaves.

You mean the same fan base that was calling for Howland's job earlier in the season? The same ones that were starting threads wondering if Kermit would jump ship to us if indeed Howland was fired?

I'm just trying to determine what you mean by "behaves".... Is it how the fan base behaves when things are going well, or when the team is struggling?

[TheLostDawg]

And by camping out 2 days before, I don't expect y'all to do that. That's just the culture of how things were when I was there. I just expect the students to show up.

[TheLostDawg]

Haha yeah. I feel like that's how they are with everything. Even calling for Moorhead's job before he even got through mid season. I guess that it's too much to see a coach has to build their team like Howland had done. I guess that's because they don't realize what Howland is doing this year.

[Homedawg]

Someone earlier hit the nail on the head. Where does it extend to / stop? Should we be at every tennis game? We are actually pretty darn good there.

The entitledness is on the shoulders of the basketball team expecting because they are a sport that all students have this requirement to attend. They don’t inspire near as much attendance as the women’s do. Students aren’t entitled because we want something for our attendance at these games. The only attendance that a student owes to anyone is attendance in class which they only owe to themselves. This is college. We are students. Not athletes. Priority is learning. Recreation is secondary.

And the audacity to tell me that this thread doesnt concern me (a student) when you title it “an apology” and bitch and moan about how a middling team has done nothing energetic all season is getting meh support from the students (keyword there, this thread was attacking student attendance) for a game against a horrible opponent midweek during midterms. That reeks of self righteous idiocy, Ari.

And to the point of howland begging for support. My point about the ole miss game was that we DID listen. We DID show up. They DID shit the bed. That left a lot of sour tastes in our mouth. I’ve personally been to games since; however, that point was meant to illustrate how disillusioned they made the fan base. When it’s your best year in a decade and you can’t beat your rival in a packed out home game in a supposed down year for them, you’re not gonna inspire any confidence to come back. Period.

Men’s basketball is a solid 4th on the totem pole here. The atmosphere is nowhere near as fun as football or baseball and the women’s team is better and more engaging. Maybe fix that issue yourself instead of having an entitled nature thinking because you’re a sport that you deserve to have students show up.

All students attend? No dude. Just 10 percent. That would take about all of the ticket allotment.

[DawgFromOxford]

Someone earlier hit the nail on the head. Where does it extend to / stop? Should we be at every tennis game? We are actually pretty darn good there.

The entitledness is on the shoulders of the basketball team expecting because they are a sport that all students have this requirement to attend. They don’t inspire near as much attendance as the women’s do. Students aren’t entitled because we want something for our attendance at these games. The only attendance that a student owes to anyone is attendance in class which they only owe to themselves. This is college. We are students. Not athletes. Priority is learning. Recreation is secondary.

And the audacity to tell me that this thread doesnt concern me (a student) when you title it “an apology” and bitch and moan about how a middling team has done nothing energetic all season is getting meh support from the students (keyword there, this thread was attacking student attendance) for a game against a horrible opponent midweek during midterms. That reeks of self righteous idiocy, Ari.

And to the point of howland begging for support. My point about the ole miss game was that we DID listen. We DID show up. They DID shit the bed. That left a lot of sour tastes in our mouth. I’ve personally been to games since; however, that point was meant to illustrate how disillusioned they made the fan base. When it’s your best year in a decade and you can’t beat your rival in a packed out home game in a supposed down year for them, you’re not gonna inspire any confidence to come back. Period.

Men’s basketball is a solid 4th on the totem pole here. The atmosphere is nowhere near as fun as football or baseball and the women’s team is better and more engaging. Maybe fix that issue yourself instead of having an entitled nature thinking because you’re a sport that you deserve to have students show up.

As a student, this is 100% real. I was invested with the mens team because they were hyped up, had a great OOC run. Come in to early SEC play and lose to SC and drop your home opener to the instate rival and watch us play uninspiring defense and offense with what is our best team in a decade? Count me out of attending every game. The thought that students have an obligation to go to these games is asinine. The sport exists purely for entertainment, outside of the one's playing who get the physical benefits. The entertainment value must be greater than the trade off of what you could be doing with those 2 hours and for a lot of students its not right now. If the team makes a run in the tournament, I believe students will have something to be excited about and will make their way back. At the end of the day you have 10% diehard fans who will be there no matter what. You have 10% who will never go event if we win a national championship. It's up to the team and athletics to convince the other 80% like myself that it is worth our time to be there.

To whoever said the student section was always filled for Rick Ray, stop lying. I was there and the hump was dead then too. The only game I remember with a packed student section floor to ceiling was when Kentucky came to play.

[TheLostDawg]

As a student, this is 100% real. I was invested with the mens team because they were hyped up, had a great OOC run. Come in to early SEC play and lose to SC and drop your home opener to the instate rival and watch us play uninspiring defense and offense with what is our best team in a decade? Count me out of attending every game. The thought that students have an obligation to go to these games is asinine. The sport exists purely for entertainment, outside of the one's playing who get the physical benefits. The entertainment value must be greater than the trade off of what you could be doing with those 2 hours and for a lot of students its not right now. If the team makes a run in the tournament, I believe students will have something to be excited about and will make their way back. At the end of the day you have 10% diehard fans who will be there no matter what. You have 10% who will never go event if we win a national championship. It's up to the team and athletics to convince the other 80% like myself that it is worth our time to be there.

To whoever said the student section was always filled for Rick Ray, stop lying. I was there and the hump was dead then too. The only game I remember with a packed student section floor to ceiling was when Kentucky came to play.

I said that it was packed until Rick Ray. I said that hire ruined the next generation of students. The men's basketball games before Ray were like the big basketball games for women's now. You had to look hard for an open seat. I agree that it's going to take time to instill that desire back because y'all never got that from men's basketball, again in which I blame Strickland for hiring/holding on to Ray. What you seem not to grasp is our team would get where you'd like them to be a lot faster if y'all would show up. You obviously know Dan Mullen. What you must not know is that how our football games were. Mullen said if you want to succeed, it starts with the fans showing up. Our basketball team obviously doesn't need y'all but they'd pay a lot harder at home if y'all showed them a little more support.

[TheLostDawg]

As a student, this is 100% real. I was invested with the mens team because they were hyped up, had a great OOC run. Come in to early SEC play and lose to SC and drop your home opener to the instate rival and watch us play uninspiring defense and offense with what is our best team in a decade? Count me out of attending every game. The thought that students have an obligation to go to these games is asinine. The sport exists purely for entertainment, outside of the one's playing who get the physical benefits. The entertainment value must be greater than the trade off of what you could be doing with those 2 hours and for a lot of students its not right now. If the team makes a run in the tournament, I believe students will have something to be excited about and will make their way back. At the end of the day you have 10% diehard fans who will be there no matter what. You have 10% who will never go event if we win a national championship. It's up to the team and athletics to convince the other 80% like myself that it is worth our time to be there.

To whoever said the student section was always filled for Rick Ray, stop lying. I was there and the hump was dead then too. The only game I remember with a packed student section floor to ceiling was when Kentucky came to play.

And when it comes to signing day, y'all better not say a word when ole Miss does better. I sure wouldn't want to play for a team whose fans don't show up.

[Ari Gold]

As a student, this is 100% real. I was invested with the mens team because they were hyped up, had a great OOC run. Come in to early SEC play and lose to SC and drop your home opener to the instate rival and watch us play uninspiring defense and offense with what is our best team in a decade? Count me out of attending every game. The thought that students have an obligation to go to these games is asinine. The sport exists purely for entertainment, outside of the one's playing who get the physical benefits. The entertainment value must be greater than the trade off of what you could be doing with those 2 hours and for a lot of students its not right now. If the team makes a run in the tournament, I believe students will have something to be excited about and will make their way back. At the end of the day you have 10% diehard fans who will be there no matter what. You have 10% who will never go event if we win a national championship. It's up to the team and athletics to convince the other 80% like myself that it is worth our time to be there.

To whoever said the student section was always filled for Rick Ray, stop lying. I was there and the hump was dead then too. The only game I remember with a packed student section floor to ceiling was when Kentucky came to play.

Damn kid you were a student during RR years and still a student today.. ?
it’s almost time to wrap up that degree...

I wish you had broken down the % ratio on who we need to target to get fans to games. Maybe a pie chart or something.
Q and the boys could go door to door and hand out save the date cards or flyers for the game next Saturday. Since it’s up to THEM to convince the students to get out to the games

[Ari Gold]

Someone earlier hit the nail on the head. Where does it extend to / stop? Should we be at every tennis game? We are actually pretty darn good there.

The entitledness is on the shoulders of the basketball team expecting because they are a sport that all students have this requirement to attend. They don’t inspire near as much attendance as the women’s do. Students aren’t entitled because we want something for our attendance at these games. The only attendance that a student owes to anyone is attendance in class which they only owe to themselves. This is college. We are students. Not athletes. Priority is learning. Recreation is secondary.

And the audacity to tell me that this thread doesnt concern me (a student) when you title it “an apology” and bitch and moan about how a middling team has done nothing energetic all season is getting meh support from the students (keyword there, this thread was attacking student attendance) for a game against a horrible opponent midweek during midterms. That reeks of self righteous idiocy, Ari.

And to the point of howland begging for support. My point about the ole miss game was that we DID listen. We DID show up. They DID shit the bed. That left a lot of sour tastes in our mouth. I’ve personally been to games since; however, that point was meant to illustrate how disillusioned they made the fan base. When it’s your best year in a decade and you can’t beat your rival in a packed out home game in a supposed down year for them, you’re not gonna inspire any confidence to come back. Period.

Men’s basketball is a solid 4th on the totem pole here. The atmosphere is nowhere near as fun as football or baseball and the women’s team is better and more engaging. Maybe fix that issue yourself instead of having an entitled nature thinking because you’re a sport that you deserve to have students show up.

Like I said zippy , if basketball isn’t in ur wheel house it’s all good. Don’t come.. hit them books .
Maybe MUW was more your speed for the full college experience anyway..

[Cloak]

The old farts are missing the point here. Win and the hump will fill up. It's not just the students showing apathy, the entire fan base is. The Ray years + terrible home start has killed the excitement. I graduated last year, and I went to almost every home game even when we were terrible under Ray. Hump was empty then too. Like the students are commenting, there just isn't enough excitement to get the casual fan to attend. All the casual fan students know is bad losing basketball.

[bluelightstar]

The old farts are missing the point here. Win and the hump will fill up. It's not just the students showing apathy, the entire fan base is. The Ray years + terrible home start has killed the excitement. I graduated last year, and I went to almost every home game even when we were terrible under Ray. Hump was empty then too. Like the students are commenting, there just isn't enough excitement to get the casual fan to attend. All the casual fan students know is bad losing basketball.

I think this season is proof that winning isn’t going to fill the Hump.

[DawgFromOxford]

Damn kid you were a student during RR years and still a student today.. ?
it?s almost time to wrap up that degree...

I wish you had broken down the % ratio on who we need to target to get fans to games. Maybe a pie chart or something.
Q and the boys could go door to door and hand out save the date cards or flyers for the game next Saturday. Since it?s up to THEM to convince the students to get out to the games

Working on my 2nd degree. Loved this place so much I couldn't leave yet. Yes it is up to the team and athletics to convince students to come since its purely for entertainment for the majority of fans that show up. Just because I like watching movies doesn't mean I'm going to go pay to see a subpar movie just because it's in theaters, which is what basketball has been the past 10 years, subpar. Yes they are winning now, but its going to take more than $2 hotdogs and 5 wins in a row to get the casual fans back. When they win something meaningful and have something to hang their hat on is when I think interest and fans will return. 21-7, that's great and I'm glad we are there, and I think fans will start to return once they see us play in the tournament. Until then, it's going to be tough sledding because fans want to see if the team has truly turned the corner before they buy back in.

To TheLostDawg, my bad. I misread your comment.

[Cloak]

I think this season is proof that winning isn’t going to fill the Hump.

Dumb post. You're telling me the Hump isn't filled for the women's team? Why do you think that is? Winning culture.

[bluelightstar]

Dumb post. You're telling me the Hump isn't filled for the women's team? Why do you think that is? Winning culture.

We're obviously talking about the mens team. Have you read this thread?

[Cloak]

We're obviously talking about the mens team. Have you read this thread?

Nice comeback. I'll break it down for you.

Women's team was below average, attendance was minimal.
Women's team builds a winning culture, attendance is packed out.
Men's team has a losing culture, attendance is minimal.
Men's team builds a winning culture, attendance will be packed out.

See the pattern here?

[StateDawg44]

Realistically they've gotten one pretty major check off the list to get some talk stirred up about them. But every time they do this they choke. Big congrats to the team for making it into the tourney but if they go one and done in the tournament there won't be much change from last year's NIT run to this years season as far as hype. NIT wins are pretty meh when it comes down to it and don't deny it.

All the olds in here acting like all the team has gotta do is win enough games to get into the tournament one time in a decade to re-create the MBB culture to their glory day memories and The Hump better damn well be packed are still living in the past. Make some noise in the tournament and build some excitement for next year. It has nothing to do with "what can you do for me?". You've never received praise by just getting by or meeting expectations. Even so, that's kinda how sports work, teams do have to prove themselves in more ways than one. Olds accusing students and complaining about not getting instant results at building a new culture. And when they don't get them, pointing the finger and tossing a blanket accusation is laughable....smh. Solid thread full of solid melt.

[GeoDawg]

I have a couple questions/comments about this. Who are the people that are filling out the women's games? Are they primarily the local fans? How far are they traveling? If your comments are only about the students, then winning may be the right answer. However if it's not, then other factors are in play such as economics. Consider a family of four with two kids under 17 that are local and are not season ticket holders. If they go through the ticket office, their cost to attend a men's game is $94 to sit in upper deck. Cost to attend the women's game is $16. That is quit a bit of difference. All I'm saying is that the answer is not as simple as some would like to make it.

[BrunswickDawg]

Realistically they've gotten one pretty major check off the list to get some talk stirred up about them. But every time they do this they choke. Big congrats to the team for making it into the tourney but if they go one and done in the tournament there won't be much change from last year's NIT run to this years season as far as hype. NIT wins are pretty meh when it comes down to it and don't deny it.

All the olds in here acting like all the team has gotta do is win enough games to get into the tournament one time in a decade to re-create the MBB culture to their glory day memories and The Hump better damn well be packed are still living in the past. Make some noise in the tournament and build some excitement for next year. It has nothing to do with "what can you do for me?". You've never received praise by just getting by or meeting expectations. Even so, that's kinda how sports work, teams do have to prove themselves in more ways than one. Olds accusing students and complaining about not getting instant results at building a new culture. And when they don't get them, pointing the finger and tossing a blanket accusation is laughable....smh. Solid thread full of solid melt.

When I was in school during the '92 - '94 seasons, no one was at games other than big match ups (OM, KY, maybe UF) because were bad. I was only on campus for the first half of the '95 season, and attendance was about like this year. At least, that was my memory. So I went and looked - https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/pdf/mbk/mbk_1819mg.pdf (Page 93).

Sure enough - Avg SEC Attendance - '92 (6,621); '93 (5,657); '94 (8,076); '95 (8,101) vs. this season of 8,474.

So, I went and spot checked SEC game attendance in some other strong years for our team:
1996 - 7,617
1999 - 6,706
2002 - 7,905
2003 - 9,165
2004 - 10,209
2005 - 9,264
2008 - 8,400
2009 - 9,253

Now - I don't know that these are apples to apples (tickets sold vs. buts in seats). But, assuming they go by tickets sold - this year's attendance is smack in the middle of our NCAA/20 win teams since the mid 1990s.
I don't know if I can draw any real conclusions - other than big games draw big crowds - OM (10021), Auburn (10063) and UK (9019) all had big crowds. MO (7058), UF (7501) don't. The LSU game is the anomaly in our attendance this season to me - that should have been a huge game but wasn't (7456). I also know if the place isn't packed out - you can't pin that just on the students - they only get 1/4 of the seats.

[Cloak]

When I was in school during the '92 - '94 seasons, no one was at games other than big match ups (OM, KY, maybe UF) because were bad. I was only on campus for the first half of the '95 season, and attendance was about like this year. At least, that was my memory. So I went and looked - https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/pdf/mbk/mbk_1819mg.pdf (Page 93).

Sure enough - Avg SEC Attendance - '92 (6,621); '93 (5,657); '94 (8,076); '95 (8,101) vs. this season of 8,474.

So, I went and spot checked SEC game attendance in some other strong years for our team:
1996 - 7,617
1999 - 6,706
2002 - 7,905
2003 - 9,165
2004 - 10,209
2005 - 9,264
2008 - 8,400
2009 - 9,253

Now - I don't know that these are apples to apples (tickets sold vs. buts in seats). But, assuming they go by tickets sold - this year's attendance is smack in the middle of our NCAA/20 win teams since the mid 1990s.
I don't know if I can draw any real conclusions - other than big games draw big crowds - OM (10021), Auburn (10063) and UK (9019) all had big crowds. MO (7058), UF (7501) don't. The LSU game is the anomaly in our attendance this season to me - that should have been a huge game but wasn't (7456). I also know if the place isn't packed out - you can't pin that just on the students - they only get 1/4 of the seats.

Solid post. Great info.

[smootness]

When I was in school during the '92 - '94 seasons, no one was at games other than big match ups (OM, KY, maybe UF) because were bad. I was only on campus for the first half of the '95 season, and attendance was about like this year. At least, that was my memory. So I went and looked - https://static.hailstate.com/custompages/pdf/mbk/mbk_1819mg.pdf (Page 93).

Sure enough - Avg SEC Attendance - '92 (6,621); '93 (5,657); '94 (8,076); '95 (8,101) vs. this season of 8,474.

So, I went and spot checked SEC game attendance in some other strong years for our team:
1996 - 7,617
1999 - 6,706
2002 - 7,905
2003 - 9,165
2004 - 10,209
2005 - 9,264
2008 - 8,400
2009 - 9,253

Now - I don't know that these are apples to apples (tickets sold vs. buts in seats). But, assuming they go by tickets sold - this year's attendance is smack in the middle of our NCAA/20 win teams since the mid 1990s.
I don't know if I can draw any real conclusions - other than big games draw big crowds - OM (10021), Auburn (10063) and UK (9019) all had big crowds. MO (7058), UF (7501) don't. The LSU game is the anomaly in our attendance this season to me - that should have been a huge game but wasn't (7456). I also know if the place isn't packed out - you can't pin that just on the students - they only get 1/4 of the seats.

Good stuff. There's no real way to know, but I'd be interested in seeing if the way we report attendance numbers has changed.

[bluelightstar]

Nice comeback. I'll break it down for you.

Women's team was below average, attendance was minimal.
Women's team builds a winning culture, attendance is packed out.
Men's team has a losing culture, attendance is minimal.
Men's team builds a winning culture, attendance will be packed out.

See the pattern here?

Our men's team has won 45+ games in the last 2 years. If our fans expect them to win like the women's team does, that's just not going to happen for a multitude of reasons. The football team has had a winning conference record once in the last decade. There are insane goal posts for the men's team because some people seem to have made up their mind to not support them.

[gravedigger]

We're obviously talking about the mens team. Have you read this thread?

You arent smart enough to leave the house or own a keyboard. Good Lord.

[StateDawg44]

Our men's team has won 45+ games in the last 2 years. If our fans expect them to win like the women's team does, that's just not going to happen for a multitude of reasons. The football team has had a winning conference record once in the last decade. There are insane goal posts for the men's team because some people seem to have made up their mind to not support them.

Totally irrelevant. Are you really attempting to compare SEC Football popularity to SEC Basketball popularity like they are remotely similar? Basketball whether it's NCAA or NBA is dwarfed by it's counterpart in football.

These goals you talk about are attainable but it's not like we are or have ever been a contending MBB school. We've had flashes here and there but nothing sustained that is substantial. Hell even the girls success is new to us. And I can't even imagine what attendance was like for WBB before they got hot. Why would the same process of growth not apply to MBB?. Students or whoever people need to blame aren't asking the MBB to go out and contend for the natty in back to back years. But they damn sure can't choke against OM at home, continue to let KY be that huge blue monkey on our back that we some how always play tough but lose. (Along with the majority of the league). Not if they want the fanbase to come and get pumped and rowdy like I know The Hump can get every year.

[BB30]

HA, he said he personally checked out because the team hadn't done anything noteworthy, which means he obviously cared enough to check out and to put a measure on the teams success in HIS opinion. So I don't know where you're coming from with this BS of not attending because of not caring about the sport. If you don't like basketball, tennis, WBB, football, etc., then don't attend. Doesn't matter to me. But that's not what was implied in his comments. Its a "you better do something really, really good for ME or I don't care" attitude prevalent among todays InstaTwit youth.

Dude that is the attitude with most grown adults on here. Did you miss the football team winning 8 games, historically better than most of our teams and grown adults bitching for weeks on end and saying they are "done" with them....They aren't wasting anymore money on weekends going to games...

Pot calling kettle black. Most actions are learned actions and a lot of older fans on here set great examples on how to bitch, complain, and not show up then point fingers and slam the college kids for doing the same exact thing. Hell, just two weeks ago on here after LSU and KY a bunch of yall older posters were slamming this basketball team and talking about how Howland is a terrible coach, what a joke.

[bluelightstar]

You arent smart enough to leave the house or own a keyboard. Good Lord.

Agree to disagree :). (Maybe you should grow up?)

[Matty Dispatch]

Nice comeback. I'll break it down for you.

Women's team was below average, attendance was minimal.
Women's team builds a winning culture, attendance is packed out.
Men's team has a losing culture, attendance is minimal.
Men's team builds a winning culture, attendance will be packed out.

See the pattern here?

There is a lot of true here....the men's program keeps letting everyone down. Think back since 2010 when this NCAAT drought began. That was a team that had potential but couldn't get off the bubble. 2012 was a total cluster. There was hope for 2016 when Howland got here and got malik newman but that team couldn't even make the NIT. We thought by 2018 we'd be dancing again but could only make the NIT. It feels like we fall short every year....maybe until this year finally. Get the winning culture back and things might change at the Hump.

[Cloak]

Get the winning culture back and things might change at the Hump.

Things WILL change. Even as diehard of a fan as I am, I'm only cautiously optimistic. We've had too many dissapointments to let myself be 100% fully bought in. Frankly, I don't think we are there yet. For me, being cautiously optimisitic means I don't want to miss a game. For most, cautiously optomistic is not enough motivation to get them into the Hump. All it takes is developing the culture of expecting to win games. Right now we are all HOPING (not expecting) to win.
State's fanbase is one of the best attending schools in the country when winning. We hold baseball attendance records. Shit, according to ESPN some of you sold your trailers and used your life savings to get to Omaha. Dedication. In football, it is almost impossible to find a seat in the student section unless you get there hours early. I had to sit on the stairs for a lot of games.
Women's basketball probably has the best home court advantage in the country. Why is that? Winning combined with the loyalty of our fanbase.
Men's basketball will get there. We need to change the culture back and we're headed in the right direction. Make a run in the tourney and who knows.

Hail State

[BrunswickDawg]

I'll say this too - get ready for the A&M game to have bad attendance - it's the first Saturday of Spring Break.

[dantheman4248]

Like I said zippy , if basketball isn?t in ur wheel house it?s all good. Don?t come.. hit them books .
Maybe MUW was more your speed for the full college experience anyway..


Says a lot about you that you think blind sport loyalty is why someone should choose a school instead of the academic programs you want to pursue.

Maybe you should have gone to Alabama and gotten a masters at Kentucky to help you sleep at night.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Totally irrelevant. Are you really attempting to compare SEC Football popularity to SEC Basketball popularity like they are remotely similar? Basketball whether it's NCAA or NBA is dwarfed by it's counterpart in football.

These goals you talk about are attainable but it's not like we are or have ever been a contending MBB school. We've had flashes here and there but nothing sustained that is substantial. Hell even the girls success is new to us. And I can't even imagine what attendance was like for WBB before they got hot. Why would the same process of growth not apply to MBB?. Students or whoever people need to blame aren't asking the MBB to go out and contend for the natty in back to back years. But they damn sure can't choke against OM at home, continue to let KY be that huge blue monkey on our back that we some how always play tough but lose. (Along with the majority of the league). Not if they want the fanbase to come and get pumped and rowdy like I know The Hump can get every year.

People really need to let the Ole Miss loss go. They are a tournament team that shot lights, and got a triple dribble at the end of the game to seal it. We also avenged the loss on the road. Let it go.

Reading a lot of these responses, it's pretty clear to me that our students (or possibly all fans) expectations are way too high. So we didn't beat UK? Big deal- not many have. Maybe another 4,000 fans in the Hump could have put us over the top. Who knows.

State has been playing basketball for 110 years and have made the tournament 10 freaking time. 10! If you don't think making the tournament is a big deal (especially for a team like MSU) , then you just don't really understand the landscape of men's college basketball. Perhaps people dismiss the MSU men making the tournament because of the success of the women's team? I really don't know, but simply making the tournament in MBB is probably harder than making the sweet 16 in women's.

[StarkVegasSteve]

People really need to let the Ole Miss loss go. They are a tournament team that shot lights, and got a triple dribble at the end of the game to seal it. We also avenged the loss on the road. Let it go.

Reading a lot of these responses, it's pretty clear to me that our students (or possibly all fans) expectations are way too high. So we didn't beat UK? Big deal- not many have. Maybe another 4,000 fans in the Hump could have put us over the top. Who knows.

State has been playing basketball for 110 years and have made the tournament 10 freaking time. 10! If you don't think making the tournament is a big deal (especially for a team like MSU) , then you just don't really understand the landscape of men's college basketball. Perhaps people dismiss the MSU men making the tournament because of the success of the women's team? I really don't know, but simply making the tournament in MBB is probably harder than making the sweet 16 in women's.

Spot on. This thread has proved a couple of things to me:

1)Our students put WAY to much stock in how one game will affect our season. So we lost to Ole Miss, contrary to some of your beliefs the season wasn't cancelled after that. It's not illegal for you to show up. And since you probably didn't know since you don't pay attention, we went into Oxford and beat them.
2) Fans young and old can't seem to comprehend the parity that men's college basketball has. There's legitimately 35-40 teams that could get hot and win the tournament and in the SEC you can be beat by anyone on any given night if you don't bring your A game. The women's game has 5-7 teams who can win it all and there's only about 4-5 good teams in the SEC. A good team can come with their C game and probably still win.
3) Students seem to be waiting for this team to show them something.....WAKE THE 17 UP. They already have. Down 18 against UK they could've laid down and got beaten by 30. Instead they fought all the way back and made it a ballgame late and gave ourselves a chance to win. Couldn't make a shot for the first 11 minutes last Saturday. We could've laid down, played crap defense and got run off the floor. Instead we battled our way back and won by 15. I understand that our team is frustrating at times, but every team in the country is frustrating. It's basketball and they're a group of 18-22 year old kids. They're going to make emotional mistakes on the court. It happens.
4) Please to God stop using the "the men don't play as hard as the women" excuse. They play just as hard if not harder. It's a bit of a different game. There's athletes everywhere on the court.

[Matty Dispatch]

Spot on. This thread has proved a couple of things to me:

2) Fans young and old can't seem to comprehend the parity that men's college basketball has. There's legitimately 35-40 teams that could get hot and win the tournament and in the SEC you can be beat by anyone on any given night if you don't bring your A game. The women's game has 5-7 teams who can win it all and there's only about 4-5 good teams in the SEC. A good team can come with their C game and probably still win.

4) Please to God stop using the "the men don't play as hard as the women" excuse. They play just as hard if not harder. It's a bit of a different game. There's athletes everywhere on the court.

You seem really butt hurt that the women are more popular than the men. It is what it is. This is America - the market bears what it will bear, and the women are proving to be a better product. You can argue all day long until you're blue in the face about parity and playing hard but people like the girls and the boys are just not that likeable....or for whatever other reason it is for each fan that picks women over men right now.

[StarkVegasSteve]

You seem really butt hurt that the women are more popular than the men. It is what it is. This is America - the market bears what it will bear, and the women are proving to be a better product. You can argue all day long until you're blue in the face about parity and playing hard but people like the girls and the boys are just not that likeable....or for whatever other reason it is for each fan that picks women over men right now.

You're partly right. I am a bit butthurt. I personally believe that the men is a vastly superior product. But to each his own on that. I probably let my personal opinion get in the way on that one. However, I believe money is the biggest reason people chose the women over the men. As stated earlier in the thread it's about $20 to take a family of 4 to the women's game whereas it's about $100 to take a family of 4 to the men's. As a single guy in his mid 20s I obviously don't have that problem, but I can see where the discounted rate to attend the women's game can be very enticing to a family trying to get out and do something together to support the university. Again to each his own, doesn't mean I don't appreciate what Vic has built, just don't personally enjoy it.

[gravedigger]

I'll say this too - get ready for the A&M game to have bad attendance - it's the first Saturday of Spring Break.

Also, women?s bb NCAA is on the same weekend as Auburn baseball game here. I?m betting that hurts attendance. Parking will be tough and people who spend $ on tournament tickets are probably going to spend more time in the hump than at the Dude.

May be wrong on that, but we will see.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Also, women?s bb NCAA is on the same weekend as Auburn baseball game here. I?m betting that hurts attendance. Parking will be tough and people who spend $ on tournament tickets are probably going to spend more time in the hump than at the Dude.

May be wrong on that, but we will see.

Damn, parking is going to be a 17 nightmare that weekend.

[BrunswickDawg]

Also, women?s bb NCAA is on the same weekend as Auburn baseball game here. I?m betting that hurts attendance. Parking will be tough and people who spend $ on tournament tickets are probably going to spend more time in the hump than at the Dude.

May be wrong on that, but we will see.

Same thing happened last year while we hosted Vandy. We had over 6k for baseball and sold out the basketball game. With the baseball game slated for 2:00 on Saturday, maybe basketball will get the late slot at 7:00. Just move from 1 to the other. I wish I was in town - helluva weekend. And yes, traffic will be insane.

[shannondawg]

For the most part it’s an entirely different crowd that goes to see the ladies than than baseball n men’s bb.


Also, women?s bb NCAA is on the same weekend as Auburn baseball game here. I?m betting that hurts attendance. Parking will be tough and people who spend $ on tournament tickets are probably going to spend more time in the hump than at the Dude.

May be wrong on that, but we will see.

[mstatefan91]

Local population really gets to be involved with the women's team/games. The tickets are affordable and plenty.. the same can't be said for the men's games.. those seats are bought up or too expensive for a lot of the local families.. That is definitely part of the issue.

[StateDawg44]

Nah bruh..... the students**

[mstatefan91]

Nah bruh..... the students**

The students should be going to the games if they can.. If you have legitimate excuses or don't care, fine. If you are choosing to watch on TV/stream instead of going, you're part of the problem (students on/near campus that is).

[Homedawg]

When you can't get more than 500 students to a game out of a student pool of 20k+, that sucks.

[Ari Gold]

When you can't get more than 500 students to a game out of a student pool of 20k+, that sucks.

Exactly.. thank you Homedog.. It only took 8 pages and a bunch of bullshit to get there...

[Liverpooldawg]

Local population really gets to be involved with the women's team/games. The tickets are affordable and plenty.. the same can't be said for the men's games.. those seats are bought up or too expensive for a lot of the local families.. That is definitely part of the issue.
It's THE difference and THE reason for the women having bigger crowds than the men. We destroyed the men's basketball crowd by choice. I went to the game last night. The crowd reminded me of the old men's crowds under Williams and early Stans. It's basically the same type of people.

[IMissJack]

It's THE difference and THE reason for the women having bigger crowds than the men. We destroyed the men's basketball crowd by choice. I went to the game last night. The crowd reminded me of the old men's crowds under Williams and early Stans. It's basically the same type of people.

The Williams' crowds I remember when I was there were rocking most of the time. Students were camping out for some games.

[Homedawg]

It's THE difference and THE reason for the women having bigger crowds than the men. We destroyed the men's basketball crowd by choice. I went to the game last night. The crowd reminded me of the old men's crowds under Williams and early Stans. It's basically the same type of people.

And while it was a good crowd it was still at best 7k for the 5th ranked team in the country, that's been to back to back finals AND the remaining seats were $5 and kids are free.....

[Liverpooldawg]

Spot on. This thread has proved a couple of things to me:

1)Our students put WAY to much stock in how one game will affect our season. So we lost to Ole Miss, contrary to some of your beliefs the season wasn't cancelled after that. It's not illegal for you to show up. And since you probably didn't know since you don't pay attention, we went into Oxford and beat them.
2) Fans young and old can't seem to comprehend the parity that men's college basketball has. There's legitimately 35-40 teams that could get hot and win the tournament and in the SEC you can be beat by anyone on any given night if you don't bring your A game. The women's game has 5-7 teams who can win it all and there's only about 4-5 good teams in the SEC. A good team can come with their C game and probably still win.
3) Students seem to be waiting for this team to show them something.....WAKE THE 17 UP. They already have. Down 18 against UK they could've laid down and got beaten by 30. Instead they fought all the way back and made it a ballgame late and gave ourselves a chance to win. Couldn't make a shot for the first 11 minutes last Saturday. We could've laid down, played crap defense and got run off the floor. Instead we battled our way back and won by 15. I understand that our team is frustrating at times, but every team in the country is frustrating. It's basketball and they're a group of 18-22 year old kids. They're going to make emotional mistakes on the court. It happens.
4) Please to God stop using the "the men don't play as hard as the women" excuse. They play just as hard if not harder. It's a bit of a different game. There's athletes everywhere on the court.

Outstanding post. I swear people seem to think if we don't go undefeated at home and god forbidlose one or two on the road we are trash. The Road Warrior team lost put one or two at home. 96 lost several both home and away ( to remain consistent, this team ain't in 96's league.....yet.)

[IMissJack]

My concern is that if we don't do something to generate some excitement at the games it will affect recruiting.