Watching the replay

[Ezsoil]

It really is sad our attendance is so poor in a great bowl.... it's going to be hard to ever get a Citrus Bowl invite. I honestly do wonder how many would show up for a Playoff game if they ever made it...

[BuckyIsAB****]

It really is sad our attendance is so poor in a great bowl.... it's going to be hard to ever get a Citrus Bowl invite. I honestly do wonder how many would show up for a Playoff game if they ever made it...

I was there. Thought it was a good showing. Illinois maybe had a few more though I was impressed with them

[dogshiek]

I was at the game. It was so hot on the west side many people like me moved up to shade or went inside the club area where it is air-conditioned. It looked worse than it actually was especially later in the game.

[CaptainObvious]

After the game. We went to a few bars and in one we met a couple of Illinois fans and they told us they had asked a bar manager why there were so few State fans. His response is Mississippi State doesn?t travel well, mostly because they are the poorest State.

I set them straight though. I explained that
1) Arkansas was the poorest State.
B) MSU has been to 13 straight bowls and were in Tampa and St. Pete bowls in the last 5 years.
Q) we were not really excited to play a shitty Illinois team.
4) How can anyone who cannot spell or say their own State correctly think Mississippians are Dumb? It should be spelled Illinoy,

[Commercecomet24]

Compared to other bowl games this season we had a very decent crowd there. There was hardly any one at the lsu game same day.

[WinningIsRelentless]

I was there. Thought it was a good showing. Illinois maybe had a few more though I was impressed with them

They haven?t been to a bowl since 2019 plus it?s cold as hell up there right now.

[Commercecomet24]

Pretty much every bowl game accept bcs games and playoffs attendance is dropping across the board. It ain't because we're from Mississippi. Heck cfb attendance is down for the 10th straight year.

[99jc]

i thought the crowd was great and huge but i was wasted and saw everything double

[Ezsoil]

I was there too ...I had to drive after my flight was cancelled but it wasn't even close 60-40 watching on TV shows just how few we had there

[drummerdawg]

We're just not a football school. We'll travel well if it's close proximity or after a long bowl drought.

[starkvegasdawg]

Tell them to YouTube our CWS championship series.

[Lord McBuckethead]

First, we have played in these bowl games like this one every other year for 13 years. Not sure how many times we have played in this one or the Gater since we smoked Michigan, but it seems like a bunch.

Second, our head coach just died. And if we are honest, our offense didn?t even make me want to go and watch games 3 miles from my house.

Third, other than this game being the complete end of our season for this team, it really has no actual meaning for us fans. We entered the season wanting to win the SEC West, SEC Championship, and get in the playoffs. That didn?t happen. The games makes us feel good since we won, but that is the only reason to play it.

Again, we are all just waiting for hope. We haven?t seen hope but 2 times since 2015. When Mullen lost to Bama in 2017 in Starkville, and when KJ set the SEC passing record game 1 against LSU. If we had something to play for, and we have hope?.. we would have sold out that stadium even in a exhibition game.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I dont think its that bad at all. It was a good crowd. State fans have hope haha this is a little over dramatic

[Commercecomet24]

I dont think it's that bad at all. It was a good crowd. State fans have hope haha this is a little over dramatic

It was a good crowd. Did anyone watch any of the other bowl games? Heck compared to most our game looked like standing room only lol!

[RocketDawg]

I suspect the real reason is that we were playing Illinois, not exactly a well-known football powerhouse. Had we gotten the Gator against Notre Dame, there would have been a lot more make the trip. The opponent matters. Even a home game with a lower level opponent doesn't attract fans. And nowadays even a home game against Alabama has a few empty seats.

[RocketDawg]

Compared to other bowl games this season we had a very decent crowd there. There was hardly any one at the lsu game same day.

I don't remember which bowl it was, but one I watched for a few minutes had more people on the field than in the stands.

[Commercecomet24]

I suspect the real reason is that we were playing Illinois, not exactly a well-known football powerhouse. Had we gotten the Gator against Notre Dame, there would have been a lot more make the trip. The opponent matters. Even a home game with a lower level opponent doesn't attract fans. And nowadays even a home game against Alabama has a few empty seats.

Agree with this.

[Commercecomet24]

I don't remember which bowl it was, but one I watched for a few minutes had more people on the field than in the stands.

Lol yep. The lsu/Purdue game looked like an Oakland A'a baseball game attendance wise.

[Activated Alpha]

When we get to the Omaha Final equivalent of a bowl game, we will show up. Every single time

[Goldendawg]

I suspect the real reason is that we were playing Illinois, not exactly a well-known football powerhouse. Had we gotten the Gator against Notre Dame, there would have been a lot more make the trip. The opponent matters. Even a home game with a lower level opponent doesn't attract fans. And nowadays even a home game against Alabama has a few empty seats.

True, I remember when some bama fans used to buy our season tickets to be able to see them play in person at Starkville. College attendance to football game$ is falling for many rea$ons. As a season ticket holder, I did enjoy that ETSU game. As Skip Carey used to say about Braves attendance in the '70's, we had about 40K fans disguised as empty seats!****

[TaleofTwoDogs]

For those interested the top 15 bowl games (not including playoff and the Rose Bowl)

1 Gator 67,383
2 Orange 63,912
3 Alamo 62,730
4 Sugar 60,437
5 Cheez-it 61,520
6 Cotton 55,329
7 Texas 53,251
8 Liberty 52,847
9. Celebration 49,670 (HBCU SWAC vs MEAC)
10 Citrus 42,791
11 Music City 42,312
12 Sun Bowl 41,104
13 Duke's Mayo 37,228
14 Holiday 36,242
15 ReliaQuest 35,797

If you think we don't travel well, there's North Carolina State in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. The bowl is played in Charlotte, NC. Several of the top bowls had boosted attendance because of an in-state team or a classic match-up.
Most of the other "smaller" bowls (about 25 of them) had attendance between 10K and 25K.

[Reason2succeed]

We should not be shocked or mad when nicer bowls skip us for fans that will travel better. Maybe the Outback people knew something all along.

[Tater]

Maybe having it at 11 AM on Monday after New Years was the real problem.

Bowls are designed to sell TV space time. They don't care about filling up the stands anymore. Otherwise this game would have been on 12/31 or 1/1.

I didn't go because of the date / time. Gator bowl would have been so much better just for the timing. And that's part of why it's so high.

[Todd4State]

If we go to the Sugar Bowl or probably any bowl like that there is no doubt in my mind we would travel well.

[Ranchdawg]

When we get to the Omaha Final equivalent of a bowl game, we will show up. Every single time

Truth! Who wants to go to a meaningless bowl against a team nobody or at least nobody in the south gives a turd about. On Jan. 2nd on a Monday before lunch with a work day the next day. Illinois showed up because it?s cold where they live and they haven?t been to a bowl game in awhile.

Give us a playoff game or give us a interest opponent be in playoff game be in a championship game I GUARANTEE the MSU fan base will show up in droves. See us in Omaha see Humphrey Coliseum when we are playing Kentucky with a chance to go to the NCAA tourney. Plus we are one of the least populated states in the country.

[Maroonthirteen]

Illinois had more fans at the game because Illinois has more fans.

But in regards to Mississippi and MSU, we have a tiny fan base because the state is so fragmented as far as allegiances. However State fans are definitely not showing up for games. We could do better just aren't for some reason. It's an issue the new AD will have to tackle.

[drummerdawg]

We're the best at making excuses for not attending games across all sports. Like Ranch said, we gotta play Kentucky for our fans to show up for a basketball game, and we have to play in the playoffs, etc. for fans to show up for bowls. The thing is, basketball fans show up to basketball games and football fans show up to football games regardless of opponent or time slot because they love the sport and their team. We don't have those types of fans, or at least, not nearly as many as others. We have to have everything just right and convenient or we won't show up.