Basketball support in Tennessee (Memphis: schools, universities, stats)

[JMT]

I ran across some stats from the NCAA, and it looks like basketball fans in Tennessee know how to go out and support their teams.

Among the top 25 universities for average college basketball attendance in the country, 2007-2008:

MEN:

4. Tennessee … 20,267
10. Memphis … 16,748
22. Vanderbilt … 13,418

WOMEN:

1. Tennessee … 15,796
17. Vanderbilt … 5,369

I posted the full Top 25 lists here:

Top 25 NCAA Basketball Schools for Attendance

[knoxgarden]

I'd expect the men's figure to go up considerably this year. They were saying on the news last night that they'd set a record for season ticket sales. I think they said they sold 17,000 season tickets. Bruce Pearl has given them the excitement they need.

[Pearlbob]

I am shocked that UT beat out Memphis (and Vandy was close behind). I could have sworn that the Forum was a sell-out for almost every game, and the Forum is our NBA arena so you'd think it would hold more people than college arenas.

[jchometeam]

Thompson Boling holds 21,000, Memphis Forum holds a little over 18,000. Now for many many years Thompson Boling was an embarrassment because they could never fill it. In recent years, especially since the basketball in now better than their football team, UT has filled that place up nearly every game.

[Pearlbob]

Interesting! The Grizzlies average about 304 attendees per game, so maybe it seems bigger than it really is

[strumpeace]

Memphis' attendance figures are always inflated. The games are often sell-outs, but there are typically a couple thousand seats unfilled. Big difference between seats sold and actual attendance.