Originally Posted by
dawg80
What about Arkansas? Well, after the Hogs get their act straightened out and start winning again, would hosting Arkie sell out Aillet? I agree that LSU and aTm would. In fact, in both cases demand > supply. We could bring in temporary bleachers, say, in the NEZ, and sell out those for those two opponents. We know other SEC teams wouldn't sell out the stadium. I doubt even UGA or Tenn would. Too long a trip for the bulk of their fans, and they would see no need to make the trip...in their minds.
The Big 12? We had right at 34K for Okie State in S'port, as I recall. Maybe they, or of course, OK Sooners, would sell out Aillet. TCU? Baylor? Nah, doubt it. Only if either one of those was enjoying a magical season, like ranked in the Top 4 for the CFP, and their fans simply couldn't get enough of seeing them play.
What would UCF bring? Say, if, in the next couple of years, UCF was continuing to be a Top 10 team, every year, beating some good P5s, and say if we were having a great year too...maybe ranked in the Top 25 and rolling...and we had a late October/early November date with them in Aillet. UCF does not yet have the kind of fanbase that will follow them to such a game. Maybe in a couple of more years, they might. But given what they do now, I would guess no more than 1,500 UCF fans in attendance. Maybe less than that, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, let's say 1,500. So...would Tech Nation and the average unaffiliated CFB fan...ya know, the local LSU-types, be interested enough to attend, provided it didn't conflict with their favorite team's game that weekend? Could we put 29-30Kish in Aillet, and plus the 1.5K UCF fans, sell it out?
In 1998 UCF came to Ruston, and with two exciting teams, and dynamic QBs, Daunte Culpepper and Tim Rattay, we barely had our normal 18K+. There were a small contingent of UCF fans there, maybe 200 or so. And a smattering of casual fans, with no particular tie to either school/team, just there to watch the QB matchup. I chatted with two small groups of such fans, totally maybe 8-10 between them. One group drove in from Atlanta, GA. just to see that game.
But, all this talk of filling JAS will have to wait until the principles in charge, have all been changed.