rma

46 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

To me having the student section behind the baskets is lame and not good for visibility. Not visibility in the sense of vantage point but recognition, intimidation etc. When alumni became bougie and moved the students from behind the benches to the ends, that to me is when they lost interest. 

Completely agree. Schools like WVU and Bona have a huge home advantage because the students are right on the court. The Bona student section that isn’t behind the baskets is only a few hundred students. WVU has the entire sideline opposite the benches designated for students, a bit more than Bona.

Instead we have a okay/decent number of students show up, but because they’re all over the GA zones (each baseline is ~1,000 “seats”) it looks like nothing and they aren’t able to provide a huge home court advantage because they aren’t all in one area cheering together. 

Can’t move them behind the team benches because I don’t think that’s allowed anymore. I think the best way to fix it is kill the current 100’s on the side opposite the benches (currently donor seating) and turn that into student section seating. It’s probably enough to fit around 1k students with bleacher seats.

ETA: Pissing off donors is not the goal (I am sure this would ruffle feathers) but getting the student section more involved and providing a better atmosphere pays huge dividends. 
 

WVU’s student section seating isn’t even benches. It’s kind of just standing room and chair back seats can be attached to them (concerts, graduation, etc). This would make it work with the non-basketball events that happen at AA where you need actual seats. 

9 minutes ago, UB Horns Up said:

should be students camping out for opening night tickets

9 years ago the school wouldn’t allow students to camp out for the Baylor game. Doubt the policy has changed since then

1 minute ago, clodney said:

Are they on vacation or something? This is a sad crowd all around. 

Band has practice for tomorrow’s football game. They have practice or games every day this week except Thursday and this past Sunday. 

5 minutes ago, capencaper said:

Where are the students?

There’s about a full baselines worth of students here but they’re spread out in both of the general admission sections. No band either 

NCAA denied the waiver.

1. Rank: BETTER than 250

2. MAC wins:  BETTER than 8

3. PPG for: WORSE than 72 ppg

4. PPG against: BETTER than 75 ppg

5. PPG Top 3: BETTER than 43 ppg 

6. PPG Fr: WORSE than 10 ppg

7.  2PT FG%: WORSE than 51%

8. 3PT FG%: WORSE than 35%

9. FT%: BETTER than 71%

10. Turnovers:  WORSE than 13

I don't know how much offensive production we're going to get, hoping defense keeps us in games this year.

18 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

The green seats (~6,000) with the red seats (~1,250) and the black seats (~600) is a little shy of 8,000 lower bowl seats, as I said.

The red seats are not used for Siena games between 110-115 and 125-130. And the black seats are not set up in that configuration for Siena games either. There's about 4-6 rows of students and band on one side and on the other side it's donor seating (100 max). So okay, let's add a few hundred to the previous estimates, it doesn't change my point.

I could pull more data quantifying fan bases but at this point I'm not convincing you and you aren't convincing me. Go Bulls.

15 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

This is not correct and this source is what your whole premise is based on.

These are lower bowl permanent seats. 

The information comes directly from the bid that Albany county put out for the replacement of the seats. Don’t know how I can otherwise prove the seating capacity. 

15 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

are you just trying to say that Siena doesn't have more fans that support their program than we do?  Because that isn't debatable.  They absolutely do.  

Yes I am. I’ve lived in both regions for over a decade. Siena has about as much local support as UAlbany does. But evidently they do a good job of marketing their brand online because of the whole premise of this back and forth.

13 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Can we stop arguing over Siena basketball attendance.  Who cares?

Don’t see anybody talking bulls here, why not argue with internet strangers about something completely irrelevant and unimportant 

1 hour ago, dutchcountry7 said:

Are you implying that their numbers are fabricated?

Yes. I am saying that they don't nearly get the 6-7k that is normally reported as their attendance figures.

The entire lower bowl of the MVP arena is 6,106 seats (paywalled source, but you can google it https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2023/10/05/mvp-arena-upgrades-new-seats.html)

1 hour ago, dutchcountry7 said:

The game that you say is good attendance (UAlbany) would have filled two Alumni Arenas.   While the game you said was poor attendance on a weeknight would have been a packed Alumni Arena.

The good attendance one would have filled Alumni Arena (modern record 6,709) and maybe left some people not able to get in. Even the announced attendance of 9,561 is just over an Alumni Arena and a half (6,100 seats + 3,050).

That being said, any Big 4 game should completely sell out when any of the teams are playing each other. What Siena and UAlbany do for that game is what we and the L3 should strive for.

1 hour ago, dutchcountry7 said:

This game where the attendance was so poor, as you say, is still really strong attendance.  One third of the arena is filled with fans in the end-zones and filled along the sidelines on the lower bowl.

It is their worst attendance of the year and it would be a packed Alumni Arena.

I can't get a good wide picture of the seats there so I found a few of other Siena games. Their actual attendance outside of the UAlbany game is similar to ours.

Siena vs Fairfield 2022, announced attendance of 4,918 (Sunday 2pm)

Siena vs Iona 2022, announced attendance of 6,383 (Friday 9pm ESPNU)

This is from the article you linked earlier and is probably the best shot of a non-UAlbany game. Behind the benches are 70-90% full, opposite side closest to photographer is about 50-60% full. So around 4k total?

Siena vs Niagara 2023, announced attendance of 7,121 (Sunday 2pm)

This looks about 60% full, but we saw in the last picture these are the more full sections, so a little bit lower than the Iona game. 3,500?

On the UB side, here's us getting walloped by Akron on a Tuesday night last year. This is the widest shot I have from last year and I doubt UB was posting a lot of wide angle pictures.

We announced attendance of 5,001. Actual attendance maybe 3k?

Here's the Friday night game against Kent State ESPN2

Announced attendance was 4,207. I think we're probably around 3,000-3,500, with a larger than normal amount of that being students.

We're right around where Siena is. Siena has a disadvantage as you said since their arena is off campus and they don't control it. You also have to pay to park there. We're competing with an NHL team, but have a huge alumni advantage and are a much larger school.

11 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

If you need to be having national success to get people interested in your program you don't have a fan base you just have bandwagoners.  Look at Siena, they are horrible.  But they have a huge fan base.  Imagine if they were actually any good.  https://sienasaints.com/news/2022/10/27/mens-basketball-siena-basketball-leads-northeast-mid-majors-in-attendance-for-second-straight-time.aspx

I grew up in the Albany area so I know this pretty well.

Siena plays in the equivalent of Keybank Center. It's far away from their campus, but central to Albany. The arena is much too big for their program, but since it has a lot of seats Siena can "sell" these tickets to boost their attendance figures. Remember the 22k we had during the Danny White years?

One good thing they do is the UAlbany vs Siena game is hyped up as the game of the year. That game is what every Big 4 game should be. But most of the support for the teams after that dwindles. It reminds me of the Bisons 4th of July game. Everybody goes to one game then nobody cares after that.

Here's some pictures. Also keep in mind that most of the time the second level is closed off, so all fans are in the 100's.

UAlbany game Saturday 7:30pm - good! https://sienasaints.com/galleries/mens-basketball/2022-mens-basketball-albany-cup/9009

The next game, Wednesday 7pm - bad! https://sienasaints.com/galleries/mens-basketball/mbb-vs-army-west-point-11-16-22-/9010

Sunday 2pm game - also bad! https://sienasaints.com/galleries/mens-basketball/siena-basketball-vs-rider-1-8-23-/9023

For comparison UB on a Saturday at 1pm last season (bad!) https://ubbulls.com/galleries/mens-basketball/mbb-vs-jmu/814

3 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

This is an engineering and architectural nightmare according to architects.  If you lower the field you will have to build a "bathtub" to keep water out on one end.  The other end has massive rock, which will be a pain to move.  The bathtubs are always a potential leak and flood, which is why they are avoid in construction, if at all possible.

The better move and less expensive move is to build a steel structure, the way south end zone stands are constructed out from the 200 tier and build over the existing stadium and out over the track, once it is moved.  The field does not have to be lowered, which will tons of money.  This method would allow a much faster turnover than lowering the field. 

What is the time frame for this?

3 hours ago, Blue03 said:

If we mimic them, then with the funding and passion increase UB could finally grow and maybe break out of the MAC

During the height of the Hurley and Oats years it was impossible to get cell phone reception at all during games. That's mimicing Olean, NY.

We can also mimic them by not accepting cards at concession stands, having our student section harass fans, storming the court early and making their team lose, accepting transfers that only have a welding certificate, etc.

None of that I want any part of. Their university has an awful academic reputation and their men's basketball program has less NCAA tournament appearances than UB does over the last 22 years. Their Final 4 (last time they made it past the first round) and NIT banners are almost as old as Ohio U's last MAC football title. Their women's basketball program gets less support than the pre-FLJ UB WBB team did.

Say something nice about your rival: They have a good turnout on Saturday games and have a decent student turnout, which is amplified by where they sit stand in their outdated arena.
ETA: Their students stand during the game. That's one thing our students could do. In 2012 a hyped up student section made Matt Stainbrook cry after missing free throws. During the blackout game against Kent State in 2015, after the matinee rap show, True Blue made up for the lack of general public due to the 10pm start. During the Hurley and Oats years we had an overflowing student section that stood most of the time. Right now it's the band (cheer and dazzlers) and a few rows of true blue faithful.

Wonder what the connection is between those schools. Seems like a pretty random matchup. BGSU beat them in an exhibition by 2 points two years ago too. Fairmont State's coach is an Ohioan (connections to Notre Dame College and Case Western) so maybe something there.

5 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

What if Army - Navy is the championship game?

They play for the conference championship

5 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Do they play back to back weeks?

Yes

5 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

Which game is cancelled?

No

5 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

What if one team is in the conference championship game?

They play in the conference championship game

4 hours ago, bullsbball said:

My friend said he was also never told to check people's tickets when they were sitting in their seats.

I complained last year about being made to sit in my assigned (men's) seat for a women's side of a double header. Guess I won't be trying that this year.

For football this year the parking lot attendant did not allow me to park in my preferred lot, Alumni B. I was told to park in Alumni A and to move to the far corner to allow other cars to fill in. The second game I was allowed to park where I wanted after the parking lot attendants realized this was not a Bills game.

1 hour ago, BrooklynBull said:

For those in the New York City area, the Rockets are in New York twice in January.

Rockets still need to sign him

9 hours ago, Blue03 said:

Canadian?

They're not very smart. There's a reason they're #361 in the US News rankings.

UAkron undergrad enrollment is down 60% in a dozen years. People aren't falling for scams like University of Phoenix and ITT Tech anymore, but somehow Ohioans are still falling victim to the University of Akron. Sad really.

49 minutes ago, Blue03 said:

How on earth can talent look at UB and say it wants to come here right now? Maybe because he sees how bad our run game is and knows he can shine? Maybe that’s our way forward, bring in recruits that can make the difference where we currently lack. 

I am not saying that Mo is a PJ Fleck butttttt PJ Fleck had a #1 recruiting class in the MAC after a 1-11 season.

For those only able to watch livestats, UB GK Lexie Thompson has touched the ball a couple times this game so far despite the 0 Akron shots on goal, shots, corners.

48 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Maybe someday we’ll rise to that level of school spirit and consistent attendance at games, but it’s going to take a lot of winning to do it. 

The home opener had a full 100 section on the visitor sideline - all students. Student support for football, at least for a 6PM kickoff on a Saturday, is pretty good. Of course a loss to an FCS team and a noon kickoff next game killed that momentum.

2 hours ago, clodney said:

 I'd imagine donor money has as well.

There’s a lot of ways you can juice the numbers but we had a record year for donations last year

2 hours ago, Sportsfan said:

Look at this transition.  He hasn't been able to keep coaches, and his coordinators are not qualified to be coordinators for a Headcoach who was never a coordinator.  UB has 2 assistant coach (20%) in the same role after only 2 years.  If you want to see the polar opposite, go look at Lance's staff at Kansas.

Note:  Bailey leaves after 1 year to go to Georgia Southern, Ojong leaves to go to Charlotte.  Not what I would call promotions to Power 5.

Judging from my observations and their subsequent jobs I don’t think Montgomery and Cauthen were necessarily “lost” more likely they were not retained. Bailey went to his Alma mater

2 hours ago, BrazenBull said:

Getting trounced by Falwell U should be grounds for dismissal

Should we have fired Lance Leipold in 2019?

On 9/13/2023 at 10:04 AM, Blue03 said:

I’ll be honest, I don’t know volleyball stats, and if they’re good or not compared to other schools. In simples terms, what is your current outlook for the season?

Massey ratings https://masseyratings.com/cvol/ncaa-d1/ratings

WMU 34

Bowling Green 84

Buffalo 101

Last year UB finished 163 and advanced to the MAC Semifinals for the first time. BG won the conference and finished #75, was swept in the first round of the NCAA tournament by #27 WKU.

This weekend WMU plays WKU.

Massey predicts us to be competitive against everybody in conference except WMU and BG. https://masseyratings.com/cvol2023/979

4 hours ago, UBinMD said:

Before I trek to Louisiana I would like a glimmer of hope!

I made plans months ago to go to Louisiana. The kickoff time being so late is making it much less appealing to still go. I hope being competitive or winning this game gives me the push I need to still go.