Women's Soccer Leads the Nation in Attendance... AGAIN

That makes it three years in a row!!! The NCAA must have just now officially released the rankings. We checked in at 3,771 per game, which is considerably higher than last year's number of 3,408 and 2005's 3,403. And it's the second highest single-season attendance average of all time... only North Carolina's 3,983 in 2001 was higher.

Awesome!

And with next year's terrific home schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if we eclipsed 4,000 for next season. It might be a bit of a stretch, but it's a great goal to have. And we really need to knock those lousy Tar Heels out of the top spot.

Check out the official release:

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/wsoccer/release.asp?release_id=4983

With the home schedule we have for this fall, and the fact that a couple sections are already or nearly sold out for season tickets makes me think we will again increase the avg. attendance this fall, and I dont think 4,000 is too much of a stretch...

Just a follow up... check out the Top 5. Clearly UP blows them out of the water:

1. Portland: 3,771
2. Texas A&M: 3,148
3. North Carolina: 2,567
4. Notre Dame: 1,938
5. BYU: 1,634

And it should be noted that Texas A&M doesn't charge for tickets. It's totally free.

This is something all Pilots' soccer fans can be proud of. My guess for 2008: 4,000......without question.

Good stuff to see. . . now if we could just see the same for the men. . .

-SciFi

now just imagine if the women could get some home games in the tournament...

Time to start thinking about the expansion plans....

Hey mattywizz - (like the moniker, BTW) - Don't worry about homes games in the tournament. We'll have a great chance of landing a third round game. Forget about first and second round even if we have the best record in the country. Ain't gonna happen. But if we can get by our third round opponent, we'll certainly be on our way to UCLA for the Quarters!

Forget that we could bring in around 20,000 fans for four rounds. The NCAA apparently doesn't put too high a value on Oregon coin.

we'll get a home date if any of UW, Wash St,Oregon, Oregon State, PSU, or Eastern Wash. get in the tourney.

Interestingly enough, the NCAA competition committee shows no inclination to change the rule for Western schools that aren't close together.

They did, however make an "Adjustment " to the rule to benefit the East Coast and Pac10 BCS schools that are close together. Now don't have to play in conference in the first two rounds.

It hurt us, however, since it took Gonzaga out of the pool of schools that can come here, and if Seattle U ever gets in and joins the WCC, they're out, too.

The rule seems designed to make sure that the likes of sparsely populated schools NEVER see a first round game.

Montana? no chance.

Purplegeezer wrote:we'll get a home date if any of UW, Wash St,Oregon, Oregon State, PSU, or Eastern Wash. get in the tourney.

Interestingly enough, the NCAA competition committee shows no inclination to change the rule for Western schools that aren't close together.

They did, however make an "Adjustment " to the rule to benefit the East Coast and Pac10 BCS schools that are close together. Now don't have to play in conference in the first two rounds.

It hurt us, however, since it took Gonzaga out of the pool of schools that can come here, and if Seattle U ever gets in and joins the WCC, they're out, too.

The rule seems designed to make sure that the likes of sparsely populated schools NEVER see a first round game.

Montana? no chance.

In last year's tournament, there were 6 teams that had to fly: BYU, USC, Hawaii, Oklahoma State, Portland, and Wake Forest. The way the foursomes were set up, there were 6 additional teams that presumably also would have had to fly in order to comply with the new rule about no teams from the same conference in an initial foursome: South Carolina, Indiana, Texas, California, Ohio State, and Auburn. If those teams had had to fly last year, the bracket would have looked quite different, since every place they would have flown one of those teams to would have had a displaced team that would have had to go somewhere else. Something I've been wondering is whether it is possible that in order to comply with the rule, the NCAA will be forced on occasion to fly three teams to one location. One possible problem with that for the home team, however, would be that the teams flying under the new rule are going to be from the strong conferences that have several teams selected for the tournament. So, to get one or two of those teams at your home field may be great for home field purposes but might not be so great for "strength of foursome" purposes.

UPSF - Good point, but I can't begin to imagine the NCAA flying three teams to Portland. I'll believe that when I see it!

Also, on your "strength of foursome" point, I'm a little confused. Do you mean the teams from stronger conferences will make it more difficult for us to advance past the first two rounds? That might certainly make for tougher opponents, but if we get home turf, it is still a tremendous advantage. Our playoff crowds are starting to get like the Trailblazer crowds of old when "Blazermania" ruled.

I guess I'd prefer to play a tough team at Merlo, than fly to Podunk for an 8 - 0 match.

I agree, FANatic. that I'll take tougher opponents on our home turf, if that's the way to get games here. I also agree it's unlikely the NCAA ever will fly three teams here.

Another reason not to want to fly elsewhere is that some of the likely places -- Salt Lake City, Denver, and Boulder -- are at altitude, which is a handicap in addition to simply playing on someone else's field. I also think the recovery period from playing at altitude, especially for those not used to it, can be longer.

I believe the WCC would be considered one of the "Strong Conferences"...