Athletic Life in College: The Football “Scene”

College Search & Selection
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<p>Undergraduate life has many parts-academic life, social life, athletic life, etc and together these determine the nature and quality of one’s undergraduate experience. For all students (even including those who don’t have a large interest in sports), what happens involving major college sporting teams can have a far-reaching impact on the life and vibe of a campus. </p>

<p>You will definitely encounter different “scenes” at major college sporting events across the country and across the USNWR Top 30 ranked colleges. To help you get a better sense of what the scene will be like at various colleges and how big an event a football game is on a Saturday afternoon in the life of a school, I thought that the following information might be helpful. (FWIW, I care less about wins and losses unless there are truly Top 20 caliber teams involved, but I pay particular interest to the attendance figures to guide me to the importance of the event in the social life of that college) I plan to update this periodically. Here is what happened on the first weekend of college football:</p>

<p>USN Rank College , Opponent , W/L Score , Attendance
1 Princeton , did not play , , ,<br>
2 Harvard , did not play , , ,<br>
3 Yale , did not play , , ,<br>
4 Stanford , UCLA , W , 45-17 , 38,860
5 U Penn , did not play , , ,<br>
5 Caltech , NO TEAM<br>
7 MIT , did not play , , ,<br>
8 Duke , U Connecticut , L , 14-45 , 17,251
9 Columbia , did not play , , ,<br>
9 U Chicago , did not play , , ,<br>
11 Dartmouth , did not play , , ,<br>
12 Wash U , Lake Forest , W , 41-28 , 2448
12 Cornell , did not play , , ,<br>
14 Brown , did not play , , ,<br>
14 Northwestern , Northeastern , W , 27-0 , 16,199
14 Johns Hopkins , at Hampden Sydney , W , 17-16 , 3901
17 Rice , Nicholls State , L , 14-16 , 11,859
17 Emory , NO TEAM<br>
19 Vanderbilt , U Richmond , W , 41-17 , 32,215
19 Notre Dame , Georgia Tech , L , 3-33 , 80,795
21 UC Berkeley , U Tennessee , W , 45-31 , 72,516
22 Carnegie Mellon , at U Rochester , W , 33-10 , 1700
23 U Virginia , at U Wyoming , L , 3-23 , 31,620
23 Georgetown , at Stony Brook , L , 28-35 , 7228
25 UCLA , at Stanford , W , 45-17 , 38,860
25 U Michigan , Appalachian State , L , 32-34 , 109,218
27 USC , U Idaho , W , 38-10 , 90,917
28 U North Carolina , James Madison , W , 37-14 , 58,500
28 Tufts , did not play , , ,<br>
30 Wake Forest , at Boston College , L , 28-38 , 42,292</p>

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<p>Just my $.02......</p>

<p>It's hard to judge a sport's "popularity" at a school if that school is on the road. Take UVA @ Wyoming, attendance was 31620. Much bigger attendance if you're in Virginia for that game. Or Michigan vs. App State, attendance was 109218. Much smaller attendance if the game is in North Carolina. </p>

<p>But also consider the size of the student body and the size of the stadium. My school's stadium holds about 55,000 people (including the hillsides), but the student section is ~8000 and is SOLD OUT for the year and remaining students have to buy hillside seats if they want the student rate. Our undergrad enrollment is approx 20,000. And our team was 4-8 last year, and got a new coaching staff this year and lost our first game and we'll probably end up 3-9 or 2-10, if that.</p>

<p>I know you said this will be updated, but it's still something that can easily by swayed by a minor detail. But other than that, interesting thread :)</p>

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<p>I was amazed by the size and noise of the crowd at Berkeley. It is a football school now.</p>

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<p>FYI, "4 Stanford , UCLA , W , 45-17 , 38,860" Actually, Stanford lost that one. (You have it correctly recorded as a win for UCLA.) Year 2, and they still haven't won in their new stadium.</p>

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<p>Barrons- it's a football school "now"? As if it hasn't been for over 100 years?Ever heard of the Big Game?</p>

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<p>The Big Game was a game nobody cared about and still don't unless Stanford comes back from the dead. When was the last time Cal was in the Rose Bowl on a regular basis?? Or any major bowls?.. I think maybe when they had Chuck Muncie if then. A football school averages more than 40,000/game in an 80,000 seat old stadium.</p>

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<p>"The Big Game was a game nobody cared about " I BEG to differ. Perhaps no one in VA cares about it, but tell that to the thousands of die hard Cal/ Stanford aumni out here. You stick to your opinion about what games people on the East coast care about , and I'll do likewise, OK?</p>

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<p>Hawkette: And this football assessment is important, why? Are you going to do the same for lacrosse? basketball? baseball? etc??? And doesn't it go without saying that the bigger schools will have larger crowds than the smaller schools? And that there will be a larger interest in DI sports, than in DIII sports? Don't we know already know this?</p>

<p>Also, some schools are clearly "football schools", while others are more "basketball schools", or "lacrosse schools." So what does this football analysis actually tell us? Which school is more spirited? Excuse me if I missed the point, but what exactly is the point?</p>

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<p>If you think that Cal doesn't have a football tradition you need to look up the "Wonder Teams"</p>

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<p>"And this football assessment is important, why? Are you going to do the same for lacrosse? basketball? baseball? etc???"</p>

<p>Well it is football season, and maybe someone who is looking at schools wants a school with a good fan base and what not. Sure, you might not think football is an important criteria, but I'm sure there are many out there who want to have a school with a solid football team.</p>

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<p>Regarding Berkeley, I'm with menloparkmom on this one -- Berkeley has been a big "football school" for a long time.</p>

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<p>Schools like Duke,Notre Dame and Stanford often field top olympic sports teams on most Saturdays on campus in addition to football games. This year both Stanford and Duke play ND. Might be interesting to add top LAC's in Div1 such as Colgate, Holy Cross, Davidson, and Bucknell and their repective home football attendance.</p>

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<p>hawkette;</p>

<p>maybe you could survey grads and employers about the football prowess of their favorite teams. :D</p>

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<p>Cards4lilfe,
Thanks for your comments as they help people better understand the information. You are right about that U Virginia-U Wyoming game. I’m told that was a very big crowd for the folks in Laramie, but would probably have been twice that in Charlottesville. That is partly why I intend to make other posts later in the season in order to show the crowds for both away, and more importantly, home games.</p>

<p>As for your school, feel free to boost it by name if you feel that the athletic life is one of its positive features. While not an important factor for some students, a college’s athletic life can be very influential for many students deciding on a college, not to mention on his/her undergraduate experience. </p>

<p>UCDAlum,
Thanks for the correction about Stanford-UCLA. Of course, UCLA won that one. Sorry about the typo.</p>

<p>Re the The Big Game, this is a hard one for folks from outside of the Bay Area to understand but this really is a Big Deal there and even when both schools stink (which Cal obviously does not right now). As for the scene at Cal for the U Tennessee game, I loved the energy of that crowd and the environment at that game. This should be a very fun year for fans of the Bears. </p>

<p>Gabriellah,
It’s football season and that is the premier college sport in America, followed by basketball. If you’d like to make an addition to the thread (or even start your own) about the “scene” for other sports, then please join in. The idea is to inform about how athletic life affects the undergraduate life of a college and what a student can expect at a certain college should they matriculate. </p>

<p>Par72,
I’d be happy to add some of the LACs if you felt that this was useful information. However, their smaller size and usually more rural locations almost guarantees smaller crowds and the quality of the games is not on the national stage like with the Division I schools. Also, I doubt that football or other sporting games have nearly the campus impact at LACs as they do at some of the major national universities although perhaps Holy Cross could be an exception. </p>

<p>bluebayou,
Excellent suggestion! I will take it up with the committee!! :) </p>

<p>Did anyone notice the size of the U North Carolina crowd for their home opener against James Madison? U North Carolina has not been a football power for quite some time, but perhaps a new era has begun. Duke fans-take note.</p>

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<p>I attended the Davidson home opener on Saturday night. It was my first time attending an LAC football game as DH and I and S1 all attended large state u's with a big football scenes.</p>

<p>It's hard to estimate the attendance. The bleachers were filled but the stadium is small and only has bleachers on one side of the field (no visitor side bleachers). The opposing team was an instate small public so there were quite a few fans from that school in the stands. No tailgating in the parking lot, the students who were present wandered in late (after the start of the game) and many left early(and their team was winning). It was just not a "rah rah" atmosphere. The students weren't standing and yelling for their team. They seemed more engaged in socializing with one another in the stands. The group of girls sitting behind us paid no attention at all to the game, as they were busy talking on cell phones making other plans and left before half-time. </p>

<p>Many families from the local town were there with small children running everywhere. They also seemed to be there for the social aspect. Davidson had no pep band or maybe they do and it just wasn't at this particular game. I don't know. So there was no music/fight song to get the crowd on it's feet. After each score the song was played over the PA system which got no reaction from the crowd. </p>

<p>I would say it seemed very high schoolish except that my S2 plays for our high sch. (which is twice as big as Davidson) and our high sch. team draws at least as many fans (prob. more) and the students stand and yell for the team the whole game. </p>

<p>I will say the setting was beautiful and the atmosphere very safe and friendly (they don't even feel the need for metal detectors on entrance to the stadium). Maybe this is just how football is at LAC's. Since my experience is only high sch. and big state u., I am no expert and am not making any judgements good or bad. Just thought I'd share my observations.</p>

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<p>My bad, Hawkette...I thought that the "premier" sport was more school and season specific.</p>

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<p>One of my daughter's friend joined the marching band at Indiana. She was in marching band in high school for 4 years. They had a one halftime show that they competed, and they would often perform part of that show at the football games, which were sparsely attended. She was not prepared for the pagentry of real college football. She was overwhelmed. And overjoyed. This is a huge part of her college experience that she had no idea was out there. She is now performing as part of a huge ensemble in front of tens of thousands of fans. The band is an integral part of the experience, she is part of the game, it's not just a few guys on the field. </p>

<p>Most kids in the country don't have high school football programs that resemble "Friday Night Lights", and watching bowl games on TV don't really portray what's going on in the stadium, or in the parking lots, or on campus the week before the game. And when they show up, and there is all is swirling around them, they can be blown away. This girl didn't think she was a sports fan. She's as surprised as anyone.</p>

<p>I think a big basketball program can also invigorate a campus. Watching the Stanford students line up shoulder to shoulder in the student sections, standing, jumping, screaming, for four straight quarters, is a thing of beauty, even when I'm rooting for the other team.</p>

<p>I haven't seen other sports overshadow a campus like football or basketball, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Tell us your lacrosse or waterpolo experiences. I would love to hear about campuses rallying around other sports.</p>

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<p>Sorry but if you think UCB was a football school between 1963 and Tedford you are just wrong. Their attendance for all but one game was a joke. The facilities were a joke (and had Tedford seriously thinking about leaving if not improved), and nobody outside the Bay area cared. To be a real football school you have some national interest and following--as they now do. And I live in Pac 10 country most of the time and also lived in LA for a number of years. Most schools have a rivalry game the liocals get all jazzed about but that does not make them a "football school". Indiana plays Purdue everty year in their version of the big game. Nobody outside Indiana cares nor do they consider IU a football school. It's a basketball school.</p>

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<p>My husband went to Cal, graduated in '81, and it wasn't really a football school back then. As a student he went to very few games, because it just wasn't that big of a deal. But the Big Game, even back then, was a big deal in the bay area. Thus the thrill of "the play" in the Big Game in '82. It was quite the upset. We were both surprised to see the full stands at the game on Saturday. (And equally surprised to see local kids home from Berkeley for the weekend. What! And miss the game!) Sunday he absentmindedly pulled on his Cal cycling jersey as we went out for a ride. He's worn it many times before. Never before had he gotten so many people yelling "Go Bears" at him. Even when riding through the Stanford campus.</p>

<p>As for the crowd at the Stanford/UCLA game, neither Stanford or UCLA undergrads have started yet. It does explain the large contigent of UCLA students, who are still at home for the summer in NorCal.</p>

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<p>Stanford, UCLA, and Northwestern haven't started their fall quarter yet.</p>