Not sure who put this graphic together but simple math tells me IU Bloomington graduates between 10K and 12K per year so to have 805K living alumni would indicate that very few of their alumni after the class of 1961 have passed on
More than conference, it’s the fact most Miami students come to campus already fans of a power college program. If you’re from a family of big OSU fans, what are the odds Miami will sway your allegiance? Also, even if you become a Miami fan there’s a decent chance you end up living more than an hour from Oxford. We have a ton of alums in Chicago, New York, Detroit, etc. and it’s hard to get a lot of people to travel to a football program like ours.
My personal belief is likely the same as any other fans: if we can’t get out of the MAC, at least pull an upset every now and then. And beat more of your peers out of conference than you lose to. This is where it’s starting to grind. UMASS was laughed at for their football history when they joined. Now they are getting points in the polls.
Our alumni (and students) by and large will only care when a Miami team is nationally relevant. When Ben had football rolling, the stands were mostly full and people cared. When Harper, or Wally, or Suder had hoops humming, Millett was packed. When Ryan Jones and Miele had Goggin rocking, people cared.
If the teams are not getting national attention, the interest level will return to baseline (which means just die-hards scattered in empty stands). That’s not fixable. The solution is allocating resources appropriately to push the sports that can be nationally relevant to be successful at achieving that. The current athletic department clearly feels like there may be a window to make football relevant if they can invest enough resources in this short window and somehow end up in a better conference in the next few years. Football is still the tail that wags the dog for collegiate athletics and a rising tide would lift all ships.
I’m not optimistic that happens, but I get the strategy. I would guess that if we don’t see a shift in the next 3-5 years, investment is going to drop off a cliff. It doesn’t seem sustainable unless we really do have truly deep pockets willing to just shovel dollars into the fire in perpetuity (maybe we do?).
Part of getting nationally relevant? Notice I say “part of”, is beating a B12 team who happens to be your biggest OOC rival in the 4th oldest rivalry in college football. Losing that game almost yearly tends to dampen enthusiasm among the not so enthusiastic fan base.
Current Miami students grew up bent over a screen their whole lives; leaving their home to watch or play spectator sports is not important to them. 32-0 was a chance to make the scene and see how many Nutrls they could drink in 2 hrs. Entertainment is consumed differently now.
This excuse doesn’t pass muster when you see UC had a packed student section at TQL. UMass students were lined up hours in advance for UMass football against FCS (UMass has less than zero football history).
I think student attitude is a bigger concern with attendance problems. I think Miami students at large don’t come into Oxford caring about college sports as much as many other schools even within the MAC. I mean just look at the uproar over getting rid of cook for the arena. Hopefully recent success of athletics and the new arena changes some of the attitude
Back in the 00s, kids would camp out for hockey games. I remember Rico would have Little Caesars pizzas sent to feed everyone. But the student section was usually sparse for football and basketball games. Of course winners can change that, as we saw last year in basketball. But in general, the Miami student body just hasn’t had the same passion for its sports programs as many other schools.
