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15 years of top-seven national attendance for men's basketball is quite the impressive feat.
The Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team not only led the Big Ten Conference on the court during the 2014-15 season.
In a year where the conference itself led the nation for a whopping 39th consecutive season in men's basketball attendance with 3,076,641 fans -- 1,677,589 for in-conference games -- the Badgers owned the top mark in the league with an average of 17,279 fans per game. That capacity average placed them fifth-best in the nation.
This continues a trend for head coach Bo Ryan's program, who have drawn a top-seven finish in national attendance for 15 straight years.
The men's basketball team tweeted out on Monday that every home game for the 2014-15 season was sold out as UW led the Big Ten for the tenth time in attendance since 2003.
Eight Big Ten conference men's programs were in the top 25 nationally in attendance for last season -- with 11 teams in the top 32. The Badgers finished behind only Syracuse, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina.
Here's the official press release from the Wisconsin athletic department:
Wisconsin men's basketball ranks fifth in nation in attendance
Badgers rank among top seven nationally for 15th-consecutive season
MADISON, Wis. - On their way to Big Ten championships and the Final Four, all eyes were on the Badgers in 2014-15 and that was confirmed by the attendance figures released by the NCAA on Monday. A capacity average of 17,279 packed the Kohl Center to help UW lead the Big Ten and finish fifth in the nation in home attendance, the program's highest finish since 2011-12.
The ranking continues what has now been a 15-year streak of top-seven finishes for UW in national attendance. This season, Wisconsin trailed only Syracuse, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina.
Wisconsin has ranked among the top two in the Big Ten for 13 consecutive seasons and has now led the conference 10 times since 2003. The Big Ten as a league led the nation in attendance for the 39th-consecutive year by averaging 12,781 fans per game this past season. A total of 10 Big Ten schools ranked in the top 30 in average attendance.
The Big Ten set conference records for total attendance (3,076,641) and attendance in conference games only (1,677,589) at its home arenas this season. It marks the first time in history that the Big Ten has eclipsed the three-million mark in total attendance.
In overall attendance, Wisconsin ranked second in the nation as 711,115 fans saw the Badgers play at home, on the road and in neutral sites. Kentucky was the only school to play in front of more people at 845,594. At the 2015 Final Four UW played in front 72,238 spectators in the semifinals and 71,149 fans in the championship game - those figures rank as the second and third largest crowds in school history, trailing only the 2014 Final Four (79,444).
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