May 25, 2006

The University of Dayton finished in the Top 25 in men's basketball attendance for the seventh straight season in 2005-06, according to a report by the NCAA that was released this week. The Flyers finished 23rd in the NCAA in attendance with an average of 12,422 fans a game.

In addition to seven straight years in the Top 25, this was the 26th time in the 37-year history of UD Arena that Dayton has been 25th or better. Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton has been in the NCAA`s top 35 in attendance every season.

The Flyers averaged led the Atlantic 10 in attendance for the tenth straight season. UD averaged more than 2,500 fans a game better than any other team in the conference. In A-10 games only, Dayton averaged 12,477.

In 2004-05, the Flyers were 18th, with an average attendance of 12,569. But even if UD remained constant, it would still have been ranked 23rd due to increases of at least 1,800 fans at five other schools,

UD Arena has 76 sellouts in its 34-year history. UD's last 104 regular season home games have had attendance of at least 11,000 fans. In the last 13 years, 99% of UD's home games have drawn at least 10,000 (343 of 345), including the last 140 regular season games.

Dayton returns four starters and its top three scorers (led by All-Atlantic 10 performer Brian Roberts) next season. UD was 14-17 in 2005-06, with five of the wins and 11 of the losses coming against post-season teams.

2005-06 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Attendance Top 25

Team Avg. 1. Kentucky 22,763 2. Syracuse 21,587 3. North Carolina 20,239 4. Louisville 18,316 5. Tennessee 17,954 6. Maryland 17,174 7. Wisconsin 17,142 8. Indiana 16,949 9. Illinois 16,618 10. Kansas 16,300 11. Ohio State 15,389 12. Arkansas 14,958 13. Memphis 14,866 14. Michigan State 14,759 15. Wake Forest 14,665 16. Arizona 14,586 17. NC State 14,472 18. Marquette 13,998 19. Connecticut 13,948 20. Creighton 13,900 21. New Mexico 13,386 22. Texas 13,024 23. DAYTON 12,422 24. Vanderbilt 12,197 25. Iowa 12,006