June 1, 2007

The University of Dayton finished in the Top 30 in men's basketball attendance for the tenth straight season in 2006-07, according to a report by the NCAA released earlier this week. The Flyers finished 28th in the NCAA in attendance with an average of 12,266 fans a game. Since UD Arena opened in 1969, Dayton has been in the NCAA`s top 35 in attendance every season.

The Flyers led the Atlantic 10 in attendance for the 11th straight season. UD averaged more than 2,300 fans a game better than any other team in the conference. In conference games only, Dayton averaged 12,595 (up 118 from a year ago).

In overall attendance, UD fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in eight years because of other teams gaining attendance. Even if UD would have matched last season's average of 12,422, the Flyers would have placed out of the Top 25 this season.

UD Arena has 78 sellouts in its 38-year history. UD's last 120 regular season home games have had attendance of at least 11,000 fans. In the last 14 years, 99% of UD's home games have drawn at least 10,000 (359 of 361), including the last 156 regular season games.

The Dayton's women's basketball team also led the Atlantic 10 in average attendance with an attendance of 3,190. Dayton's increase in attendance was the fifth highest in the country with a change of 1,586 people.

UD's men and women teams led the way for Atlantic 10 conference records in total attendance with 1,155,219 for the men (9th in the NCAA) and 209,460 for the women (12th) respectively.

The same NCAA attendance report indicated that the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament's average attendance increased by 311 to 5,880. This was thanks in no small part to the two-session average of 8,614, the highest of any site leading up to the Final Four in Cleveland.

Dayton men's team returns four starters from last year's team including All-Atlantic 10 player Brian Roberts. Dayton's women's team also returns four starters including its leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Nikki Oakland.

NCAA Division I Men's Top 30 in Attendance

School Avg. 1. Kentucky 23,421 2. Syracuse 21,516 3. North Carolina 20,693 4. Tennessee 19,661 5. Louisville 18,488 6. Ohio State 17,530 7. Wisconsin 17,190 8. Maryland 16,822 9. Arkansas 16,720 10. Illinois 16,618 11. Indiana 16,474 12. Kansas 16,300 13. Creighton 15,909 14. Marquette 15,345 15. Michigan State 14,759 16. Memphis 14,527 17. Arizona 14,202 18. NC State 13,952 19. Virginia 13,521 20. Connecticut 13,012 21. Oklahoma State 13,008 22. Texas 12,969 23. New Mexico 12,853 24. South Carolina 12,838 25. Iowa State 12,489 26. Kansas State 12,301 27. Alabama 12,285 28. Dayton 12,266 29. Iowa 12,196 30. Brigham Young 12,073

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S TOP 40 ATTENDANCE

School Average 1. Tennessee 14,678 2. Connecticut 10,802 3. Texas Tech 10,668 4. Oklahoma 10,437 5. New Mexico 9,582 6. Maryland 9,533 7. Iowa St. 8,906 8. Purdue 7,585 9. Michigan St. 6,389 10. Notre Dame 6,364 11. Baylor 6,295 12. Minnesota 5,943 13. Duke 5,852 14. Kentucky 5,796 15. Penn St. 5,777 16. Wisconsin 5,720 17. LSU 5,573 18. Missouri St. 5,419 19. Texas 5,044 20. Ohio St. 5,001 21. North Carolina 4,815 22. Wyoming 4,638 23. Vanderbilt 4,513 24. Georgia 4,485 25. Texas A&M 4,442 26. Middle Tenn. 4,157 27. Iowa 4,132 28. Nebraska 4,110 29. Kansas St. 4,063 30. Pittsburgh 4,008 31. Montana 3,965 32. Virginia 3,668 33. Rutgers 3,654 34. Indiana St. 3,610 35. Old Dominion 3,562 36. Arizona St. 3,502 37. Stanford 3,206 38. Dayton 3,190 39. Louisville 3,104 40. Virginia Tech 2,980