SEC Sells: College Football Teams with the Best Home Game Turnouts, Ranked

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The south really loves college football. Like, a lot.

We wanted to look at just how much they love their teams by doing an analysis of how many people actually attend the games of each team in the FBS. To do so, we compiled data on every NCAA Division I FBS football program in the country. We found the conference, the stadium, and the stadium’s capacity. Then we matched it up against average home game attendance for each team. From there we could see which schools are selling out the house, and which ones are just barely filling seats.

Bragging rights, in this case, might not be quite as glamorous as actually winning a title. But filling seats is what keeps the program running, and no one likes to go to games that look more like a ghost town than a televised football game.

Plus, with the CFB season about to kick off, what makes for a better bit of extra smack talk than, “Oh yeah? Well, at least our team can fill a stadium!”?

Let’s dig in.

NCAA Conferences, Ranked by Home Game Attendance

All told, it’s not a huge surprise that the SEC came out on top. Their average attendance was over 95% for home games, across all teams. But it’s worth noting that they did have a bit of help from the fact that many of their teams reported an average crowd larger than the stadium’s listed capacity. Even so, it’s not likely that any of the other conferences would have caught up with the SEC.

The Big 12, Big Ten, and Pac-12 all made a good showing–between 87 and 92% average attendance–but the ACC lags behind with just 81% attendance, behind the average of the four remaining Independent schools.

SEC Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Big 12 Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Big Ten Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Pac-12 Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

ACC Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

American Conference Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Conference USA Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Mountain West Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Sun Belt Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

MAC Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

Independent Teams, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance vs Capacity

All Colleges, Ranked by Average Home Game Attendance (Total)

For the final list, here are all of the FBS teams. This time, they’re sorted not by attendance as a percentage of total capacity, but by sheer volume of fans in attendance. The Big Ten takes the cake there, with the two largest stadiums.

College Conference Stadium Name Capacity Avg Attendance (2015) Avg Attendance % Capacity Michigan Big Ten Michigan Stadium 107601 110168 102.39% Ohio State Big Ten Ohio Stadium 104944 107244 102.19% Texas A&M SEC Kyle Field 102733 103622 100.87% Louisiana State SEC Tiger Stadium 102321 102004 99.69% Alabama SEC Bryant-Denny Stadium 101821 101112 99.30% Tennessee SEC Neyland Stadium 102455 100584 98.17% Penn State Big Ten Beaver Stadium 106572 99799 93.64% Georgia SEC Sanford Stadium 92746 92746 100.00% Florida SEC Ben Hill Griffin Stadium 88548 90065 101.71% Texas Big 12 Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium 100119 90035 89.93% Nebraska Big Ten Memorial Stadium 87000 89998 103.45% Auburn SEC Jordan-Hare Stadium 87451 87451 100.00% Oklahoma Big 12 Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium 83489 85357 102.24% Clemson ACC Memorial Stadium (SC) 81500 84038 103.11% Notre Dame Independent Notre Dame Stadium 80795 80795 100.00% South Carolina SEC Williams-Brice Stadium 80250 78822 98.22% Wisconsin Big Ten Camp Randall Stadium 80321 78014 97.13% Southern California Pac 12 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 93607 75358 80.50% Michigan State Big Ten Spartan Stadium 75005 74661 99.54% Florida State ACC Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium 79560 73219 92.03% Arkansas SEC Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Frank Broyles Field 72000 67326 93.51% UCLA Pac 12 Rose Bowl 92542 66858 72.25% Missouri SEC Faurot Field 71168 65120 91.50% Iowa Big Ten Kinnick Stadium 70585 63142 89.46% Washington Pac 12 Husky Stadium 70500 61919 87.83% Mississippi State SEC Davis Wade Stadium 61337 61784 100.73% Kentucky SEC Commonwealth Stadium 61000 61295 100.48% Virginia Tech ACC Lane Stadium 66233 60824 91.83% Mississippi SEC Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 64038 60479 94.44% BYU Independent LaVell Edwards Stadium 63725 58532 91.85% Oklahoma State Big 12 Boone Pickens Stadium 60218 57668 95.77% Oregon Pac 12 Autzen Stadium 54000 57631 106.72% North Carolina State ACC Carter-Finley Stadium 57583 56988 98.97% Iowa State Big 12 Jack Trice Stadium 61500 56519 91.90% Texas Tech Big 12 Jones AT&T Stadium 60862 56340 92.57% West Virginia Big 12 Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium 60000 54826 91.38% Kansas State Big 12 Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium 53000 53100 100.19% Arizona State Pac 12 Sun Devil Stadium, Frank Kush Field 71706 52712 73.51% Minnesota Big Ten TCF Bank Stadium 52525 52355 99.68% Arizona Pac 12 Arizona Stadium 56029 51393 91.73% Georgia Tech ACC Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field 55000 50707 92.19% Stanford Pac 12 Stanford Stadium 50424 49917 98.99% North Carolina ACC Kenan Memorial Stadium 62980 49643 78.82% Louisville ACC Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium 55000 49069 89.22% California Pac 12 California Memorial Stadium 62717 48800 77.81% Pittsburgh ACC Heinz Field 68400 48150 70.39% Rutgers Big Ten High Point Solutions Stadium 52454 47723 90.98% Miami (FL) ACC Hard Rock Stadium 65326 47561 72.81% TCU Big 12 Amon G. Carter Stadium 45000 46767 103.93% Utah Pac 12 Rice-Eccles Stadium 45807 46533 101.58% Baylor Big 12 McLane Stadium 45140 46160 102.26% Maryland Big Ten Maryland Stadium 51802 44341 85.60% Indiana Big Ten Memorial Stadium (IN) 52959 44314 83.68% Temple American Lincoln Financial Field 68532 44159 64.44% Memphis American Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 62380 43802 70.22% Virginia ACC Scott Stadium 61500 43285 70.38% East Carolina American Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium 50000 43274 86.55% Illinois Big Ten Memorial Stadium (IL) 60670 41342 68.14% Colorado Pac 12 Folsom Field 50183 39389 78.49% Purdue Big Ten Ross-Ade Stadium 57236 37508 65.53% Cincinnati American Nippert Stadium 40000 37096 92.74% Oregon State Pac 12 Reser Stadium 45674 36079 78.99% Houston American John O’Quinn Field at TDECU Stadium 40000 33980 84.95% Boise State Mountain West Albertsons Stadium 37000 33612 90.84% Northwestern Big Ten Ryan Field 47130 33366 70.80% Navy American Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium 34000 32338 95.11% Vanderbilt SEC Vanderbilt Stadium 40350 32134 79.64% Syracuse ACC Carrier Dome 49250 32102 65.18% Army Independent Blaik Field at Michie Stadium 38000 30991 81.56% Boston College ACC Alumni Stadium 44500 30205 67.88% Central Florida American Bright House Networks Stadium 45301 30065 66.37% Washington State Pac 12 Martin Stadium 32248 29407 91.19% San Diego State Mountain West Qualcomm Stadium 70561 29066 41.19% Fresno State Mountain West Bulldog Stadium 41031 29036 70.77% Southern Mississippi Conference USA M. M. Roberts Stadium 36000 28335 78.71% Connecticut American Rentschler Field 40000 28224 70.56% Kansas Big 12 Memorial Stadium 50071 27282 54.49% Wake Forest ACC BB&T Field 31500 26674 84.68% South Florida American Raymond James Stadium 65890 26578 40.34% Duke ACC Wallace Wade Stadium 40000 26427 66.07% Marshall Conference USA Joan C. Edwards Stadium 38019 26322 69.23% Air Force Mountain West Falcon Stadium 46692 26026 55.74% Colorado State Mountain West Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium 34400 24917 72.43% New Mexico Mountain West University Stadium 39224 23528 59.98% Hawaii Mountain West Aloha Stadium 50000 23433 46.87% UTEP Conference USA Sun Bowl Stadium 51500 23212 45.07% Arkansas State Sun Belt Centennial Bank Stadium 30964 23007 74.30% Tulane American Benson Field at Yulman Stadium 30000 22930 76.43% Nevada Mountain West Mackay Stadium 30000 22170 73.90% Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt Cajun Field 36900 21596 58.53% Appalachian State Sun Belt Kidd Brewer Stadium 24050 21459 89.23% Utah State Mountain West Romney Stadium 25513 21362 83.73% Ohio MAC Peden Stadium 24000 21323 88.85% Southern Methodist American Gerald J. Ford Stadium 32000 21043 65.76% Louisiana Tech Conference USA Joe Aillet Stadium 28019 20977 74.87% Toledo MAC Glass Bowl 26248 20842 79.40% Georgia Southern Sun Belt Paulson Stadium 25000 20780 83.12% Old Dominion Conference USA Foreman Field 20118 20118 100.00% Tulsa American Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium 30000 19622 65.41% Bowling Green MAC Doyt Perry Stadium 24000 19608 81.70% Western Michigan MAC Waldo Stadium 30200 19441 64.37% Troy Sun Belt Veterans Memorial Stadium 30000 19399 64.66% Nevada-Las Vegas Mountain West Sam Boyd Stadium 40000 19371 48.43% Rice Conference USA Rice Stadium 47000 19339 41.15% Buffalo MAC UB Stadium 33500 18457 55.10% Akron MAC Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium 30000 18098 60.33% Wyoming Mountain West War Memorial Stadium 29181 18060 61.89% Western Kentucky Conference USA Houchens Industries-L. T. Smith Stadium 22000 17960 81.64% Florida Atlantic Conference USA FAU Stadium 30000 17617 58.72% New Mexico State Sun Belt Aggie Memorial Stadium 30343 17486 57.63% Middle Tennessee State Conference USA Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium 31000 17210 55.52% South Alabama Sun Belt Ladd Peebles Stadium 33471 16039 47.92% Miami (OH) MAC Yager Stadium 24286 15707 64.68% Central Michigan MAC Kelly/Shorts Stadium 45000 15672 34.83% Florida International Conference USA FIU Stadium 23500 15381 65.45% San Jose State Mountain West Spartan Stadium 30456 15312 50.28% Northern Illinois MAC Huskie Stadium 23595 13942 59.09% North Texas Conference USA Apogee Stadium 30850 13631 44.18% Kent State MAC Dix Stadium 25000 12561 50.24% Louisiana-Monroe Sun Belt Malone Stadium 30427 11732 38.56% Idaho Sun Belt Kibbie Dome 16000 11653 72.83% Massachusetts Independent McGuirk Alumni Stadium / Gillette Stadium 17000 11124 65.44% Georgia State Sun Belt Georgia Dome 28155 10347 36.75% Ball State MAC Scheumann Stadium 22500 7974 35.44%

Notes and sources:

Home game attendance data via NCAA statistics

University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) was excluded from the list as their attendance data was not included in the NCAA statistics

All stadium, conference, and capacity data was manually researched and compiled

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