MRM_1640.JPG

Student season ticket sales are down 44 percent for Michigan basketball this season, leaving sweeping rows of empty seats at Crisler Center.

(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

ANN ARBOR -- Early in Tuesday night's home date against Texas, part of the Michigan student section, the portion lining the court at Crisler Center, begged and pleaded.

"On your feet!" they chanted, pointing at a two-thirds empty sea of open seats. There, pockets of students sat comfortably in Crisler's chairbacks, unmoved.

Their response? Blank stares.

This is what Michigan basketball's homecourt disadvantage looks like.

Nine games into the 2016-17 season, the Wolverines are off to a 7-2 start, including a 5-1 mark at home. None of those games have come close to filling Crisler's 12,707 seats and the environment has floated somewhere between stale and stagnant.

It starts with the students.

According to updated number provided to MLive by the university, U-M's student season ticket sales are down 44 percent year over year, falling from 2,515 in 2015-16 to 1,743 in 2016-17.

It marks the second significant drop in student ticket sales, dating back to 2014-15. That year, a season that came on the heels of a run to the Elite Eight, Michigan sold 3,193 student tickets.

Thus, all told, U-M's student season ticket sales are roughly half -- 1,743 compared to 3,193 -- of what they were two years ago.

Under the current men's basketball student seating plan, ticket holders adhere to three "claim periods," in which they're given a day to have first crack at the available student seats. After that claim period, students without season tickets can purchase single-game tickets for $5 or $10, depending on the opponent.

The difference is palpable at any home game. The Maize Rage has become the Maize Malaise.

This week two years ago, Michigan hosted Syracuse on Dec. 2. The line of students waiting to get into Crisler wrapped along the side of Michigan Stadium.

The year before that, a massive line of students waited through a morning blizzard to get into the building to see a game against No. 1 Arizona.

No such craving exists this season. A game last week against Virginia Tech barely drew flies, let alone a line. Tuesday night's matchup against Texas garnered a loyal group of students waiting at the gate to gather the best seats. There were maybe 30, as opposed to the 300 or so who used to pour through when the doors open.

The resulting home atmosphere is a detriment to John Beilein's program. Against Virginia Tech and Texas, two important early season games, the Wolverines had to generate their own energy. There was no crowd to feed off of, no passion to ride.

Against Virginia Tech, of the roughly 1,750 student season tickets sold, 913 claimed their ticket. Of that total, 621 actually showed up. Of the hundreds of additional student tickets available, 36 were sold for $10.

Beyond the students, overall season ticket sales remain mostly steady at 7,137. Last year's total came to 7,259. In 2014-15, it was 7,337.

Part of that slight dropoff can be credited to the creation of partial flex plans, which allow fans to pick and choose a few games and create their own ticket packages.

That said, while tickets have been sold, fans aren't necessarily showing up. Tuesday night's game had an announced attendance of 10,613. That represented the number of tickets sold.

The actual attendance was maybe 7-8,000.

Michigan's announced attendance for Tuesday night's home game against Texas at the 12,707-seat Crisler Center was 10,613.

This season's "guarantee games" against Howard, IUPUI and Kennesaw State have drawn crowds closer to 5-6,000.

Then there was a Nov. 26 game against Mount St. Mary's. The game marked a perfect storm of disinterest. U-M football lost a soul-sucking game at Ohio State earlier in the day and the Thanksgiving holiday emptied campus.

Michigan played that night in front of, maybe, 3,000 sleepy souls.

Explanations for the overall dropoff in attendance are varied.

It starts with the quality of the product.

Since finishing 28-9 in 2013-14 and going to the Elite Eight, Michigan posted a 16-16 finish in 2014-15 and went 23-13 last year. After losing a total of four home games in three years between 2012 and 2014, the Wolverines have lost 11 since the beginning of 2014-15. In that time, Beilein's roster has gone from being laden with NBA players to, in its current state, lacking star power.

The resurgence of Michigan football also can be considered. Jim Harbaugh has created a lunar eclipse and, at times, it seems nothing else matters. Student ticket sales at Michigan Stadium have soared back to previous levels and overall ticket demand is furious.

Part of it can be chalked up to fans needing to be better fans.

Credence must also be given to a nationwide drop in home attendance. Michigan is not alone.

That, however, doesn't make the issue any less glaring for a program with a state-of-the-art building, a massive marketing department, endless media coverage and six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last nine years.

The Wolverines will return home to Crisler next Tuesday for a 9 p.m. tipoff versus Central Arkansas. Tickets are available.