Attendance at ACC men’s basketball games is on the decline for the fourth consecutive year, according to a story last week in The Washington Post. As of last Wednesday, the 12 league teams were averaging only 9,406 fans combined. And if fans continue to stay home at this pace, it would be the thinnest turnout since the 1984-1985 season -- and the first time attendance has averaged less than 10,000 since the 1988-1989 season, reported Mark Giannotto.

UNC'S HOME ATTENDANCE

But one team on the upswing? Seventh-ranked North Carolina.

In 15 home games last season, it averaged 19,144 fans, according to the school’s official stats.

Through 16 home games so far this season, it’s averaging 19,960. And its final two games at the Smith Center (capacity 21,750) are sold out.

“Our attendance has been fantastic,’’ coach Roy Williams said Monday during the ACC conference call. “We had a stretch of nine straight home games, and some of those were not against marquee teams, and we still had fantastic crowds. … I was just ecstatic with our attendance during the holiday period when our students were gone.”

Attendance at the Smith Center has actually increased the last two seasons, since an average of only 17,786 fans showed up in 2009-10 (that was the year the Tar Heels lost 17 games and failed to make the NCAA tournament). The numbers still haven’t reached the level of 2007-08 and ’08-’09, seasons when UNC made the Final Four and won the NCAA title, respectively. But they’re getting closer.

As for why attendance as a whole is down? The Post reports that basketball ticket sales have decreased across conferences nationally, and the ACC might not have been helped this season by all of the coaching turnover.

“I really don’t have a good answer, except to say there are just so many things to do nowadays,'’ Williams said when asked about the league's decrease at the box office.

He also recalled the time he asked a good friend -- the best man at his wedding -- if he wanted to come to a game.

“He said, ‘No, the number’s 14.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean, 14?’’’ Williams recalled. “He said 'It’s 14 steps from my recliner to my bedroom. And there’s so many games on TV, I enjoy sitting right there.'

“I think there’s so many games on TV, I think that, itself, has made those ratings go down from what they were in the past. And I also think that people say, ‘Gosh, I’d like to see that game, but it’s a three-hour drive, and I can watch it on TV.’’’