Montana @ Appalachian State
6 p.m. Kidd Brewer Stadium (24,050 -- Roanoke, VA)
Weather at kickoff: 6 p.m. Lower 70s and chance of rain/thunderstorm
It's not hyperbole to say that this Saturday's game between Appalachian State and Montana is one of, if not the most anticipated non-conference game in FCS history. The two programs have been among the elite group of standard bearers of I-AA/FCS football since the 1990s. The schools boast the two largest fan bases in the Football Championship Subdivision, and two of the largest on campus stadiums as well. Both schools regularly rank in the top 80 in average attendance for all Division I schools. Bottom line: This is a big game.
Appalachian again led the FCS nation in average attendance with a mark of 28,031 (Cornelius, NC), which is third on the all-time list for the school. Montana, with an average attendance of 25,662 (NZ), was second. Though ASU's stadium (23,650 (NZ) in 2011) is smaller in seating capacity than that of Montana's (25,217 (NZ)), The hill behind the South end zone has allowed the Mountaineers to outdraw the Grizzlies for five consecutive regular season campaigns. ASU finished second to Montana in 2005 and 2006, prior to the 4,000 seat expansion to the Eastside Grandstand at KBS.
Of note:
* Appalachian's official seated capacity has once again gone up. An additional 900 seats were added to the 1,500 temporary seats erected behind the North end zone. ASU's new seated capacity of 24,050 is 7,400 more than it was at the start of the 2005 season.
* Appalachian has drawn over seated capacity crowds for 40 consecutive regular-season games, dating back to the first home contest of the 2005 season against Coastal Carolina. At the time, the crowd of 23,267 (NZ) that packed into a much more rustic and cramped Kidd Brewer Stadium, was the second biggest ever to see a game played in Boone — a number that would surely embarrass ASU fans today.
* Last year, Appalachian ranked 82nd in average regular-season attendance for all Division I schools. THe mark of 28,031 was just shy of No. 80 Southern Miss (28,400 (NZ)) and No. 81 Temple (28,060 (NZ)). ASU was ahead of No. 83 UTEP (26,498 (NZ)), No. 84 Marshall (25,874 (NZ)) and No. 85 Montana (25662). Duke ranked 86th at 24,393 (NZ)) and Tulsa (22,541 (NZ)). But, Boone is tough to get to.
* ASU's all-time home attendance record of 31,531 (NZ) was set on October 9, 2010 at a homecoming tilt against Elon.
My take: I'll say again...But, Boone is tough to get to.
As has been the case for several years, it will be easier to get to Boone than to Huntington, Marshall hosts Western Carolina this weekend. 
The rain may hamper some of the crowd, but expect attendance to be announced at over 30,000. Seats still remain. There is no way to get a count of student or grass GA seats sold,but about 500 seats mostly in the Montana sections are still for sale through the ASU Ticket Office. This is not a homecoming game, so I would't be surprised to see that mark stand, but the third quarter attendance should be much higher. With all that said, I no longer want Elon to be able to parade that our all-time mark was set against them (like they had anything to do with that), so I'm going 31,532 (Denton, GA).
Huntersville,NC 
