Football Rivalry Weekend

[AppinVA]

I say Troy for the following: series is tied at 3-3, last year the game went into 3rd OT, this year came down to the wire, the makings of a rivalry for sure. GaSo seems top be fading.

GaSo is going through a rough patch. They seem to do so in years that end in 6. They'll be back.

[asu66]

As much as it galls me to say this, CCU owns us in about everything but American college football. You name it...T & F, M & W soccer, M & W BB, VB, soon to add Baseball and Softball, golf and tennis. Did I fail to mention checkers? And they're fresh out of the *gulp* Big South. And they're just a long stone's throw from the coast. And a considerably shorter drive for most App fans.

Ga South presently has us covered in most things not called football, but that's also a longer drive. And remember where you are when you get there. Gnatsboro!

[bcoach]

I am looking for a championship because last year and this have just left me flat. The season should build up to something and this way it just ends. We need something to play for.

[AtlantaMountaineer]

I am so tired of people complaining about App's attendance on this board. Obviously those complaining haven't watched many other G5 games on tv or ESPN3. If you want to see empty seats all you have to do is look at some Sun Belt, MAC, CUSA games. I was at the Troy game and couldn't believe the upper deck on the home side was at least half empty for one of their biggest games. ULL, Arkansas State home games are even worse. App leads the SB in average attendance by around 3,000 this year. Get over yourself and be happy for one of the best G5 fan base in the country.

[AppfaninCAALand]

I do not want to play a big rivalry game on Thanksgiving weekend for many reasons including the ones mentioned above. Students are out of town, people are travelling and there is just too many distractions.

If you must play on the weekend after thanksgiving, you need a big rivalry game to get the crowds. That is exactly why Ohio St-Michigan, UF-FSU, Clemson-USC, Notre Dame-USC, UVA-VT, UNC-NC State, etc don't have trouble drawing a crowd this weekend.

With the exception of UNC-State, those schools draw big crowds because they're elite programs with decades of tradition on the national stage (except South Carolina), large, dedicated fan bases and large student populations. They can fill their stadiums no matter what.

I realize all that of course, but even they need help. Take VT for example, do you really believe VT would get the same crowd last weekend if they were playing Boston College instead of UVA? I don't. Even being a big rivalry game, it was still only the 4th highest draw of the 6 games this season.

When you are competing for attention on Thanksgiving, any added motivation to get people in the stands helps.

It would be nice to have a designated team for the last game every year. As someone who often spends Thanksgiving in the Grand Strand any way, I nominate Coastal.

[Rick83]

I do not want to play a big rivalry game on Thanksgiving weekend for many reasons including the ones mentioned above. Students are out of town, people are travelling and there is just too many distractions.

If you must play on the weekend after thanksgiving, you need a big rivalry game to get the crowds. That is exactly why Ohio St-Michigan, UF-FSU, Clemson-USC, Notre Dame-USC, UVA-VT, UNC-NC State, etc don't have trouble drawing a crowd this weekend.

With the exception of UNC-State, those schools draw big crowds because they're elite programs with decades of tradition on the national stage (except South Carolina), large, dedicated fan bases and large student populations. They can fill their stadiums no matter what.

I realize all that of course, but even they need help. Take VT for example, do you really believe VT would get the same crowd last weekend if they were playing Boston College instead of UVA? I don't. Even being a big rivalry game, it was still only the 4th highest draw of the 6 games this season.

When you are competing for attention on Thanksgiving, any added motivation to get people in the stands helps.

It would be nice to have a designated team for the last game every year. As someone who often spends Thanksgiving in the Grand Strand any way, I nominate Coastal.

Of course, schools schedule a lot of the big rivalry games as the last ( believe we used to play Western Carolina as our last game back in the day) game of the year to give a reason for people to still be interested in a game even if your team is out of conference champion/bowl/playoff contention. One disadvantage we have compared to some others (not all) is that most of our students are not from Boone so they go home over the Thanksgiving break and most don't come back early for a game on that Saturday...especially if it can be seen on TV or streaming. In your larger metro areas (like Raleigh-Chapel Hill-Durham) there are a lot of day students who are still around town.

[EastHallApp]

I do not want to play a big rivalry game on Thanksgiving weekend for many reasons including the ones mentioned above. Students are out of town, people are travelling and there is just too many distractions.

If you must play on the weekend after thanksgiving, you need a big rivalry game to get the crowds. That is exactly why Ohio St-Michigan, UF-FSU, Clemson-USC, Notre Dame-USC, UVA-VT, UNC-NC State, etc don't have trouble drawing a crowd this weekend.

With the exception of UNC-State, those schools draw big crowds because they're elite programs with decades of tradition on the national stage (except South Carolina), large, dedicated fan bases and large student populations. They can fill their stadiums no matter what.

I realize all that of course, but even they need help. Take VT for example, do you really believe VT would get the same crowd last weekend if they were playing Boston College instead of UVA? I don't. Even being a big rivalry game, it was still only the 4th highest draw of the 6 games this season.

When you are competing for attention on Thanksgiving, any added motivation to get people in the stands helps.

It would be nice to have a designated team for the last game every year. As someone who often spends Thanksgiving in the Grand Strand any way, I nominate Coastal.

Of course, schools schedule a lot of the big rivalry games as the last ( believe we used to play Western Carolina as our last game back in the day) game of the year to give a reason for people to still be interested in a game even if your team is out of conference champion/bowl/playoff contention. One disadvantage we have compared to some others (not all) is that most of our students are not from Boone so they go home over the Thanksgiving break and most don't come back early for a game on that Saturday...especially if it can be seen on TV or streaming. In your larger metro areas (like Raleigh-Chapel Hill-Durham) there are a lot of day students who are still around town.

Yes, and same goes for local alumni and non-alumni fans. I didn't mention that because a couple of those teams are in small towns, but most are in relatively large cities.