It’s a somewhat pleasant, late-summer evening, and I’m sitting in the front yard. It reminds me a lot of being in Commonwealth Stadium on Saturdays in the fall, even if I’m only able to go to one game a year or so. And, believe it or not, of all the UK games I’ve been to at Commonwealth, I’ve NEVER seen the home team win. The only possible exception was in 2004, when Vanderbilt led 13-0 going into the 4th quarter. We left and went to Hooters, and lo and behold, UK scores twice in the 4th to win it. But then again, UK loses a lot of conference games at Commonwealth. So I got to thinking: with the ongoing $6.25 million upgrades to the scoreboard and sound system, which will hopefully help make the crowd more of a factor, [B]is there a chance for Kentucky football to consistently win at home in the SEC?[/B]
Let’s look at the stats. I went back to the 2006 season, since it was the first of the 5-year bowl eligibility streak the team is currently enjoying, and got the home conference records for each team in the SEC:
1. Alabama (15-5)
2. LSU (14-6)
3. Tennessee (13-7)
t-4. Arkansas (12-8)
t-4. Auburn (12-8)
6. S. Carolina (10-10)
7. Florida (10-8*)
8. Georgia (10-7*)
9. Ole Miss (8-12)
[B]t-10. Kentucky (7-13)[/B]
t-10. Miss. St. (7-13)
12. Vanderbilt (3-17)
*the [STRIKE]”World’s Largest Cocktail Party”[/STRIKE] Florida-Georgia game is played in Jacksonville each year, with teams alternating as the “home team.” I only counted true home games.
[SIZE=1][I]The first thing that came up under a “home record” search. I like to think it’s where Derek Dooley listens to his Chipmunks cassettes.[/I][/SIZE]
That list is pretty much what I’d expect it to be, other than Arkansas being higher than I anticipated. Kentucky is hanging around with Mississippi St. and Vandy, two teams that always factor into the bowl eligibility race. Now, with that knowledge, let’s look at the attendance figures for the SEC in 2010, as noted by Anthony Wireman here.
ACCUMULATED ATTENDANCE
1. Alabama (712,747)
2. Tennessee (698,465)
3. Auburn (688,692)
4. LSU (649,023)
5. Florida (633,579)
6. Georgia (556,476)
7. South Carolina (536,675)
[B]8. Kentucky (462,488)[/B]
9. Arkansas (413,591)
10. Ole Miss (391,289)
11. Mississippi State (384,995)
12. Vanderbilt (232,885)
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER GAME
1. Alabama (101,821)
2. Tennessee (99,781)
3. Georgia (92,746)
4. LSU (92,718)
5. Florida (90,511)
6. Auburn (86,087)
7. South Carolina (76,668)
8. Arkansas (68,932)
[B]9. Kentucky (66,070) [/B]
10. Ole Miss (55,898)
11. Mississippi State (54,999)
12. Vanderbilt (33,269)
SORTED BY % CAPACITY
1. Alabama (110.5%)
2. Florida (102.2)
3. LSU (100.3)
4. Georgia (100)
5. Mississippi State (99.8)
6. Auburn (98.4)
[B]7. Kentucky (97.7)[/B]
8. Tennessee (97.3)
9. Arkansas (95.7)
10. South Carolina (95.5)
11. Ole Miss (92.2)
12. Vanderbilt (83.6)
[SIZE=1][I]Seems fitting for Alabama football.[/I][/SIZE]
Now that we have all that out of the way, here is how I see it: UK is 9th in average attendance. This isn’t surprising, since 6 of the top 15 largest stadiums in the country are home to an SEC team. What I do like, however, is that [B]UK is at nearly 98% capacity for a team that wins far less than half its home SEC games.[/B]
Overall, UK is 23-13 at home the last 5 seasons, with a 16-0 record against non-conference foes, and all 13 losses coming in conference. Their overall SEC mark in that time is 14-26, giving them a 7-13 road record as well. This tells me that, while Kentucky is undefeated against lower-tier schools (I’m including Louisville in this), they are an extremely mediocre SEC team. Details of this breaking news are coming at 11:00. Now then, since UK is as good (bad?) on the road as it is at home, will an improved stadium atmosphere make a difference in crowd support, and in effect, the home SEC record? Or is it simply that the team has the misfortune to play in the most difficult conference in the NCAA?
[I][B]Follow @chris_minton on Twitter for a little UK talk, and lots of random thoughts and crude words.[/B][/I]
