Bill and Mary @ Montana State 8:15pm Friday - ESPN2

[Bobcat Sig]

The Friday night kick is absolutely keeping fans from attending. I’m one.

I get that we’re at the mercy of ESPN, but it’s a dumb time for a home game. I had planned on making the trip, but with it being played Friday night; it’s a no go. Lame.

[Montanabob]

There are a lot of open seats still. I think the 8:15 on a Friday night is going to keep a lot of people from showing up. We absolutely need at least 13k+.

I feel good about having more than that. But no doubt the 8:15pm on a Friday night is hurting us.

Which is odd because none of our fans really travel to watch our games....

I wonder how many MSU fans are missing this game that wouldn't have missed a quarterfinal game a couple years ago. I'm thinking some people are getting used to success and a QF game isn't quite the thrill it once was. I doubt there's much of that yet--it's probably more the Friday night deal. You see it with NDSU though seems like...they're not getting the crowds they once did. Hopefully it never stops being exciting and our fans keep showing up.

I think it's definitely the Friday night deal. Cat fans come from all over the state and surrounding states for the games. Having the game on a Friday night in December makes traveling pretty difficult for a lot of people.

Agreed. ESPN and NCAA need to get onboard, especially since they want the ticket revenue. I am seeing about 9507 at the game this weekend. Just look at the visitors tickets. Looks like they only requested the lower section or less than 100 seats.

[WYCAT]

I think we'll beat 9,500 in attendance. At least I hope we do. I'm driving the usual 550 miles each way. The only differences are I have to burn a vacation day Friday and get a room that night. Prices were significantly down from earlier in the year BTW. Where are your priorities people?

[AFCAT]

I purchased a couple of hotel rooms right after I heard the game time announcement. I may stick around on Saturday to watch the basketball game too. I absolutely hate that this game is being played on a Friday night in December, but that's the NCAA for you. I'm thinking attendance is going to be around 10,500-12,000. If the game was on Saturday, I'll bet the attendance would be 15-17,000.

Oh, I purchased four extra seats to be given away to fans that can't afford to go to the game. Let's do this! Pack the stadium!!

[ilovethecats]

It'll definitely be a bit lower. But just as the sun rises every morning, the griz blame injuries for losses, and the Cats win football games at home; you can pretty much set your clock to Cat fans worrying about attendance early in the week. And it's never as low as people fear.

I don't worry too much about the crowd in the playoffs anyway. It'll be rocking whether we have 17k or 10k. But I still feel good about 14-15k for Friday night. Do whatever you have to do to get there. And be loud. Going to be a great night!

[thisnamesucks]

My grandmas from Virginia

[JoeCatsJoe]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

[Montanabob]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

Most of their games were 7000-10000.
Delaware about 12000
C-usa team 24000

[Lord Vigo]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

Their average home attendance is just over 10K.

Of their road games this season, Richmond averages the most fans at about 7300.

MSU's crowd will be at least twice as big as the next biggest hostile environment they've played in this season.

However, teams that lean on the running game aren't as susceptible to hostile/loud environments than teams that air it out.

https://herosports.com/fcs-football-202 ... ders-bzbz/

[kennethnoisewater]

It'll definitely be a bit lower. But just as the sun rises every morning, the griz blame injuries for losses, and the Cats win football games at home; you can pretty much set your clock to Cat fans worrying about attendance early in the week. And it's never as low as people fear.

I don't worry too much about the crowd in the playoffs anyway. It'll be rocking whether we have 17k or 10k. But I still feel good about 14-15k for Friday night. Do whatever you have to do to get there. And be loud. Going to be a great night!

I can remember some playoff games with smaller crowds that seemed louder than a sold out stadium. Give gris fans credit, their small crowd definitely made some noise a couple weeks ago. Good news is, even if it's a smaller crowd it's probably the die-hards there who usually make the majority of the noise anyway. We're going to have to bring our A-games Friday as fans!

[ilovethecats]

It'll definitely be a bit lower. But just as the sun rises every morning, the griz blame injuries for losses, and the Cats win football games at home; you can pretty much set your clock to Cat fans worrying about attendance early in the week. And it's never as low as people fear.

I don't worry too much about the crowd in the playoffs anyway. It'll be rocking whether we have 17k or 10k. But I still feel good about 14-15k for Friday night. Do whatever you have to do to get there. And be loud. Going to be a great night!

I can remember some playoff games with smaller crowds that seemed louder than a sold out stadium. Give gris fans credit, their small crowd definitely made some noise a couple weeks ago. Good news is, even if it's a smaller crowd it's probably the die-hards there who usually make the majority of the noise anyway. We're going to have to bring our A-games Friday as fans!

Without a doubt.

I sit in 104 and another thing I noticed in these lower attended games is once it becomes clear what seats aren't being used closer to the field, people migrate as close as they can get. And I'm all for it. Get as close as possible, and as loud as possible!

[TomCat88]

Can someone direct me to the prediction thread?

[Tribeof4]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

Most of their games were 7000-10000.
Delaware about 12000
C-usa team 24000

This should be similar to the Charlotte game at the beginning of the year in terms of crowd size and noise - I think we played in front of 14-15k or so in the FBS win.

[JoeCatsJoe]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

Most of their games were 7000-10000.
Delaware about 12000
C-usa team 24000

This should be similar to the Charlotte game at the beginning of the year in terms of crowd size and noise - I think we played in front of 14-15k or so in the FBS win.

Good info, thanks! Obviously, from a Montana State fan perspective, I'm hoping that the crowd can make an impact on the game. Do you think that will be a problem, or will the experience in Charlotte adequately prepare your team for the crowd?

[St George]

W&M has a track between the stands and the field. Players on the sidelines will probably hear some smack and see a snow ball thrown their way. But if one of W&M coaches tosses a clip board into the crowd I hope riot does not break out.

[Tribeof4]

Forgive my ignorance, but how accustomed to large, rowdy crowds does W&M have this season? One thing that MSU definitely has is one of the best home field advantages in the FCS, and sometimes the crowd can take a bit for teams to adjust to. Particularly if you aren't familiar with it. Will a W&M fan set me straight on that? Thanks!

Most of their games were 7000-10000.
Delaware about 12000
C-usa team 24000

This should be similar to the Charlotte game at the beginning of the year in terms of crowd size and noise - I think we played in front of 14-15k or so in the FBS win.

Good info, thanks! Obviously, from a Montana State fan perspective, I'm hoping that the crowd can make an impact on the game. Do you think that will be a problem, or will the experience in Charlotte adequately prepare your team for the crowd?

Not sure how to separate any crowd effect from the weather, the altitute, the travel, etc., but I have no doubt that it will be the least comfortable environment we've played in all year. That said, most of the team has played in ACC stadiums and we've generally held up well for the first half before the true depth and talent gap reveals itself. So the crowd itself is pretty far down the heirarchy of obstacles facing the Tribe, but once you get to the final 8, a drive-killing false start or two could be all it takes to separate the teams.

[Pecos24]

Can someone direct me to the prediction thread?

viewtopic.php?t=52132

[Cats15]

Looks like the Tribe is in route:

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VXP ... /KPHF/KBZN

should be landing around 5pm.

[CelticCat]

One things teams have done continually all year is take bad angles when Tommy is running horizontally, completely underestimating his speed. Weber did that even in round 2 and they knew how fast he was. W&M is gonna get caught several times I'd bet money on it.

[ilovethecats]

One things teams have done continually all year is take bad angles when Tommy is running horizontally, completely underestimating his speed. Weber did that even in round 2 and they knew how fast he was. W&M is gonna get caught several times I'd bet money on it.

Tenn-Martin did that real bad a couple times last year. People don't realize how fast he is until it's too late sometimes.