Sunday, March 21, 2010

Norfolk subregional - Who's coming?

We're here at Old Dominion's Constant Center, but Old Dominion isn't. At least the Lady Monarchs aren't; they're on their way to Providence for Monday's night's WNIT second-rounder. So it'll be up to UConn, James Madison, Temple and Southern to sell the tickets for this NCAA subregional today and Tuesday.

Much has been made about how UConn fans travel well, and JMU's supporters are within relatively easy driving distance. But who's actually going to show up? Saturday's open practices were, to put it mildly, sparsely attended. Temperatures in the mid-70s will no doubt tempt many into looking for something to do outdoors. And the NCAA men's tournament is a powerful draw.

We know the ODU folks have been working on getting the word out for months, and by now even casual sports fans have some idea that this UConn team is a historic juggernaut. Also, we've heard a lot of chatter from JMU fans who say they're really looking forward to this. But when the ball's actually tipped off this afternoon, how many folks will actually be here to see them?

Here are the attendance figures for the eight subregionals that began play Saturday:

Tallahassee, Fla - 2,357
Louisiana Tech vs. Florida State
St. John's vs. Princeton

Knoxville, Tenn - 10,922
Austin Peay vs. Tennessee
Dayton vs. TCU

Durham, N.C. - 3,812
Hampton vs. Duke
LSU vs. Hartford

Stanford, Calif. - 5,645
UC Riverside-Stanford
Iowa vs. Rutgers

Tempe, Ariz - 1,455
Tulane vs. Georgia
Chattanooga vs. Oklahoma State

Seattle, Wash. - 3,656
Gonzaga-North Carolina
Texas A&M vs. Portland State

Berkeley, Calif. - 2,572
Georgetown vs. Marist
Baylor vs. Fresno State

Louisville - 3,560
Kentucky vs. Liberty
Michigan State vs. Bowling Green

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