BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's not who you are, but who you play.
The 2-9 Cincinnati Bearcats and the 10-1 Miami RedHawks learned that again this football season, as UC outdrew Miami by about 9,000 fans per game.
The Bearcats ranked 76th and Miami 100th among the 112 Division I-A teams in home attendance this year, according to NCAA figures released Thursday. UC drew an average of 24,135 for six home games, while Miami drew 15,130 for four home games — all Mid-American Conference opponents.
For UC, the haymaker was a Nippert Stadium record crowd of 32,117 when Indiana visited Sept. 26. Other crowds of 20,000-plus came to see UC play both Miamis (RedHawks, Hurricanes) and Tulane, which went 11-0.
For Miami, the lack of fans doomed bowl hopes.
“I think that's a reality and we all know it, quite frankly,” said Joel Maturi, Miami athletic director. “I think Miami has a lot to sell, but maybe we need to do a better job of communicating that.”
The MAC had the lowest attendance of the 10 Division I-A leagues, at 16,763 per game. Conference USA, the Bearcats' league, ranked eighth at 28,160 per game.
UC saw attendance increase by 4,602 per game over its 1997 Humanitarian Bowl season, when the Bearcats had no glamour games at home.
Miami had its best record in 21 years, but NCAA figures showed an attendance slide of 3,468 per game game.
“We've got to learn to support Miami because it's Miami, not who we're playing,” Maturi said. “That's the challenge.”
1998 UC football stories
