I haven't been to many home games since I'm out of state, but I was there last year for the Indiana game and was thoroughly unimpressed with the crowd. I remember what it was like from 2003-2006 and that was an amazing atmosphere. I did think the renovations were a massive improvement and the potential is even greater now for a louder, more intimidating home crowd. Obviously the teams weren't up to par so you couldn't expect the fans to be as loud.
Now we have the #19 team in the country and are in a legitimate Big Ten Championship race (not to mention the six-game winning streak, memorable game-winning shots by Ayo, and the Kofi dunk party) so we should be seeing much stronger fan support. I hope there's still nobody out there that is in wait-and-see mode as the "we're back" season is one of the most fun in sports.
Our style of play this season is fairly agnostic home vs. road, so that means I'd expect us to outperform on the road but be at greater risk of losing some of these home games (that Rutgers game was awfully close). The X factor is that the early-season crowds probably weren't that great. If we can get the fan support back to where it could be then that could carry this team in some of these big matchups.
Right now we're tracking for a tie for 2nd place with Maryland, one game behind Michigan State. However, both of those two teams have to come to SFC and if we sweep at home that might be enough with 13 wins and putting 50/50 games as losses on both of our top competitors.
What we can't have is a loss to Minnesota. We are still down Alan Griffin and with essentially a 7-man team we have very little margin of error. So we need the home crowd to make up for the absence of Griffin. Could be a lot of fun if suddenly Da'Monte starts making 3's, Kipper rediscovers his offensive mojo, Tevian hits a big shot, or Frazier gets on one of his epic 3-point heaters. If it does come down to an Ayo game-winner at home, I want to hear the place explode.
We've hit so many "we're back" milestones so far this season but the one thing that hasn't happened yet is the State Farm Center atmosphere just breaking the opponent. So that's my challenge to the in-state fans. Make it happen.
Now we have the #19 team in the country and are in a legitimate Big Ten Championship race (not to mention the six-game winning streak, memorable game-winning shots by Ayo, and the Kofi dunk party) so we should be seeing much stronger fan support. I hope there's still nobody out there that is in wait-and-see mode as the "we're back" season is one of the most fun in sports.
Our style of play this season is fairly agnostic home vs. road, so that means I'd expect us to outperform on the road but be at greater risk of losing some of these home games (that Rutgers game was awfully close). The X factor is that the early-season crowds probably weren't that great. If we can get the fan support back to where it could be then that could carry this team in some of these big matchups.
Right now we're tracking for a tie for 2nd place with Maryland, one game behind Michigan State. However, both of those two teams have to come to SFC and if we sweep at home that might be enough with 13 wins and putting 50/50 games as losses on both of our top competitors.
What we can't have is a loss to Minnesota. We are still down Alan Griffin and with essentially a 7-man team we have very little margin of error. So we need the home crowd to make up for the absence of Griffin. Could be a lot of fun if suddenly Da'Monte starts making 3's, Kipper rediscovers his offensive mojo, Tevian hits a big shot, or Frazier gets on one of his epic 3-point heaters. If it does come down to an Ayo game-winner at home, I want to hear the place explode.
We've hit so many "we're back" milestones so far this season but the one thing that hasn't happened yet is the State Farm Center atmosphere just breaking the opponent. So that's my challenge to the in-state fans. Make it happen.
