(Jeff Houchin Photo)
Kentucky led the country in average basketball attendance for the fourth time in the past five seasons, according to numbers released by the NCAA.
The Wildcats had a total of 393,743 fans attend 18 home games for an average of 21,874 per game. While tops in the nation, the average was the lowest since John Calipari became Kentucky’s coach in 2009 and the lowest since 2002 (21,014). His first season saw an average of 24,111 fans attend UK home games at Rupp Arena.
Two factors that may have led to the drop in attendance were a ticket price increase and a less than stellar non-conference schedule that saw five of the first six games rank as the lowest attended of the season.
Syracuse led the nation in total attendance with 407,778 fans but averaged 21,462 fans. The rest of the top five were North Carolina (18,378), Louisville (17,773), and Wisconsin (17,272).
The Big Ten averaged 12,197 fans to the lead all conferences, while the SEC was second (11,628) and the ACC third (10,773).
Kentucky has been first or second in average attendance every year since Rupp Arena opened in 1976.
