Once inside, they found plenty of open seats in Gill Coliseum — the announced attendance was 1.351, and I’m sure that had to have included the teams, band, students who got in free, working staff, well, you get my drift.
They also saw an Oregon State men’s basketball team that looked disinterested in playing against a Radford team that had made the cross-country trip from Virginia.
While the Beavers made a valiant effort late to overcome a 15-point deficit, they couldn’t and lost 96-92 to a team that had an RPI of 240.
Was that worth the $35,000 the school forked out to play?
And, on a side note, why is there even a CBI or CIT?
Let’s see, 68 teams make the NCAA tournament, followed by another 32 in the National Invitation Tournament. Yep, that’s 100 teams already selected for postseason play.
So, really, there is no need for any more tournaments.
Beaver Nation realized it wasn’t worth shelling out top dollar for tickets to watch its team play one more game.
Wednesday night’s mediocre attendance should come as no surprise as many fans on Twitter responded to me that they were fed up.
Here are a couple responses:
“I’ll watch if I’m bedridden.”
“It was a novelty 5 years ago. True growth in the program would have that level of post season behind us.”
“I tell you how I feel, (yawn/stretch)....wait, what was the question again?”
“feels like a waste of time. We should be expecting more.”
The fan base has been speaking loudly prior to this.
The Beavers have seen attendance for home games decline over the past four seasons as they have failed to reach any postseason other than the third-tier CBI.
Prior to Wednesday’s game against Radford, Oregon State averaged 4,108 fans this season. After, the figure dropped to 3,946.
The 67,077 total for the season ranks as the second-fewest in school history.
Yikes.
In Robinson’s first season in 2008-09, the Beavers had an average attendance of 5,223 — including four CBI games as a fan base that watched its team win just six games a year before turned out to watch the Beavers win the title.
The following season, with fans cautiously hopeful of a step forward, there was a spike in attendance to 6,084.
But in 2010-11, the average dropped to 5,318 as the Beavers went just 11-20 overall and 5-13 in the Pac-10.
That dropped to 4,991 the following year and to 4,784 last season.
So what should happen next?
This was a team that was, in the players’ and coaches’ minds anyway, capable of challenging for an NCAA tournament berth.
If not the big dance, then at least a trip to the NIT.
But that was not the case.
And the fan base is not happy.
Washington State saw a similar situation taking place and athletic director Bill Moos made a move, firing Ken Bone on Tuesday after five seasons.
“I got to say that I felt all along that Ken was a good coach and certainly a great guy but it just wasn’t working, the record reflects that, certainly the attendance at our home games reflects it and I felt that it’s time to find knew leadership and go a new direction” Moos said.
Is Oregon State at a similar crossroads?
Should Bob De Carolis give Robinson, who has just one non-losing season — he has two .500 campaigns — in his six seasons at the helm another year to turn things around?
It seems the fan base has spoken — loudly — with their wallets this season.
They want change.
I’m not one to advocate firing coaches on a whim, but it feels as if once again, the fan base has reached a level of apathy that is scary.
De Carolis has a tough decision to make.
Without change, I would expect to see even smaller crowds next season.
And if Robinson can’t move the program forward next season, the program will be in even worse shape with its fan base than it is now.
“It was awesome,” said Gasser, a junior guard who grew up a few miles north of the Bradley Center in Port Washington. “It was just a little way for us to give thanks for everything they did. They were huge for us tonight. They were awesome.”
In the paint
The Badgers’ 85 points were the second-most they have scored in an NCAA tournament game. They scored 96 in a 1994 second-round game — a 109-96 loss to Missouri under coach Stu Jackson. ... The 12-point halftime deficit matched the largest UW has erased to win an NCAA tournament game. The Badgers rallied from 12 points down in 2009 to beat Florida State 61-59 in overtime in a first-round game. ... In all, UW has rallied for nine of its 27 NCAA wins. ... UW set a school record Thursday for most free throws made in a season (586) with its 13-for-14 showing against American. Its previous mark was 583, set in 2006-07. The Badgers’ 16 free throws they made Saturday pushed the total to 602. ... UW is 3-1 against the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA tournament games.
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