BC - Buffalo: Guess the Attendance

In yesterday's Throwback Thursday article, we took a look at the 2006 Boston College-Buffalo game.  The 41-0 thrashing the #18 Eagles laid down on the Bulls was only a third of the story.  The first third of the story was definitely the weather with nearly 2 1/2 inches of rain and gusty winds making the game an afterthought to most, bringing us to the second part of the story, the attendance.

BC-Buffalo 2006 drew 14,682 fans to Alumni Stadium that day, marking the smallest crowd since the 1997 BC-Army game on the final date of the season drew 13,309 on a very similar, but not quite as nasty, rainy, cold day, to watch an Eagle team who finished 4-7.

In last week's guess the attendance, we wondered aloud whether the Eagles-Seahawks could draw and of course we got our answer...a resounding no..and that was on a pretty nice weather day, for the first home game of the season.  The attendance of 22,728 marked the smallest opening day crowd since 1978 when Ed Chlebek's charges on their way to 0-11, drew 21,935 vs Air Force.

Is it possible that BC could draw less on Saturday than either that 2006 Buffalo or 1997 Army game?  There are plenty of factors playing into this that could lead one down that line of thinking.

• Poor weather expected - windy and rainy morning with scattered showers in the afternoon.  Fair weather and fan goes together well.
• Poor opponent - yes the Bulls upset Army, but this is still a very non-descript MAC opponent.
• On field performance/general program apathy - yes BC won last week, but it would be tough to call it inspirational football and the replies from the masses here have been duly noted over the past year at least.
• Student attendance - was very strong last week, surprisingly strong, although 50-60% of them bailed at halftime.  It is highly unlikely we will see that turnout again this week.