Guess The Attendance: BC - Wake Forest

Boston College opens the home portion of the 2017 football schedule with a critical ACC game against Wake Forest. It can be argued that the Deacons, Eagles and Syracuse Orange are pretty much all in the same boat, fighting for the 5th spot in the ACC Atlantic, with one of the three most likely to both finish last in the division and out of a bowl game.

So how many show up to see it?

Let’s take a quick look at factors that might impact attendance:

Weather: should be a very football weather Saturday, with temperatures expected to be cool and comfortable in the upper 60s, light wind and mostly sunny.

Interest: We shall see. It’s not as if the Eagles are lighting up the airwaves or the national rankings and you have to go quite a ways back (2011 - Northwestern) to get a home opener against a Power Five school. Interest in general has waned over the last five years, so time will tell.

Importance: In this case, this is all in the eye of the beholder. On a national stage, minimal importance, with neither team playing in that space at the present time, but Wake and BC are two programs on similar schedules, essentially trying to reach the same point at the same time. In looking at each team’s schedule, getting ahead of the other in the division and bowl eligibility in general, this game is a key.

Intrigue: Anthony Brown brings a level of intrigue to the game in terms of being the present and the future face of the Eagles, but does he do enough to get fans in the seats?

Visiting Team travel: Not likely to make an impact. Wake is the smallest Power Five school in the country and doesn’t draw well at home.

Game Time: Although I love the 3:30 PM kickoffs, 1 PM is a time that most fans have adjusted to, so that should bode well.

Beer at Alumni: Of the changes that have been made in recent years, none have had as much fanfare as beer being served at Alumni. I know there is pretty much universal praise for the decision, although I am curious to see both how it impacts the family friendly environment and how the BCAA deals with underage drinking, but it will be very interesting to see how it impacts attendance.

The Notre Dame factor: Huh? Wait..Notre Dame is next week. All true, but although ticket interest in this year’s Notre Dame is well below any year when the Irish visit (this coming from various ticket agencies in the area I have spoken with), there is always a bump in season ticket sales and therefore overall game sales with the ND on the schedule. Remember, outside of Clemson - 2016, which I will still debate was not sold out, the Eagles have not sold out a non Notre Dame home game since Miami to end the 2007 season.

2012 was the last home game against Notre Dame and the Eagles averaged 35,523 in their home games besides the Irish (which included Clemson). Last year, for all home games, BC averaged 32,157.

So what do you think?