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BCSP Notes . . .

Attendance Matters
Make it five straight years for the Florida Classic. The annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference battle for Florida gridiron supremacy between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman once again tops the list as the largest attended game in black college football in 2005. And for the seventh year in a row, the attendance for the game topped the 70,000 mark.
NCAA DIV. I-AA ATTENDANCE LEADERS
Total
Gms
Avg
1. Montana
157,355
7
22,479
2. Delaware
133,060
6
22,177
3. Yale
108,333
5
21,667
4. Southern
79,552
4
19,688
5. Appalachian State
125,417
7
17,917
6. Ga. Southern
97,443
6
16,241
7. Florida A&M
60,706
4
15,177
8. Tennessee State
60,092
4
15,023
9. NC A&T
58,438
4
14,610
10. Jackson State
72,988
5
14,597
11. Youngstown St.
87,261
6
14,544
12. S. C. State
71,128
5
14,226
13. Alabama State
56,729
4
14,182
14. Montana State
82,262
6
13,710
15. James Madison
81,148
6
13,525
16. Texas State
128,751
10
12,875
17. Western Kentucky
63,992
5
12,796
18. Grambling State
48,855
4
12,214
19. Harvard
60,845
5
12,169
20. Norfolk State
72,056
6
12,009
29. Texas Southern
51,164
5
10,233
32. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
39,604
4
9,901
40. Alcorn State
53,600
6
8,933
44. Morgan State
42,153
5
8,431
46. Hampton
40,709
5
8,142

The 70,112 that attended the Classic this year at Orlando's Citrus Bowl was a little less than last year's 71,153 but still enough to top the Magic City Classic which drew 68,238 to the SWAC matchup of Alabama A&M and Alabama State on Oct. 29 at Birmingham's Legion Field.

The MCC moved past the Bayou Classic, relocated from New Orleans to Houston's Reliant Stadium because of Hurricane Katrina, and the Atlanta Classic, into second place on the list (See STAT CORNER). In 2005, 31 black college games topped the 20,000-mark in attendance, down one from 2004. The top 31 games totalled 1,036,981 fans, an average of 33,451 fans per game, down slightly from the 35,826 average from 2004.

Black college teams played in 18 of the top 20 single games in NCAA Div. I-AA this season. Black colleges placed five of the top ten and seven of the top 15 teams in I-AA average home attendance.

In the 2005 homecoming list, Clark Atlanta took the top spot drawing 29,937 fans to its Oct. 15 SIAC matchup with Albany State. The total placed 12th overall. Reigning homecoming champion Southern, was fourth this year for its Oct. 8 date vs. Alabama A&M.

© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.