TAMPA, Fla. – People love to see a winner, but getting a seat at the Yuengling Center has become a chore.
The Bulls sold out each of the final three home games of a regular season in which they reign supreme in the American Athletic Conference. Leading the way was a standing-room crowd of 10,659 that attended a February 18 game against then-No. 24 FAU. That was a venue record for a basketball game, men’s or women’s.
“To be able to coach this group of guys in that environment with that support is special,” coach Amir Abdur-Rahim said following a memorable Sunday afternoon. “I tried to soak in every moment of it. It was hard because I was trying to coach, too. That crowd was incredible.”
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All told, the final three games – also February 25 versus SMU (10,251) and Tuesday night against Tulane (10,354) – attracted 31,264. That figure is 2,843 shy of the total for all nine home conference games (34,107) last season.
During the 2022-23 season, the Bulls averaged 3,790 for conference games, with a high of 7,014 against Tulane on February 18. That Saturday evening was the annual Autism Awareness game, as well as Charlie Bradley Night when USF’s all-time leading scorer was recognized. No other game, conference or non-conference, drew as many as 6,000. A January 21 matchup with UCF drew the second-highest crowd: 5,715.
Not surprisingly, attendance picked up this season as the Bulls began rolling through the conference slate. After averaging 3,510 for eight non-conference games, they drew their first crowd of at least 5,000 on January 27, when 5,271 saw the Bulls thump UTSA.
The next game at the Yuengling Center was February 6 against Charlotte. The Bulls were on a seven-game win streak—now 15—and a nice crowd was expected for the 9 p.m. tip. Indeed, a nice crowd turned out, as the announced attendance was 6,156.
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There was a predictable dip against Tulsa on Valentine’s Day – 4,559, which would have been the third-highest crowd of 2022-23 – before the trio of sellouts began with FAU.
The average attendance for conference games this season at the YC was 6,573.
The average attendance for all home games was 5,132, the highest since 5,398 in 2012-13, a season that followed USF’s most recent NCAA tournament appearance and saw a pair of teams that finished in the top 10 (Louisville and Georgetown) visit what was then known as the Sun Dome.
The program record for average home attendance is 7,184 in the NCAA tourney season of 1991-92. The Bulls went 19-10, including 12-2 at home under Bobby Paschal.
No. 24 USF (23-5/16-1 AAC) closes the regular season at Tulsa on Saturday afternoon. The conference tournament gets underway next Wednesday in Fort Worth. The Bulls’ first game will be Friday at 1 p.m. ET (ESPN 2) against the winner of Thursday’s No. 8 seed vs No. 9 seed.
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