BTN.com staff, June 18, 2014
The Big Ten led the nation in men?s basketball attendance for the 38th consecutive season, according to figures recently released by the NCAA. The Big Ten set a conference record with an average attendance of 13,534 per game, including regular season home games and all six sessions of the Big Ten tourney, for a total of 2,896,322 patrons, the 22nd straight year the conference eclipsed the two-million mark.
In addition, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament welcomed 111,427 fans over six sessions at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, an average of 18,571 fans per session and the largest total attendance in Indianapolis. Each of the last two tournaments have been sold out, including a conference record of more than 124,000 fans at the United Center in 2013.
Nine Big Ten schools ranked in the top 25 in average attendance.
No. 6: Indiana 17,359
No. 7 Wisconsin 17,104
No. 8 Ohio State 16,474
No. 13 Nebraska 15,419
No. 15 Illinois 15,246
No. 17 Iowa 14,976
No. 18 Michigan State 14,797
No. 23 Purdue 12,738
No. 24 Michigan 12,698