Jake’s Take: Where did all the fans go?

As the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball season slowly ticks down to an end, it has become apparent that the 10-1 start was not an exact preview of the rest of the season. Since that 10-1 start, the Panthers have gone just 6-8, including a 6-7 record in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Even with this bad stretch of games, UNI remains just one game out of third place in the conference, which means the dreadful Thursday night game at the MVC Tournament can be avoided.

One would think this is the time of the season when UNI needs their fans the most at home games. After all, the sixth man can be a key factor between a win and a loss in tight games, as was witnessed Saturday in UNI's 65-62 victory over No. 12-ranked Creighton. Yet the attendance at the previous two home games dropped drastically, including a game against in-state rival Drake University.

Just three games before hosting Drake, the Panthers beat the Missouri State University Bears on a last-second shot from Chip Rank. The attendance at that game was 5,038. Yet just two weeks and four losses later, UNI beats Southern Illinois University with a crowd of 3,466.

Fun fact of the day: UNI is losing an average of 393 fans per loss.

So what's the reason for such a huge drop-off in attendance? Well, maybe it's that Missouri State is simply a team in the thick of the MVC race, which makes this game one people want to go to. Yes, this is partially true. Missouri State is tied for third place in the conference thanks to former MVC Player of the Year Kyle Weems, but SIU is just one game behind UNI, and that is only because the Panthers were victorious against them last Tuesday.

So if it's not because of a large difference in team standings, maybe it's because UNI doesn't have near the same record they did two weeks ago. Once again, this statement is also true, but there are many problems with this potentially being the reason for the loss of fans. Following Saturday's victory over Creighton, UNI's next three games are against teams ahead of them in the MVC standings, including two teams just one game ahead of them. If UNI can pull out victories in these games, it almost guarantees them a No. 3 or No. 4 seed heading into the MVC Tournament.

Growing up a Duke University basketball fan, I have realized how large of a factor a crowd can be in any basketball game. The Cameron Crazies make Cameron Indoor Stadium one of the toughest places to play in the entire country. Without the intensity of those fans, who knows what type of team the Duke Blue Devils would really be?

UNI needs our support in the next three weeks, Panther fans. Saturday afternoon was a great showing. We need that every game. With every game becoming more and more crucial, there needs to be excitement not only in the McLeod Center, but in St. Louis as well. With our fan intensity, maybe we can help this Panther team go down as one of the greatest in school history.