Want to go to the Fresno State game? It'll run you a dime for two tickets
Out of postseason contention, Illinois is expected to draw a small crowd for its season-ending game against Fresno State on Dec. 5.
How small? Judging by ticket availability, Memorial Stadium could be half-empty.
On Wednesday, online ticket broker StubHub was offering tickets as inexpensive as five cents. At 11 a.m., there were 175 tickets available for $5 or less.
Face value tickets are available through the school for $45.
Illinois has had some small Senior Day crowds recently, 31,465 attending the 2005 finale against Northwestern and 30,087 showing up for the 1997 finale against Michigan State.
Illinois is 3-7 heading into a Nov. 27 game against Cincinnati.
Western is currently 1-9 on the season, with an almost certain 10th loss this Saturday when they play South Dakota State (which lost to Minnesota last weekend 16-13). So, there probably wouldn't be anywhere close to a full house if the Illini were playing WIU, bowl bid on the line or not.
Methinks it would a much larger crowd for the Fresno State and, certainly, a more excited crowd. The possibility of going to a bowl does excite Illini Nation. The turn-out by Illini fans in Evanston last November for a 5-6 team is clear evidence of this. Half the fans in the stadium were of Illini ilk.
Of course, now that I think of it, under the current regime, we'd have trouble beating the 1-9 Leathernecks anyway . .
It doesn't matter if 10 people actually show up on December 5th. There were 40,000+ season tickets sold this year, so to Ron Guenther, the attendance is 40,000+, regardless of how many people actually show up for this scheduling abomination. All he cares about is the money that's already in the bank, and not one bit about putting a quality product on the field.
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