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A Look at ACC Football Attendance
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

After another successful football campaign in 2006, Virginia Tech is seen among the top teams in the ACC, and the country, in total attendance once again. And as usual, Hokie fans did their part in filling up the stadiums of opposing teams when Tech went on a road trip.

Only two teams in the ACC finished higher in cumulative attendance than Virginia Tech. Likewise, only two teams finished higher than the Hokies in percentage of capacity filled for the season. Here's a look at how all of the ACC schools stack up in attendance rankings.

Virginia Tech comes in behind Florida State and Clemson in total attendance. The Seminoles and Tigers both have stadiums that seat over 80,000 fans, and the Hokies can't hope to match their total attendance numbers. The rest of the conference looks like it usually does, with Wake Forest and Duke at the bottom in total attendance.

This year however, Wake Forest topped the ACC in percentage of capacity filled. Wake Forest drew 103.22% of their total capacity for the entire season, thanks to Jim Grobe leading the Demon Deacons to the best season in school history.

Interestingly enough, attendance is about the only category where you won't see all three ACC newcomers listed at the top. Virginia Tech's attendance was outstanding, as usual, but Boston College and Miami leave a lot to be desired. The Eagles only filled their stadium to 87.29% capacity in 2006, which is ninth in the 12 team conference.

Miami played before small crowds in the Orange Bowl this past year, filling the stadium to just 57.95% capacity. The Hurricanes barely edge out Duke in percentage of capacity filled.

As usual, opposing stadiums are filled when Virginia Tech comes to town. On September 9, the Hokies traveled to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels. For many Tech fans, the drive to Chapel Hill was shorter than their regular trip to Blacksburg, and as a result, many made the trip. The announced attendance was 57,000, UNC's highest-attended game of the season.

On November 18, Virginia Tech played at Wake Forest in a battle of the two hottest teams in the ACC. The Hokies prevailed 27-6 before a crowd of 36,273. That was Wake Forest's biggest crowd of the year, as a lot of Virginia Tech fans made the trip.

Beside the traveling Tech fans, the Hokies are a popular opponent for the fans of opposing teams. Virginia Tech was one of just three teams to draw a capacity crowd of 44,500 to Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill when the Hokies took on Boston College.

Interestingly, Virginia Tech's game against Miami in the Orange Bowl drew just 41,504 fans, the third highest attended game for Miami in 2006. The Hurricanes' season opener against Florida State drew 71,481, and a game against cross-town Florida International brought 51,130 (and a brawl) to the Orange Bowl.

Virginia Tech was one of just three teams to draw at least 100% capacity for the season. Tech counts seats sold and not actual attendance, and 100% of the seats in Lane Stadium were sold this season. Clemson drew 101.57%, which shows exactly how big football is to the Tiger faithful. Wake Forest drew 103.22% during their season in the sun.

The Hokies' Chick-fil-A Bowl game against Georgia was also highly attended. The announced attendance was 75,406, which is 105.83% of the Georgia Dome's official capacity.

Perhaps a couple of surprises were NC State and Maryland. The Wolfpack have dedicated fans, drawing 99.05% of capacity in a down year that saw head coach Chuck Amato fired and scurrying back to Tallahassee to join Bobby Bowden. Maryland also drew 95.91% of capacity. The Terps challenged for the Atlantic Division Championship and went on to the Champs Sports Bowl.

Perhaps the best stat of all is that nine of the ACC's 12 teams finished in the top 50 in total attendance, while 10 of the 12 finished in the top half of the NCAA. Only Wake Forest and Duke, whose stadiums seat 31,500 and 33,941 respectively, do not rank in the top 50.

NCAA Football 2006 Attendance Statistics (NCAASports.com)

Win a TSL Pass Subscription and VT Merchandise by Playing the Pete Dye River Course

For the Spring Game, TSL will be having its annual Spring Game Tailgate (more on that coming next week), and in addition, we've partnered with Virginia Tech's Pete Dye River Course on a competition that could net you a free year of TSL Pass and a nice piece of VT merchandise. The prize package is valued at about $100.

To participate, just play the Pete Dye River Course the weekend of the Spring Game (Friday, April 20th through Sunday, April 22nd). Report your score to the PDRC staff, and the lowest "TSL score" of the weekend wins one year of TSL Pass, and either a Virginia Tech polo shirt or a Virginia Tech windshirt (your choice).

Here are the details:

• Set up a tee time at PDRC. (Click here for greens fees.) You can do this online at RiverCourseGolf.com (ten days in advance only).
• To get an earlier booking, you can call 1-888-Pete-Dye and ask for Keith or John. You must mention that you saw this promotion on TechSideline.com in order to receive an advance booking (earlier than ten days in advance).
• Play the course.
• Report your score, name, and email address to PDRC staff (Keith or John if available), and tell them to include you in the TechSideline.com competition.
• We'll let you know if you won the following week.
• In the case of a two-way tie, prize packages will be awarded to each winner. In the case of a three-way-or-more tie, the tie will be broken down to two winners via a random chance method to be determined later (roll of the dice, coin flip, etc.).

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For more info on TechSideline Pass, and to subscribe, click here.