The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/629217
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS The Citrus Bowl, featuring Michigan and Florida, was one of the big win- ners this bowl season, drawing 63,113 patrons to represent a 30.0 percent jump from last year's announced at- tendance of 48,624 for a matchup be- tween Missouri and Minnesota. Traditionally immune to matchups impac ting turnout, the Rose Bowl once again boasted the top atten- dance of the bowl season with 94,268 fans for the Iowa-Stanford game. Among the 41 bowl games this year, 23 saw an uptick in attendance over last year, with 16 seeing a decrease and two new games. The Citrus Bowl's positive 30.0 per- cent change represented the third- best increase this bowl season, be- hind a 98.0 percent jump for the Birmingham Bowl (Auburn-Memphis attracted 59,430) and the Quick Lane Bowl (Minnesota-Central Michigan drew 34,217 to the game in Detroit). The announced crowd also repre - sented the highest figure for the Cit- rus Bowl since the exact same two teams, U-M and UF, drew 69,748 for the 2008 game (which ended the 2007 season). Michigan has appeared in the Citrus Bowl four times since the 2000 sea- son, averaging attendance numbers of 64,861 per contest. Additionally, the Maize and Blue have appeared in 14 bowl games since the 2000 season and have drawn an average of 67,254 fans per game. TOP 10 BOWL ATTENDANCES FOR THE 2015 SEASON Bowl Matchup Att. Change Rose Stanford-Iowa 94,268 +3% Cotton* Alabama-Michigan State 82,812 +16% NCAA Title Game Clemson-Alabama 75,765 -12% Sugar Ole Miss-Oklahoma State 72,117 -3% Texas LSU-Texas Tech 71,307 +1% Fiesta Ohio State-Notre Dame 71,123 +6% Peach Houston-Florida State 71,007 +8% Orange* Clemson-Oklahoma 67,615 +16% Alamo TCU-Oregon 64,569 +7% Citrus Michigan-Florida 63,113 +30% * NCAA semifinals BIG TEN TEAMS Gator Georgia-Penn State 58,212 +4% Outback Tennessee-Northwestern 53,202 +21% Holiday USC-Wisconsin 48,329 -13% Pinstripe Duke-Indiana 37,218 -24% Quick Lane Minnesota-Central Michigan 34,217 +43% Foster Farms Nebraska-UCLA 33,527 -4% Michigan Pushes Citrus Bowl To Eight-Year Attendance High