OUR VIEW:Football needs fans- show support

Utah State football has consistently struggled for the past ten years to win games and prove it is the same powerhouse it used to be. As the wins have diminished, so has the fan base. This waning of fan support is more than a lack of school pride – it’s a trend that could lead to lasting consequences that could eliminate the team from post-season play.

The NCAA mandates an average fan attendance of 15,000 per game once every two years for Division-I schools. The penalty for violation of this requirement is a 10-year ban from participating in post conference play. This is a harsh penalty to impose on a team because of fan attendance.

The USU football team is threatened with having this ban imposed upon them. The average fan attendance for 2005 was a paltry 10,000. If fan attendance is not brought up to the 15,000 standard this year, the team could face the 10-year ban from post conference play.

Seeing as the football team hasn’t participated in post conference play in years, this threat might not seem so impending. However, it would be a shame to have the opportunity to compete in bowl games restricted because of lack of fan support.

Filling Romney Stadium to meet NCAA standards should not be a challenge. There are 25,500 seats in the stadium and only a yearly average of 15,000 fans would be needed to attend to meet NCAA regulations. That would require the stadium to be filled at 60 percent. If student seating alone were filled each game, it would easily meet the 60 percent mark, and that’s not even considering purchased seats.

Now is the time for the student body to step up fan support and support their Aggie teams. The Spectrum is almost always filled to capacity, why can’t the same fan support be shown for USU football? Being an Aggie means more than being a fair-weather fan. As the football team works to improve their record, the student body needs to do their part as well and give the team every opportunity to participate in a bowl game.