baylorbears.com/news/2024/12/19/mens-basketball-mbb-offers-free-admission-for-new-years-eve-matchup-against-utah.aspx

Bold move letting all the Waco riff-raff in for free (like myself); hope they fill up the tiny arena

If I were closer, I would probably go.

I'm sure this has to do with the overlapping conflict with the Texas Bowl kickoff at 2:30p.m. - kind of like what happened in '19 when we had a conflict with a non-con bball game at the Ferrell with Arizona while the football team was playing OU in the B12 Championship game.

I went to the Baylor basketball game the night before the Cotton Bowl in 2015.

No band, no cheerleaders, no mascot, a handful of students - felt like watching a HS game.

So does no crowd erase our homecourt advantage and make us susceptible to an upset in the first conference game of the season?

Big12Fan2024 said:

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So does no crowd erase our homecourt advantage and make us susceptible to an upset in the first conference game of the season?

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No

No but the media will sing it that way. And the home court advantage will be lessened by a small crowd.

historian said:

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No but the media will sing it that way. And the home court advantage will be lessened by a small crowd.

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To be clear, I wouldn't expect the media passes to be used up either. A couple of guys following the Bears, a couple traveling from Utah. ESPN talking heads may not be fully aware it's a conference game. Perfect game for a capable visiting team to come in and steal.

Yes, preseason rankings don't always mean squat (see ASU in football), but if we have to rely on having a home court advantage to beat the team predicted to finish last in the conference, especially when they are the ones having to travel, we might as well kiss this season goodbye.

MrGolfguy said:

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baylorbears.com/news/2024/12/19/mens-basketball-mbb-offers-free-admission-for-new-years-eve-matchup-against-utah.aspx

Bold move letting all the Waco riff-raff in for free (like myself); hope they fill up the tiny arena

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I'll be part of the riff-raff. First visit to Foster, what's the parking situation there?

You can park downtown like heritage square. You can also park in Ferrell center. There are buses.

Absolutely

Even given the free tickets, with the students not being there and the obvious conflict with the Texas Bowl there was at least a decent crowd for this game.

Johnny Bear said:

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Even given the free tickets, with the students not being there and the obvious conflict with the Texas Bowl there was at least a decent crowd for this game.

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Baylor announced it as a packed house of 7500, which is a totally full arena plus 500 SRO.