Nebraska Cornhuskers had nation’s largest average attendance increase

It hasn’t been a secret around these parts. The Nebraska Cornhuskers have a program that is building something pretty special. Between getting a state-of-the-art arena, to Tim Miles being all that and a bag of chips, all the way to the higher quality recruits they have lured in, Nebraska is quickly becoming legitimate players in the realm of college hoops. It also hasn’t hurt that they have done so in so many different incredible ways — with Miles leading the charge.

Even with all of that, though, it is a little bit surprising that, according to a school release, Nebraska had a dramatic increase in attendance during the 2013-14 season as the Cornhuskers saw the largest average attendance increase in college basketball over the last seven seasons.

To put that in some perspective, the Cornhuskers averaged a school-record 15,419 fans per game last season, which was up from the previous year’s 5,067 fans per game. That is the largest attendance increase in college basketball since Virginia opened the John Paul Jones Arena and averaged 5,725 more fans per game during the 2006-07 season.

For the first time since 1993, Nebraska topped the top 20 in attendance last season, finishing 13th.

With the team returning a slew of top-talent, as well as one of the nation’s best bucket-makers in Terran Petteway, they are a very early favorite to do big time damage in the Big Ten — and become NCAA Tournament darlings.