Attendance is not just a Patriot League problem.

http://www.sunherald.com/sports/coll...188205609.html

Despite having respectable seasons and earning bowl bids, the attendance numbers at Southern Miss and Marshall took a significant drop.


USM led C-USA in average attendance last year at 28,588. This year, games in Hattiesburg dropped to 21,711. That’s partly explained due to inflated figures that were produced under prior administrations and the distribution of fewer free tickets, but there is no denying there were more empty seats at Roberts Stadium this year. The crowd of 22,761 for USM’s season opener against Kentucky is still baffling.


Marshall finished second in C-USA behind USM in attendance last year at 24,760, but that figure dropped to 22,417 despite finishing 7-5 after going 3-9 in 2016.


When Marshall and Southern Miss see waning crowds for no particular reason, that should be a major warning sign for the rest of Conference USA.