Syracuse finishes with highest attendance for 2019-20 college basketball season

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball program finished the 2019-20 season with the highest attendance in the country, according to the NCAA. This marks the second straight season the Orange have taken home the attendance crown. Kentucky’s Rupp Arena had its maximum capacity reduced to 20,500 last season following renovations.

As for Syracuse’s numbers, the Orange finished the 2019-20 season with an attendance total of 390,666 which equates to 21,704 fans per game. That’s just below 2018-19 numbers of 417,852, or 21,992 fans per game. The all-time record for attendance at Syracuse was set in the 1988-89 season where Syracuse had total attendance of 537,949, or 28,313 fans per game.

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Syracuse and Kentucky have jockeyed for the attendance crown in almost every season since 1983. Syracuse and UK have finished No. 1 and No. 2 in attendance each year except for three.

In 2001, Syracuse finished No. 3 behind Kentucky and and North Carolina. In 2002, the top attendance in the country went to Kentucky, followed by Louisville, Indiana and then Syracuse, respectively. In 2008, North Carolina edged Syracuse for No . 2 spot behind Kentucky as SU finished No. 3.

The Carrier Dome is the largest on-campus facility in the country for basketball. Syracuse has not finished outside of the top four in attendance since the Carrier Dome’s inception in 1980.

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