Big Ten Helped NCAA Basketball Draw Record Crowds in 1986-87

A record 21.8 million people watched NCAA Division I basketball games last season, and the Big Ten led all conferences in attendance for the 11th straight year, the NCAA Statistics Service reported.

Syracuse led all schools by averaging 24,959 fans for its 19 home games. The Orangemen also set a record with 826,182 spectators for 38 games played all season, an average of 21,742 per game.

A record 666,919 people attended NCAA tournament games, 31.5% more than the 507,172 who attended 1986 tournament games. Both Final Four sessions in the Louisiana Superdome drew 64,959 fans.

Total basketball attendance at all 1,270 four-year colleges that sponsor basketball, including the 760 NCAA members, was 31,911,301.

The Big Ten averaged 11,877 per game and finished with a total of 1,805,263. The Southeastern Conference was second with an average of 10,405 per game and a total of 1,539,984.

The Big Eight set a conference record with 10,171 per game and had total attendance of 1,240,854.

The Atlantic Coast Conference was fourth with a per-game average of 9,991 while the Big East averaged 9,871 and was fifth.

Kentucky was second in attendance behind Syracuse with 22,861 fans per game. North Carolina was third at 20,149.

North Dakota State was the top draw among NCAA Division II schools with 4,820 fans per game. Concordia-Moorhead led Division III schools with 2,869.

Fort Hays State led non-NCAA teams with 3,853 per game.