The conference move of the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies into the SEC from the Big 12 is going to be one of the bigger storylines in college athletics this fall. As the two join the biggest conference, there are many who are excited about the change, but some look on with a furrowed brow wondering just how well the Tigers fit in with their new surroundings. Judging by the spring football game attendance, both schools have a long way to go.
As the Sports Business Daily Journal put out the numbers, it’s interesting to see 78K show up for Alabama and even 45K show up for a Bobby Petrino-less Arkansas squad. Yet Missouri has 18K and Texas A&M has 15K. The only teams with lower fan bases at the spring games — which are meaningless, of course — is Kentucky and Vanderbilt with 4,500 and 8,500 respectively.
Kentucky has so little to celebrate in the way of football that Maker’s Mark is putting out a commemorative Tim Couch bottle this year. In other words, they deserve a pass.
Then again, it could be worse. Boston College had 200 diehard fans show up to watch a glorified scrimmage.