[tps_title]How popular is football at New Mexico[/tps_title]
Similar to Tucson, Albuquerque is a basketball town with the traditional success of the Lobos’ hoops program inside The Pit.
New Mexico’s upset of Boise State this season competed for attention with a U.F.C. championship bout victory by hometown product Holly Holm over Ronda Rousey on the same night.
The football team struggled for a while to get the public’s notice overall in the city.
After the Lobos upset Utah State with a 14-13 in early November, head coach Bob Davie thought his team deserved more local support. Only 19,886 fans attended that game. Maximum capacity for University Stadium is 39,224.
New Mexico ranks seventh in the Mountain West in attendance, with an average of 23,485 fans per game. The only time the Lobos had a crowd of more than 30,000 was against in-state rival New Mexico State on Oct. 3.
“My job is to coach; their (fans) job is to critique us, not to critique them,” Davie told the Albuquerque Journal about the lack of attendance. “We have a lot of smart sports fans and they know what a good home-field advantage can do. If we play better, we’ll get more people out.”
The Lobos are 5-2 at home, losing 40-21 to Tulsa on Sept. 12 and 28-21 to Colorado State on Nov. 21. Only 21,643 showed up against the Rams and then 18,868 against Air Force in the regular-season home finale on Nov. 28.
They averaged only 22,562 fans a game this season, ranking seventh in the Mountain West.
Today’s game is not a sellout. Many tickets remain from those allotted to New Mexico.
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