Cloverbelt Credit Union presents: FBS Attendance Facts & insights from 2024

Cloverbelt Credit Union was originally organized by local farmers who found it difficult to obtain financial support elsewhere. Needing an outlet through which they could borrow money as well as a savings headquarters, the credit union was born. CCU’s Articles of Incorporation were signed on October 23, 1935 and we officially opened for business on January 2, 1936. By the end of the year, assets totaled just $454.00 and the credit union had only 38 members.

Things have changed dramatically in the years since CCU first opened for business. Up until 1939, CCU served primarily farmers. But in that year, membership grew with the Cloverbelt Cooperative’s entrance into the fuel oil business, which meant it’s city customers could join too.

Today, membership is open to anyone who lives or works in Marathon, Lincoln, Wood, Portage, Clark, Langlade, Shawano and Taylor counties and membership has grown to over 17,000 people.

With a remarkable history behind them, exciting opportunities ahead, and the continued support and trust of our many valued members, CCU can look to the future with strength and confidence!

Contact information:

https://www.ccuwausau.com/

College football attendance has been on a slow, yet steady, climb since the 2020 covid-19 pandemic. Please find below a detailed attendance breakdown of the 2024 season.

The top ten (10) attending programs are led by the SEC with seven (7) teams, while the Big Ten adds three (3) more universities. That said, it should be noted that the B-10 has the three (3) highest attending populations in all of college football. The next ten (11-20) are made up of four SEC (giving them 11 of the top 20), the B-10 also has four (4), the ACC has one (1) & one (1) IND, Notre Dame, round out the top twenty (20). To complete our top 25 list, we need to add two (2) more B-10 teams, one (1) additional SEC squad, a second ACC team & introduce our 1st B-12 program.

The conference break down is as follows: the SEC has twelve (12) of its sixteen (16) teams among the top 25, while the B-10 has half nine (9) of its eighteen (18) clubs landing in the top tier (25). This translates to the SEC & the B-10 leading college football attendance on any given Saturday, with 21 of the top 25 teams playing under an SEC or B-10 banner!

The four remaining SEC team are Missouri (26) Kentucky (29), MS State (44), & Vanderbilt (73). The B-10 had a more pronounced attendance dip in the bottom half of their league. Here are the B-10 numbers, Purdue (28), Oregon (30), Illinois (34), Indiana (45), Rutgers (46), Minnesota (49), UCLA (50), Maryland (65), & Northwestern (109)!

The shocker here is how, in what university, can Purdue, 1-11 in 24′, out-draw a 13-1 Oregon? I know Ross-Aide Stadium’s capacity @ 57,236 is slightly larger than Autzen’s 54,000. Yet, when one considers their respective records, the results are mindboggling! The last two (2) years, the Boilers have gone 4-8 & 1-11, while the Ducks were 12-2 in 23 & 13-1 in 2024!

BY the numbers, here is NOT WHY, but rather HOW this happened; the past two years, Purdue was @ 101.8% of their capacity in 2023 (9th best in the country) & 97.47% of capacity in 2024 (40th best of 134 teams). Please note … with the FBS’ addition of Delaware & Missouri State, the Football Bowl Subdivision will line it up with 136 teams in 2025!

The question remains, Why; with that weak of a team, could the Boilers get that many people to come to their games? I don’t know who runs Purdue’s marketing department? Yet, he or she is in line for a new contract with a serious increase in pay! Other than Kent State, 0-13 last year, Purdue may have been the worst performing / result earning program in all of the FBS. The attending relationship between Purdue & Oregon can be summed up in one word … Unbelievable!

Finally, lets take a look see at Conference ranges (best to worst) in 2024: A) Big Ten, Michigan 1st to Northwestern’s 109th (variance: 108 attendance places); B) SEC, Texas A&M 4th to Vandy’s 73rd (Variance 69); C) ACC, Clemson 14th to Stanford’s 78th (Variance 64); D) B-12, BYU 25th to Houston’s 74th (Variance 49); E) MWC: Fresno State 54th to Hawaii’s 126th (Variance 72); F) AAC: Navy 56th to Temple’s 122nd (Variance 66); G) SBC: Appalachian State 67th to Louisiana Monroe’s 116th (Variance 49); H) MAC: Toledo 93rd to Akron’s 135th (Variance 42); Please note … The total number of FBS teams in 2024 is 134 not 135, for reasons known but to God, I counted Delaware (110) in the 2024 mix, even though they will not be in the FBS until 2025! I) USA: Liberty 95th to Kennesaw State’s 133rd (Variance 38); J) IND: Notre Dame 16th to U-Conn’s 79th (Variance 63).

Clearly the B-10 had the greatest Variance of any of the remaining Nine (9) Conferences (PAC 12 has, sadly, gone the way of the Buffalo)… Michigan comes roaring in as the #1 attending program in the nation, while NW is stumbling around as 109th best! In fact, the Wildcats were the lowest performing program, relative to attendance, of all teams in playing in the so-called Power Four.!

Team	Conference /	Attendance /	Rank
Michigan	B-10	110,548	1
Penn State	B-10	108,379	2
Ohio State	B-10	104,216	3
Texas A&M	SEC	102,847	4
5 Texas	SEC	102,386	5
Tennessee	SEC	101,919	6
Alabama	SEC	100,077	7
LSU	SEC	99,518	8
Georgia	SEC	93,033	9
10 Florida	SEC	90,017	10
Auburn	SEC	88,043	11
Nebraska	B-10	86,900	12
Oklahoma	SEC	83,513	13
Clemson	ACC	80,806	14
15 S. Carolina	SEC	79,329	15
Notre Dame	IND	77,622	16
Wisconsin	B-10	76,057	17
Arkansas	SEC	73,392	18
USC	B-10	71,571	19
20 Iowa	B-10	69,250	20
Washington	B-10	68,865	21
Ole Miss	SEC	67,282	22
Virginia Tech	ACC	65,632	23
Michigan State	B-10	65,307	24
25 BYU	B-12	62,849	25
Missouri	SEC	62,621	26
Miami FL	ACC	59,931	27
Purdue	B-10	59,887	28
Kentucky	SEC	59,516	29
30. Oregon	B-10	59,104	30
Texas Tech	B-12	58,623	31
Iowa State	B-12	57,884	32
NC State	ACC	56,919	33
Illinois	B-10	54,750	34
35 Florida State	ACC	53,479	35
Pitt	ACC	53,077	36
Utah	B-12	52,962	37
Colorado	B-12	52,514	38
West Virginia	B-12	52,459	39
40 OK State	B-12	52,202	40
Kansas State	B-12	51,536	41
Louisville	ACC	50,863	42
Arizona State	B-12	48,984	43
Mississippi State	SEC	48,809	44
45 Indiana	B-10	48,374	45
Rutgers	B-10	48,341	46
North Carolina	ACC	47,686	47
Arizona	B-12	47,474	48
Minnesota	B-10	47,467	49
50 UCLA	B-10	46,805	50
TCU	B-12	44,605	51
Central Florida	B-12	43,047	52
Baylor	B-12	42,302	53
Fresno State	MWC	40,600	54
55 BC	ACC	39,839	55
Navy	AAC	39,825	56
Kansas	B-12	39,408	57
California	ACC	39,173	58
Syracuse	ACC	39,130	59
60 Virginia	ACC	38,999	60
Georgia Tech	ACC	38,261	61
East Carolina	AAC	37,403	62
Boise State	MWC	37,235	63
Cincinnati	B-12	36,615	64
65 Maryland	B-10	36,040	65
Oregon State	P-2	35,799	66
Appalachian State	SBC	34,623	67
Colorado State	MWC	33,082	68
SMU	AAC	32,652	69
70 UNLV	MWC	32,203	70
South Florida	AAC	31,424	71
Wake Forest	ACC	29,373	72
Vanderbilt	SEC	28,091	73
Houston	B-12	27,423	74
75 Army	AAC	26,771	75
Air Force	MWC	26,226	76
Duke	ACC	26,183	77
Stanford	ACC	26,035	78
Connecticut	IND	25,375	79
80 J Madison	SBC	25,071	80
San Diego State	MWC	24,770	81
Memphis	AAC	24,552	82
Tulane	AAC	23,980	83
Troy	SBC	23,630	84
85 Texas State	SBC	23,619	85
Marshall	SBC	23,022	86
North Texas	AAC	23,022	87
Georgia Southern	SBC	22,516	88
Southern Mississippi	SBC	22,457	89
90 WA State	P-2	22,413	90
Wyoming	MWC	21,937	91
Texas San Antonio	AAC	21,059	92
Toledo	MAC	20,519	93
Tulsa	AAC	20,411	94
95 Liberty	USA	20,345	95
Old Dominion	USA	20,272	96
Florida Atlantic	AAC	19,500	97
UTEP	USA	19,393	98
Western Michigan	MAC	19,217	99
100 UAB	USA	19,176	100
Coastal Carolina	SBC	18,622	101
Jacksonville State	USA	18,218	102
South Alabama	SBC	18,169	103
Rice	AAC	18,143	104
105 Louisiana	SBC	17,952	105
Arkansas State	SBC	17,871	106
Central Michigan	MAC	17,752	107
Ohio	MAC	17,641	108
Northwestern	B-10	17,470	109
110 Delaware	USA	17,464	110
Nevada	MWC	17,419	111
Utah state	MWC	16,992	112
San Jose State	MWC	16,058	113
New Mexico	MWC	16,001	114
115 LA Tech	USA	15,999	115
Louisiana- Monroe	SBC	15,803	116
Eastern Michigan	MAC	15,489	117
Buffalo	MAC	14,785	118
Georgia State	SBC	14,431	119
120 NM State	USA	14,350	120
UNC Charlotte	AAC	14,137	121
Temple	AAC	13,919	122
Western Kentucky	USA	13,828	123
Florida International	USA	13,557	124
125 Bowling Green	MAC	13,358	125
Hawaii	MWC	12,963	126
Middle Tennessee	USA	12,877	127
Massachusetts	MAC	12,269	128
Miami OH	MAC	12,193	129
130 Northern IL	MAC	12,162	130
Sam Houston	USA	10,983	131
Ball State	MAC	9,841	132
Kennesaw State	USA	9,012	133
Kent State	MAC	8,447	134
135 Akron	MAC	6,374	135