Why hire Mullen?
- Thread starter Bullmastiff 1
- Start date
No, but I think it will be more difficult than many on this board expect.
I think the first two games are our biggest obstacle. After those, very little worry. Depending on the outcome.
They just replaced long time HC and lost a bunch of players to the portal. Yes it's a road game, we're bring a new team, and yes, they've been a good consistent program but if we can't beat by a good margin a CUSA program in its 3rd yr of FCS competition with a first time HC, we're going to have more issues this year than can we beat Boise.
Unlv can already get 40k with G5 opponents, that’s not the issue. You look at UCLA vs Fresno State a couple months ago was 35k.
Arizona vs New Mexico was 44k
TCU vs Stanford was 36k
Houston was averaging 25k for a few games.
You get the idea and these aren’t big numbers, their fans aren’t “showing up to all games”. If UNLV can get close to 50k for the ucla game, that will turn heads. We need to show the ability to come close to packing the place, getting 35k-40k has already been achieved and I think the increase in attendance allowed Harpier to invest in a premier coach like Mullen.
38-42k UNLV fans and 8-12k ucla fans. 46 to 54 is the range. Hard to say since ucla doesn’t really travel much, but then again it’s a short drive and an excuse to go to Vegas.
On expansion the Big 12 will do whatever ESPN recommends
We definitely should win. Being a first game I can see it being closer than expected but a loss would not be good.
38-42k UNLV fans? Really?
We didn't get that for the Boise last year ( just UNLV fans). We got 42k with a lot of Boise fans. It was also a HUGE game that had playoff and MW title implications.
We had less than 32K with Syracuse last year and they brought a good amount of fans.
Hey I hope we get a huge amount of excitement and fans from the jump, but our history gives me zero faith that happens.
2 years ago was our best year in decades. IN the beginning of last year we crush a B12 opponent on the road, and then get 23k for our first game. Expected double that feels like more than a stretch.
We got 40k for Boise and Reno I think.
I'm not sure we're drawing 40k for UNM or SJSU or Wyo and down the road I don't see UTEP OR NIU sending a large contingent.
UNLV also got over 40K against unr in a game where there were at most a few thousand unr fans at the game. From what I can tell from the ticket sales map for UNLV football, there has been a significant increase in season ticket sales compared to last year. Significant being in 5K or more sales range, but it is really hard to tell because of the way that UNLV holds back tickets from being listed for sale on the map.
Every year that passes there is more fans going to Allegiant. Keep in mind we couldn’t draw flies to Sam Boyd Stadium for an Idaho State game (maybe 16k showed up) years ago and last year vs Utah Tech 25k plus showed up. The fan base is growing and will do so even more with Mullen.
The other thing is, if we move to the Big12 we won’t be doing any Thursday or Friday night games. We seem to attract more fans for the Saturday afternoon evening games and not these weird weekday games. This game vs UCLA is on a Saturday and should have a great crowd if unlv is ranked and Mullen has an exciting team.
I don’t think it’s crazy to expect a crowd close to 50k.
I figured that I would buy season tickets now rather than wait to see if the current season ticket holders would or would not renew. I took some seats that are good for me for my first Allegiant Stadium season tickets. Next year I will look to move one section closer to the center of the field. That and I wanted those club seating seats. So, I'm glad to be helping out.
