[MililaniBuckeye]

Originally Posted by HailToMichigan

Agreed - that it's not totally a function of proximity. I just said proximity had more to do with it. Of course Texas A&M would have been a bigger draw to the Texas Bowl than TCU, but take a look at last year's Texas Bowl. 10,000 fewer people for #12 Rutgers vs. Kansas State. Hometown teams, bigger crowd.

Same for the Motor City Bowl. Record number this year. Last year was also a record crowd at 54,113 - and again, CMU played in the game. Typically the Motor City Bowl brings in about 44,000 for teams like Cincinnati, Bowling Green, and Toledo - schools whose fanbases are close but not literally in Detroit like CMU's is.

On the flip side, the Gator Bowl attracted 7,000 more people last year for Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia. Same caliber teams, only they were closer to Jacksonville.

Still wrong. Read the rest of my post. I showed how big programs fill stadiums regardless of distance. Granted, distance is indeed somewhat a factor, but the stats clearly show that the bigger and better the teams, the more fans will show up, no matter where the bowl is held.