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via syracuse.com
Syracuse basketball is becoming more popular.
The Carrier Dome saw a crowd of 35,446 on Feb. 1 when Syracuse beat Duke. Syracuse led all of college basketball in attendance, according to the NCAA. 
Perhaps this may come as no surprise to some because of how talented this team was for the majority of the season. It had a stellar freshman point guard in Tyler Ennis, and a flashy senior leader in C.J. Fair. Trevor Cooney was a sharp three-point shooter during non-conference play. This team was fun to watch, but it all ended with a quick elimination in the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. 
Expect these record crowds to keep on coming. The ACC is a new era of Syracuse basketball, and one that is interesting for many fans from all over the country. Syracuse will continue to play UNC, which finished off the year strong, at the Carrier Dome. Duke will still come to the Dome, and even the ACC champion, Virginia. The schedule is still going to keep fans coming to the games. People want to see the rivalries form in the early stages, and they know these are some of the best schools when it comes to recruiting.
The 2015-16 season will be big. Syracuse has the nation’s top recruiting class for 2015 and with the ACC rivalries and even the rebirth of the Georgetown rivalry, people will still keep coming. This is an exciting time to be a Syracuse basketball fan.
The 2014 season is somewhat of a rebuilding year. Syracuse is losing three of its five best starters, and the bench players didn’t get to see a ton of playing time because of how strong those starters played—and how close the games were.
The Orange has Chris McCullough coming in, along with Kaleb Joseph, but this team is young, and expecting to go through some changes in the next year.
How the team plays will affect attendance records again. Of course, paid attendance should rise because of the talent coming in. People will want to see the players coming in and the young talent for Syracuse. If the team isn’t winning because of a lack of experience, people may not show up. However, paid attendance would rise.
The bottom line: Syracuse led the nation in attendance for the 2013-14 season. With the talent coming in and the rivalries being formed in the ACC and renewed with Georgetown out-of-conference, there are still games that should come close to record attendance.
Posted by: Austin Pollack
