Georgia Basketball: What We Learned From the UGA Cagers in 2015
Nov 15, 2014; Athens, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs fans react after Georgia defeated the Auburn Tigers at Sanford Stadium. Georgia defeated Auburn 34-7. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Athens may never be a basketball town – but it’s ok.
Athens is a football town. It always has been a football town. It always will be a football town.
It’s not basketball season in Athens until the last local high school football team is eliminated from the state playoffs. If there is meaningful football game on TV in December, don’t expect a crowd in the Stegeman Coliseum. But it’s OK.
We discovered, as suspected, that there are basketball fans in Athens that will show up to watch a good team. And after a while, football season passes.
Out of town season ticket holders will always miss games. This is true all over the country. There are only a handful of college basketball gyms in America without large numbers of empty seats watching in December and during midweek. It’s ok.
The solution for unused tickets is not promotion or condemnation. The solution is more of what the Dawgs did this year.
Win.
Winning cures many ills. A look at next year’s roster and the Dawgs look like winners again.
Maybe Georgia fans will learn what it’s like to play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.