With UK students expected to attend next game in big numbers, a question: Where have they been?

Let’s begin another story about decreased attendance at Kentucky’s home basketball games this season with an arresting statistic. Through seven games, UK is on pace to have the lowest average home attendance in the 42 seasons of playing in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky has announced an average home attendance of 20,497 this season. The lowest average since UK began playing in Rupp Arena in 1976-77 is 21,014 in 2001-02.

In response to an open records request, the Lexington Center Corp., said that the turnstile count of ticket holders at UK’s first seven home games was 15,637. The announced attendance, which is an estimate of everyone in Rupp Arena, so far represents a 31 percent markup.

Most conspicuous by their absence have been UK students. They haven’t come close to filling the E-Rupp-tion Zone, which seats (or stands) 650 behind the baseline closest to Kentucky’s bench. The upper arena sections designated for students have had as many as 15 rows of empty bleachers.

This is expected to change Saturday when Kentucky plays Virginia Tech.

“There’s already been a ton of student tickets sold, and I think it won’t be anything like what these early-season games have been,” said Ben Childress, UK’s student body president. “I think we’ll see a dramatic difference.”

The UK Athletics Association also expects a sharp increase in student attendance when Kentucky plays Virginia Tech. Guy Ramsey, the director of strategic communication, said that there are significantly fewer unsold tickets for the game against Virginia Tech.

“By far,” Ramsey said Thursday. “Not sold out just yet. But we do expect a really good crowd, both student and otherwise.”

Both Childress and Ramsey dismissed the increase in the price of a ticket (from $5 to $10) as an over-riding reason for gaping holes in the student sections. Student prices had gone unchanged “for decades,” Ramsey said, “so that small adjustment we don’t feel is a major factor. We’re not questioning the decision.”

Childress said that doubling the price might keep some students from buying what he called “the nose-bleed tickets,” meaning in the upper arena.

But the student body president cited other more important factors. “First and foremost, I think just the home game schedule has been lacking a really big game so far … ,” he said. “When you start to look at some of these lower-level teams that no one has ever heard of, you start factoring in, ‘OK, it’s a little more expensive.’

“For, like, a legitimate game, I’d pay a lot more than $10.”

A Ratings Percentage Index at mid-week of No. 109 made Virginia Tech the third-best home opponent UK will have played this season (behind No. 58 Vermont and No. 67 Utah Valley). And a No. 109 RPI is significantly better than UK’s last five home opponents: No. 146 East Tennessee State, No. 176 Harvard, No. 205 Fort Wayne, No. 292 Troy and No. 326 UIC.

Ramsey suggested that Kentucky’s remaining home schedule was “pretty awesome.” After Virginia Tech, future home opponents include archrival Louisville (Dec. 29) and the expected top shelf of Southeastern Conference teams: Texas A&M (Jan. 9), Florida (Jan. 20), Tennessee (Feb. 6) and Alabama (Feb. 17).

Childress cited other factors that had tamped down student attendance. Students are conditioned to go through a lottery system for tickets, and the lottery system begins with the Virginia Tech game.

The student body president also said that there would be a bigger response if UK’s lottery had a larger online component that did not require students to line up at Memorial Coliseum for tickets. Ramsey said UK Athletics wanted to continue to increase the online component.

With students having to find transportation or walk from campus to Rupp Arena, weather and late game times can also depress student attendance, Childress said.

Ramsey suggested that attendance has decreased at many venues across the country. A glut of televised games and added entertainment options might be a reason, he said.

On his radio show Nov. 27, Coach John Calipari seemed to stress the importance of leading the nation in attendance, which Kentucky has done all but 14 times in the 41 previous seasons of playing in Rupp Arena.

“We’ve got the greatest fans in the country,” Calipari said. “It’s down a little bit, but we’re still No. 1 in attendance by 2,000 a game (laughs). Let’s make it relative.”

In the 37 years that Kentucky has played in Rupp Arena and Syracuse has played in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse is the only program besides UK to lead the nation in attendance. In that time, the Orange had the largest average home attendance in 14 seasons, most recently in 2014-15. UK has led the nation 27 times.

As Calipari suggested, Kentucky’s relatively low announced average attendance (20,497) still leads the nation this season. Syracuse, which ranks second at this early stage, was averaging 18,853 going into this weekend.

A conference home schedule that does not include Duke made Coach Jim Boeheim doubt whether Syracuse can lead the nation in attendance this season.

Boeheim dismissed the importance of leading the nation, something Syracuse did 11 straight seasons from 1984-85 through 1994-95.

“It’s not important to me at all,” he said. “I mean, they want to make as much money as they can here. But I’m happy if we’re in the top two or three. …

“We want to be No. 1 in wins.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 6:34 PM with the headline "With UK students expected to attend next game in big numbers, a question: Where have they been?."