Colorado State Basketball Needs Fans to Bring Back Moby Madness

Colorado State’s Moby Arena has been referred to as hostile, electric, and a tough environment to play in by opposing coaches in prior years.

Before last season, the Rams had a winning record on their home court for 24 straight seasons dating back to 1983.

Overall, since its construction, the team is 431-146 on their home floor. The .747 winning percentage ranks among the top in their conference.

As of late, however, Moby Arena has been anything but hostile, electric, and a tough environment.

Last season’s attendance was the lowest in school history, averaging just 3,353 fans per game. After Wednesday night’s game, which drew a crowd of 2,246, the Rams have two home games remaining on the season and are averaging even fewer fans per game (3,098) than last year’s record low.

The campus of 27,273 is averaging just 535 students per game, less than two percent of their population. Admission for students is free.

Part of the low attendance could be blamed on the economy, but the Rams haven’t had an average of 5,000 fans since the 1998 season.

This was a number that was common during seasons in the past, including 14 of 16 seasons from 1983 through 1998, and multiple averages above the 8,000 (Moby Arena seats 8,750) mark in the early 1990s.

Keep in mind that all of those years, the Rams had winning records at Moby Arena.

The average crowd of Rams’ opponents this season is 7,326. Several conference foes, including UNLV and New Mexico, average crowds between 12,000 and 16,000.

Wednesday night’s contest in which the Rams led most of the way and forced overtime before eventually falling to the Utes—a team that is ranked first in the Mountain West Conference, is receiving votes in the AP and ESPN/USA Today top 25, and is ranked 11th in RPI ratings—showed glimpses of hope from the fans in attendance.

Fans were brought to their feet during the final minute as the Rams played defense with the score knotted at 73. Chants of “defense” were heard for the first time in a several years, and the light-up Ram located on the south end of the arena was lit to the tip—the louder the crowd is, the more the Ram lights up.

Yet for the majority of the contest, the crowd was overshadowed by a small group of Utah fans chanting, “Let’s go Utah.” Sad indeed.

The Rams are 6-7 at their home court on the year. Not great, but keep in mind that four of those seven losses have been by 10 points or less, including a six-point loss to preseason NCAA candidate Nevada, an overtime loss to Utah, and a last-second missed jumper loss to Minnesota, a team that has been consistently ranked this season.

The 6-7 record looks respectable considering the team is 2-11 on the road or a neutral court this season and has won just a single game on an opponent’s court in over two years.

This is a young, inconsistent team, but nonetheless is headed in the right direction. The team lost all 16 conference games last season compared to three wins this year with four to play—at least two of them should be winnable games.

It’s time for Colorado State fans to bring the magic back to Moby Arena. The difference between the Rams losing close contests at home and pulling out the victory is in the sixth man.