College Football 2011: 18 Quietest Fanbases in the Country

When you think of Saturdays in the fall it should conjure up images of tailgate parties and hysterical crowds packed into a stadium cheering for the home team.

Some of the best atmospheres can be found at Oregon, LSU and Penn State.

But not every college team can pack them in with raucous fans.

Maybe the team doesn't win enough, maybe the stadium is too big or maybe they just don't know how to party.

Read on for a look at the 18 quietest fans in the nation.

18. Marshall

Joan C. Edwards Stadium (Huntington, W.Va.) 

Capacity: 38,019 

2010 Average Attendance: 27,046

Marshall's football program enjoyed a great run in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Because of that success, the fans got spoiled and don't fill Joan C. Edwards Stadium like they did in the past.

Of course, when the Thundering Herd host a big opponent like West Virginia last year and Virginia Tech this fall, the place will be filled.

But ask anyone who was at the WVU-Marshall game last year and they'll tell you it was pretty much a split crowd.

17. Idaho

Kibbie Dome (Moscow, Idaho) 

Capacity: 16,000 

2010 Average Attendance: 12,730

Because of the design of the Kibbie Dome, you can generate some noise.

But the loudest game of 2010 was because it was filled with about 6,000 to 8,000 Boise State fans.

Idaho has a great coach and a nice tradition of support, so this is probably just a one-year problem.

16. Western Kentucky

Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium (Bowling Green, Ky.)

Capacity: 22,000 

2010 Average Attendance: 14,577

Western Kentucky was once a Top 25 program in FCS (formerly Division I-AA). The Hilltoppers drew nice, rowdy crowds as they were winning.

Now that they are bottom-dwellers in the FBS Division, Western Kentucky's fans don't have much to get excited about.

Having alumnus Willie Taggart heading the program might help the Hilltoppers start winning again and bring the fans back into the stands.

15. Duke

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

DURHAM, NC - SEPTEMBER 25: A general view of the Army Black Knights versus the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium on September 25, 2010 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Wallace Wade Stadium (Durham, N.C.) 

Capacity: 33,941 

2010 Average Attendance: 28,750

Duke football is one of the worst BCS programs in the country.

Sure the Blue Devils almost fill the stadium for home games, but Duke is usually losing and the fans are counting down the days until basketball season.

When is the last time you heard an ACC team talk about the intimidating Wallace Wade crowd?

14. Rice

Rice Stadium (Houston, Texas) 

Capacity: 47,000 

2010 Average Attendance: 25,571

Rice is one on the nation's best academic institutions, but the Owls football team went 4-8 last year and only about half of Rice Stadium was filled for home games last year.

The fans who are there are passionate about the team, but they just aren't that loud.

So if you need a place to study for a test, a home game is good option.

13. Florida Atlantic

Lockhart Stadium (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 

Capacity: 20,450 

2010 Average Attendance: 14,025

Florida Atlantic is moving into a new on-campus stadium this fall. FAU Football Stadium will hold 30,000 and has a price tag of $62 million.

Howard Schnellenberger will do every marketing trick in the book to get fans to the stadium.

It should help that students can stay right on campus to go to games, but most of the students are commuters.

Also, most of the fans in South Florida either root for Miami, Florida or Florida State.

12. New Mexico State

Aggie Memorial Stadium (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Capacity: 30,343 

2010 Average Attendance: 15,906

DeWayne Walker and his coaching staff are working hard to turn around the Aggies.

New Mexico State is still a quiet place to play, but that may not last for long if the Aggies start winning more.

11. Tulane

Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, La.) 

Capacity: 72,968 

2010 Average Attendance: 23,220

Tulane's average attendance is respectable, but with so many empty seats in the Superdome you can almost hear echoes.

The Green Wave could benefit greatly from a 30,000-seat, on-campus stadium.

10. Kent State

Dix Stadium (Kent, Ohio) 

Capacity: 25,000 

2010 Average Attendance: 16,152

Kent State's football team has never been a consistent winner.

The Golden Flashes have an overall record of 305–492–28 and that has made it difficult to build a dedicated fanbase.

9. Memphis

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Memphis, Tenn.) 

Capacity: 62,380 

2010 Average Attendance: 23,918

When Memphis is winning and competing for a Conference USA title, the fans will come out and get loud in the old Memorial Stadium.

Right now the Tigers are down and so is the decibel level inside the Liberty Bowl.

8. Eastern Michigan

Rynearson Stadium (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 

Capacity: 30,200 

2010 Average Attendance: 15,885

Eastern Michigan has been down for a while, but last year there were a few bright spots.

You can also see an uptick in the excitement in the stands.

The Eagles may just play their way off this list in another year or two.

7. Temple

A. Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Temple kicker Ryan Lux celebrates a 40-yard field goal against the University of Miami at Lincoln Financial Field, October 15, 2005, in Philadelphia. Lux' three pointer was the only scroe by the Owls who lost to the Hurricanes 34 - 3. (Photo by A. Messe

Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, Pa.) 

Capacity: 69,144 

2010 Average Attendance: 20,515

This is just another example of a decent crowd looking tiny because of a big NFL stadium.

What makes this even more disappointing is the recent success for the Owls. Temple has become one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference.

What Temple needs is a more quaint stadium for its home games.

6. Akron

InfoCision Stadium (Akron, Ohio) 

Capacity: 30,000 

2010 Average Attendance: 10,185

The on-campus stadium opened in 2009 to a sold-out crowd, but since then the fans have stayed away and the Zips keep losing.

The Akron crowd has potential, but no one is going to get too fired up for a bottom-of-the-league team.

5. Bowling Green

Doyt L. Perry Stadium (Bowling Green, Ohio)

Capacity: 28,599 

2010 Average Attendance: 13,306

Another MAC team with attendance issues. Seeing a trend here?

Bowling Green is another program that does well when the team is winning or if it hosts a big game.

The Falcons went 2-10 last year, so we can see why the fans stayed away.

4. San Jose State

Spartan Stadium (San Jose, Calif.) 

Capacity: 30,456 

2010 Average Attendance: 14,474

When you can't even fill half of the stadium it's going to be pretty quiet.

When your team doesn't win much and is rarely competitive...well, there's not much to get excited about.

Welcome to San Jose State.

3. Buffalo

University of Buffalo Stadium (Buffalo, N.Y.) 

Capacity: 29,013 

2010 Average Attendance: 12,981

The Bulls just can't compete with the NFL.

The Buffalo Bills draw well for home games—the Buffalo Bulls do not.

2. UAB

Legion Field (Birmingham, Ala.) 

Capacity: 71,594 

2010 Average Attendance: 18,360

UAB plays in an antiquated, cavernous stadium that is impossible to sell out.

There's also that little issue of trying to compete with the Alabama Crimson Tide, who are about an hour away in Tuscaloosa.

Good luck with that one.

1. Ball State

Scheumann Stadium (Muncie, Ind.) 

Capacity: 25,400 

2010 Average Attendance: 8,947

You can't even get 9,000 fans to a home game?

Ball State has to be concerned about the athletics budget as everyone knows football drives the money in college sports.

In 2008, Ball State won 12 straight to start the season. Since then the Cardinals have won six games in two seasons.

Now we see why it's so quiet in Muncie.