CU Could Miss Home Crowd this Weekend

Cameron Indoor Arena. Rupp Arena. Allen Fieldhouse. The Dean Dome. All of these are prestigious men’s basketball arenas, which give their home teams (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, and North Carolina, respectively) a distinct advantage.

It would be silly to group Levien with the aforementioned stadiums, but the atmosphere surrounding the small, underground gym has changed drastically from last year and even from earlier this season—helping to produce a very respectable 7-5 mark.

Prior to this season, there were probably more games than not, particularly during the non-conference portion of the schedule, where I could count the number of fans in the stands. The same was true for the first six games of this season.

These first six home games produced an average attendance of 694. Let me repeat that: An average of 694 kids attended each of the opening six games for Columbia. Not surprisingly, the home court advantage that could be felt in the smaller gyms of the Ivy League was missing from Levien.

A 2-4 record corresponded to those first home contests. Granted, a number of them occurred over winter break when most students were home (and not thinking of Columbia basketball). But, still the change since the start of Ivy play is nothing short of remarkable.

Starting with the New Jersey Institute of Technology game (a week before school resumed) and including the last five Ivy contests, the attendance has increased by 1.6 times to a respectable average of 1,104 per game. Columbia’s record during this stretch is an impressive 5-1, with its only loss coming at the hands of Ivy favorite Cornell.

Now at games, I turn to my colleagues and look up at the stands to see the student section nearly filled to the top with pretty knowledgeable and avid (albeit probably drunk) fans. While in years past there had been a respectable number of fans, it seemed as though they didn’t want to cheer too loudly and potentially be ostracized by friends.

This year, that has gone out the window. The fraternities and sports teams that show up for games, in true Columbia spirit, have thought of some fairly witty (and some obnoxious) chants during games. But so far it seems to be working, particularly in the second half.

The past two home weekends saw the Light Blue come from behind against two of its opponents, while maintaining slim leads in the other contests. While success can’t be credited solely to the fan support, such support is clearly a motivational tool—one that could get any player fired up. Playing in front of a big crowd (something I rarely did in high school) makes individuals want to perform to the best of their abilities. Maybe the fans have contributed to that (in addition to distracting opponents). The only problem with this youthful Lion squad has been the drastic drop in performance on the road.

While their 2-6 road record is almost to be expected, given the relative inexperience of the Lions, some of these losses have been rather surprising. Losing to Cornell and American—two potential NCAA tournament teams—is to be expected, as is losing to Big East foe Seton Hall.

But St. Francis (N.Y.)? Lehigh? St. Francis currently ranks below Columbia, while Lehigh is slightly ahead. At home, Columbia has beaten teams ranked slightly higher than it is (Yale, for instance). Is home court advantage that important in college basketball?

With two road contests on tap for this weekend against two teams that the Lions handled fairly easily at Levien, this idea of home court advantage may rear its ugly head. It’s hard to say if the Lions will keep up their winning streak, but in order to do so, they will need to defy those road woes.

Max Puro is a Columbia College senior majoring in history.
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