College basketball attendance, ratings and scores were down; what will it take to bring them back up?

CLEVELAND – On the opening night of the NCAA Tournament, college basketball fans watched Mississippi beat BYU 94-90 in a back-and-forth game that was as entertaining as it was high-scoring.

If the shootout was an indication of games to come, a truly wild and crazy March was on its way.

Alas, that game was not an accurate preview. It was the peak offensive showing of the tournament’s opening week. After the Rebels and Cougars combined for 184 points, 64 field goals, 46 assists and 22 three-pointers, the NCAA Tournament regressed back to what college basketball was throughout the regular season.

Scores were down. Fouls were up. Games ran long.

“We have taken a step backward,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby. “This year, in particular, we took a big step backward.”

Big crowds and exciting finishes may have covered up those blemishes with bracket-loving fans. CBS announced Monday that it broke ratings records for the opening weekend, with games averaging 6.7 million viewers across all multimedia platforms, up 6 percent from a year ago.

Still, scoring remains on the decline. At the conclusion of conference-tournament week, the average score in a college basketball game was 67.2 points, the lowest number since 1952. The average NCAA Tournament score has been a shade above 70 points.

Making matters worse, the previous low in the modern shot-clock era came two years ago, sparking radical changes in officiating. Before the start of last season, officials vowed to put an end to physical defense, saying it would be harder than ever for a defender to draw a charge.

They wanted to clean up the game and boost scoring. The changes had a positive impact initially, and scores increased. But officials quickly lost their stomach for the new rules and reverted back to their old ways, leading to more defensive-driven games again.

“Basketball should be a game of finesse,” Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith said. “John Wooden said that. It’s turned into a real physical game.”

Never more than this season, when scoring dropped nearly four points per game. There is no larger dip on record.

Attendance drop

After working countless dull games this season, ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla viewed the Ole Miss-BYU game as a breath of fresh air, saying it reminded him of “basketball before the body checks and muggings.”

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s vice president for men’s basketball, remembers the old game fondly, too.

“I do have some healthy concerns,” Gavitt told the Associated Press. “If the game continues to go in the direction it has been the last several years, with scoring being down and physical play being up, it could really hurt it.”

Fans are already showing their displeasure.

Though attendance remains strong in the Sunflower State, with Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State playing home games in front of filled arenas, it has dropped in seven consecutive seasons elsewhere.

In 2006, college basketball’s average attendance was 5,327. Last year, it was 4,817. In the Big 12, three teams averaged more than 12,000 fans – Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. Baylor, ranked throughout the season and a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, averaged 6,650 fans.

Interest is also down on TV. ESPN averaged roughly 1.5 million viewers on its flagship network for games this season, down about 6 percent from last year.

Turning it around

What can be done to fix stagnant play that has infected the game?

The answer depends on whom you ask.

Many have argued for lowering the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds and extending the no-charge arc underneath the basket – the NIT is currently experimenting with both – as well as toughening officiating, reducing timeouts, widening the lane and pushing back the three-point line.

Texas coach Rick Barnes thinks officiating is the biggest issue. He says every league approaches officiating differently, meaning certain fouls will get called in the ACC but not the Pac-12. There is no uniformity.

“I think it’s the biggest thing facing college basketball right now,” Barnes said. “Officiating has to get more consistent. And the only way it’s going to do that is if the NCAA and college basketball realizes how important it really is.　

“We should have a universal game at Division I, Division II, Division III level. It should be a universal game.”

Smith, a former national-champion coach with Kentucky, is in favor of anything that creates more driving lanes for offensive players. He thinks players should be allowed to create and make plays without being legally bumped or nudged by defenders.

“You have got to clean up the game and call it,” Smith said. “A foul is a foul. I think it will open up some things. We probably need to make some changes on the court. I’m in favor of widening the lane and putting the three-point line back, because a lot of that has been part of it, space the floor a little bit better. All of those things will help the game improve in a lot of ways, especially, and I think the scoring will go back up.”

K-State coach Bruce Weber has a different philosophy. He is one of the few coaches against shortening the shot clock, saying the change would hurt parity and benefit only the most talented teams. He envisions offenses rushing into plays, defenses taking advantage and the best athletes taking over, lowering the value of a well-executed possession.

His proposal is more grass roots.

“We have got to change the whole model, the developmental model of basketball,” Weber said. “We have got to get skill development back in there. It has got to happen.

“I said two years ago, when they were going to change all the hand-checking and help the game, it didn’t matter because we don’t have the skills. That is what we have got to do. We have got to get the NBA involved, because the kids look up to that and pay attention to that. We have to get the high schools and AAU teams involved. We all have to come together and change the model.”

Bowlsby is in favor of several changes. He wants to see college basketball use the wider NBA lane, push back the three-point line and reduce timeouts. Anything to bring excitement and attention back to the sport before March.

One of the biggest criticisms of college hoops is that coaches save their five timeouts for late in the second half, grinding games to a halt. Others dislike the way players can use timeouts in the middle of a play to avoid turnovers.

Many of those proposals will be discussed by coaches during their convention at the Final Four.

Perhaps a season of low scores will spark meaningful conversation.

“Change in any sport is hard,” Bowlsby said. “The three-point line was only favored by 29 percent of the coaches when it went in. It was the most extraordinary improvement in college basketball, and only one out of every three coaches liked it. … Now is the perfect time to talk about change. There are a lot of things we could do to make the game better.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 9:58 AM with the headline "College basketball attendance, ratings and scores were down; what will it take to bring them back up?."