TV Numbers Have Been Measured, But How About Passion Between Big 12 and Pac-12 Fans
STILLWATER – This past week the PR folks (media) have been working overtime, and we will raise our hand and gladly admit that we participated in the battle for supremacy between the recently wounded Pac-12 Conference and the year removed from defection Big 12 Conference. In the immediate aftermath of USC and UCLA bolting to the Big Ten on June 30 the prevailing thoughts were the Big 12 might absorb some of the Pac-12. Others felt there might be a merger. Still others felt the Pac-12 would still be able to stand on it’s own merits.
We still don’t know the outcome, although recently Stewart Mandel of The Athletic and Jon Wilner, the most informative reporter on all that is Pac-12 writing for the San Jose Mercury-News have pushed the Pac-12 as still being a self-suficient power conference.
I’m not saying one or the other, but I am bringing in a different measuring stick. Passion on college football Saturdays is driven by full or near capacity stadiums full of fans wearing school colors and making noise.
Sirius-XM producer Robbie Triano gave me the idea when he talked about how fans in the Big 12 region and middle America seem to be more passionate and love their college footbal more. I went to Phil Steele’s College Football Preview 2022 magazine. You see in every school’s preview, Phil includes stadium, stadium capacity, and last season the percentage of seats that were full in that stadium.
I had to bring in a pair of newbies in the Big 12 as I left off all of the departing schools, Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12 and USC and UCLA in the Pac-12. Honestly, the Trojans and Bruins are in big stadiums and have a high percentage of empty seats, so leaving them out helped the Pac-12.
| Big 12 Conference vs. Pac-12 Conference Head-to-Head Match-Ups |
| Big 12 Conference | Pac-12 Conference |
| School | Stadium/Capacity | 2021 Pct. Seats Filled | School | Stadium/Capacity | 2021 Pct. Seats Filled |
| Baylor | McLane Stadium/45.140 | 99.1% | Washington | Husky Stadium/70,083 | 89% |
| Oklahoma State | Boone Pickens Stadium/55,509 | 96% | Oregon | Autzen Stadium/54,000 | 92% |
| Iowa State | Jack Trice Stadium/61,500 | 99% | Utah | Rice -Eccles Stadium/51,444 | 113% |
| TCU | Amon Carter Stadium/46,000 | 88% | Stanford | Stanford Stadium/50,000 | 71% |
| West Virginia | Milan Puskar Stadium/60,000 | 86% | Oregon State | Reser Stadium/26,407 | 71% |
| Texas Tech | Jones AT&T Stadium/60.454 | 87% | Arizona State | Sun Devil Stadium/53,599 | 88% |
| Kansas | Kansas Memorial Stadium/47.223 | 56% | California | California Memorial Stadium/63,000 | 60% |
| Kansas State | Bill Snyder Family Stadium/50,000 | 93% | Arizona | Arizona Stadium/57,400 | 69% |
| Houston | TDECU Stadium/40,000 | 70% | Washington State | Gesa Field/32,952 | 71% |
| Cincinnati | Nippert Stadium/40,000 | 93% | Colorado | Folsom Field/50,183 | 93% |
I tried to get close in the head-to-head match-ups, but I think these numbers tell a story. Overall, the Big 12 is slightly more rabid about being in the stadium and cheering on their teams on fall Saturdays.
Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Cincinnati are the most rabid in the Big 12 and Utah, Oregon, Colorado, and Washington are tops in the Pac-12.
If I was Brent Yormark the commissioner of the Big 12 and I’m looking for a school to add I’d start with Utah.
