Attendance for Butler men’s basketball games this season is at in highest point in more than four decades.

Hinkle Fieldhouse has been sold out for games against Gonzaga and Temple.

“Especially ever since we beat Indiana, after that game we sold out the Gonzaga game within a few days,” Matt Harris, fan development manager, said.

The excitement created by the nationally-televised win over Gonzaga has seen fans gobbling up tickets for other Butler home games.

Tickets for this Saturday’s game against Rhode Island sold out last Thursday.

Only a few single tickets remained available for the game versus Saint Louis on Feb. 22 as of last Friday.

The senior night game against Xavier on March 9 sold out in early January.

Harris said with the other three home games falling on weekdays, it is unlikely they will sell out.

Season ticket sales also increased for the eighth straight year, Harris said.

Last season 115,231 fans attended Butler men’s basketball games at Hinkle Fieldhouse, an average of 7,202 per game.

The Bulldogs had not seen average attendance that high since they averaged more than 8,000 fans per game in 1964.

And attendance this year is expected to be even greater than last season’s totals.

Through 10 home games this season, 75,593 fan have attended the men’s games. That is an average of 7,559 per game. Last season through 10 home games the average attendance was 6,905 fans per game.

This season, the Gonzaga game saw the whole allotment of student seats filled, a rare occurrence even with the success of Butler in recent seasons.

“We have a set number of seats that we hold aside for students regardless of whether or not the rest of the tickets are sold out,” Lindsay Martin, sports marketing manager, said.

“Twice since I’ve been here have we ever reached that number in student attendance,” she said. “That was up to last weekend’s Gonzaga game and Ohio State in (2009).”

The number of student seats reserved for a game can vary from 1,200 to 1,500, depending on the demand.

The process for getting a seat for the Gonzaga game differed in that students were required to get a wristband in advance of the game if they wanted to be in attendance.

This was done because of the high demand for tickets for the sold-out game.

Martin said there is not much concern for possibly needing to turn students away at sold-out games if there are no student seats left.

“We’re not really concerned about that because we’ve only reached that magical student number twice in the last six years, and over those six years, we’ve been pretty good,” Martin said. “When you look at it, over a quarter of the student body would have to come to a game for us to be concerned about that.

“If that does become a concern, that’s a great problem to have.”

Student attendance going into the Gonzaga game was actually down slightly from last season, but much of that has to do with the number of home games that were played when students were on break, Martin said.

“We’re not concerned about student attendance,” Martin said. “Obviously as we continue playing and if we keep playing well, we expect that our numbers will outshine last year.”

A mostly-empty stadium faced the Butler University women’s soccer team this Sunday as the team took the field.

Absent were the screaming hordes of Bulldog fans who normally pack basketball games.

Butler casts itself as a supportive community, but sometimes that does not appear to be the case.

Fans at Butler never attend fall sports in the same numbers as they do spring, but the difference between men’s basketball and all other sports is even starker.

Plenty of factors could contribute to this.

People might need time to settle into college life in the fall.

The men’s basketball team may be more competitive.

Particularly rude people might assume that it comes down to talent.

And this past Sunday, weather definitely played a factor.

But none of these reasons quite suffice.

If people needed to “settle,” attendance would probably increase as the semester wears on.

It does not consistently do so.

Competition does not consistently explain the difference either.

Other teams have incredibly close games and strong rivalries.

Take the women’s soccer team, which has consistently had more than 10 shots on goal a game this fall.

More importantly, however, the men’s basketball team had an admittedly tough season last year.

Fans did not suddenly abandon Hinkle Fieldhouse when the odds were stacked against them.

The attendance issue may, in fact, be more of a psychological situation.

Vice President of Student Affairs Levester Johnson offered an explanation and a solution for the disparity.

“These are their classmates, people sitting next to them in class,” Johnson said.

“We’re working with different departments to get students out to these games,” he said.

Johnson’s idea makes sense.

The men’s basketball team has come to define Butler in the minds of thousands of Americans who would not otherwise know about the university.

Part of the solution then should be making all athletics a bigger part of the community.

Butler prides itself on being different, on having a kind of neighborhood feel to it that other schools cannot offer.

This difference should be spread to athletics.

The university should not restrict itself to being a one-team school the way others do.

Iconic,  ever-enthusiastic student fans seem like the perfect group to spearhead this change.

Though the Dawg Pound has made efforts to get more fans to other sporting events, like women’s basketball, in the past, they did not make a visible appearance Sunday.

No members of Dawg Pound could be reached for comment.

If Butler wants to address the low attendance—and more importantly, have a closer community—the change needs to be one adopted by the whole student body.

Homefield advantage means nothing when students do not attend spring sporting events.

I would expect Jordan Hall or the library to be empty on the weekend.

However, I wouldn’t expect this at one of the many athletic competitions that go on every weekend.

Student attendance at sports games this spring has been very low.

At the girls softball game v. the University of Illinois-Chicago the stands were half full and an overwhelming majority of the fans were parents.

The baseball team took their efforts to new levels when they played Wright State.

The Bulldogs provided the most popular drink at every college—beer—in an attempt to attract more fans.

Although the teams traded wins and losses, the extra fans that the booze attracted, boosted the offense as the team scored a combined 19 runs on the day.

Fan turnout influences success and the basketball team will get more fans than any other sport. Combine that with being in the Hoosier state, I wouldn’t expect anything less.

The exhaustion from the long basketball season might be a reason for the low turnout for spring sports, but it is not an excuse.

For all the love there is for the men’s basketball team, some could be shared among all sports.

The baseball, softball and track teams are all having decent seasons, and with a little fan support, the tennis team could improve upon its record.

Teams perform better across the board because of the positive atmosphere generated by the fans.

As a football player, I know that in football the 12th man is almost as important as anyone on the field.

The noise and atmosphere generated can mentally crack even some of the most experienced and skilled teams.

Since Butler is a small school, it is important that each group support each other. This applies to all sports in every season.

If the volleyball team or women’s basketball team got one-fourth of the fans that fill up Hinkle Fieldhouse for a men’s basketball games, they would appreciate it.

I want students to mob  games like they do going to the bars or parties on the weekend.

With the home stretch of the spring season approaching, everyone should make an effort to attend at least one game.

If you’re just not a fan of spring sports, the football team’s spring game is on Saturday and men’s and women’s soccer is in action for their spring exhibition games as well.

There are plenty of opportunities for students to come out and show their support.