After South Carolina’s historic victory over Florida State on Sunday, a rallying cry went up from the USC basketball fan base on Twitter: the Gamecocks are #TampaBayBound to meet their next contender in the Final Four.
Now, the central question is this: Will the Gamecocks’ fans follow?
It should be said, USC’s attendance numbers are better than every single women’s basketball college program in the country.
On average, 12,293 people make their way to Gamecock home games, which is an unheard-of number in collegiate women's basketball. The comparatively underperforming USC men’s basketball team garners little more than half that figure at 7,262.
Being the No. 1 seed in the nation and a Final Four contender certainly doesn’t hurt your popularity.
Even so, a USC fan taking a car up to Greensboro — the venue for the previous two games — isn’t really on the same scale as braving a seven-plus hour drive to Tampa Bay. Add the fact that the upcoming game falls on Easter weekend, and you have a recipe for an arena devoid of all but the staunchest USC fans.
And that’s a real problem. Head Coach Dawn Stately knows very well that having a crowd that cheers after every shot provides a psychological edge. When Stately first came to USC in 2008, the average home game would draw around 2,000-3,000 people. The record for that season was 10-18.
And as attendance grew, so did the USC’s control of the court.
Far be it from us to make pronouncements about how students should spend their time, but having a large, sympathetic crowd is one of the reasons that USC’s women’s basketball program is performing better than ever.
We urge that students consider putting themselves in the place to witness history: a USC basketball team contending for a spot in the National Championships.
The Gamecocks have never gotten this far before and we believe that, no matter what happens in Tampa Bay, they're worth seeing through to the end.