Bottoms in seats

Teams announce an attendance figure for home games — the announced attendance, often a number that reflects the number of tickets sold or given away. Universities also keep actual attendance, tracking the number of people who actually come through the door. The Star Tribune obtained actual attendance figures for the seven Gophers home football games at 50,805-seat TCF Bank Stadium this fall:

Game AnnouncedActual

Aug. 30 vs. New Mexico State41,29120,218

Sept. 8 vs. Fresno State38,28027,087

Sept. 15 vs. Miami (Ohio)41,16222,873

Oct. 6 vs. Iowa48,19937,461

Oct. 26 vs. Indiana33,27320,357

Nov. 10 vs. Purdue31,06815,434

Nov. 17 vs. Northwestern32,13415,160