The Gophers had a narrow increase in home attendance this season, to 47,865 per game. According to a report from CBSSports.com, this came in a year when attendance across the nation dropped to its lowest since 2000.
The CBSSports.com report notes that Ohio State led the nation 106,296 fans per game, followed by Texas A&M (105,123) and Michigan (104,909). This ended Michigan's 16-year run as the nation's attendance leader.
The report notes that average attendance in the Big Ten was 66,939, down from 70,431 last year, which was largely the result of adding Maryland and Rutgers. Maryland had a 14 percent increase in attendance but was still at 46,981, and Rutgers had a 9 percent attendance increase to 50,639.
Nationally, the average for FBS schools was 43,483, the lowest since it was 42,631 in 2000.
Here's a look at the Gophers' year-by-year average attendance in six seasons at 50,805-seat TCF Bank Stadium:
2009 -- 50,805
2010 -- 49,513
2011 -- 47,714
