Seems to me that Bradley may always be stuck in the endzone because of advance ticket sales being a factor to measure where we sit. I don't think it's fair to penalize the smaller schools because of their advance ticket sales being less than big state schools.
But this is not true about Bradley's ticket sales. Bradley is always among the upper half of the schools in ticket sales. Only 1 big state school (SIU ranks above them over the past 2 seasons.
Over the past 2 seasons, Bradley ranks 3rd among all schools in ticket sales behind only Creighton and SIU. That is amazingly good considering they have finished no higher than 4th place.
Here are ticket sales for the past 2 years--
2008....2009....Total....School/Rank
1559....1680.....3239.....1. CU
1734....1100.....2834.....2. SIU
1000....924.....1924.....3. BU
1125.....650......1775.....4. WSU
604.....1100......1704.....5. ILSU
650......365.......1015.....6. UNI
505......380........885.....7. MSU
290......500........790.....8. DU
275......300........575.....9. UE
150......104........254....10. INSU
Over the past 3 seasons combined, Bradley ranks 4th in tickets sold. That ranks ahead of schools like Missouri State and Illinois State which have huge student populations, large fan bases, and lots of alumni in the St. Louis area. Bradley also ranks well ahead of DU and UNI, who could be the last 2 MVC champions!
Here are ticket sales for the past 3 years--
2007.....2008.....2009......Total School/Rank
1442.....1559.....1680......4681.....1. CU
1579.....1734.....1100......4413.....2. SIU
2574.....1125......650.......4349....3. WSU
500......1000.....924......2424....4. BU
216........604.....1100.......1920....5. ILSU
677........505.......380.......1562....6. MSU
399........650.......365.......1414....7. UNI
100........290.......500........890.....8. DU
191........275.......300........766.....9. UE
106........150.......104........360....10. INSU