April 17, 2012
K-State wins second straight 'Pack the House' title
K-State Athletics has been named the NCAA ‘Pack the House’ Big 12 Conference winner for the second straight season following a sellout crowd Feb. 4 in Bramlage Coliseum. K-State is one of 33 winners in the NCAA Division I challenge in an announcement made by the NCAA.
K-State’s ‘Pack the House’ contest was when the Wildcats hosted undefeated, and eventual national champion, Baylor. The 12,528 fans in attendance was a season-high in Bramlage Coliseum and was the highest attended women’s basketball game in Bramlage Coliseum since March 31, 2006, when K-State hosted the WNIT Final in front of a sellout crowd of 13,340. The 2012 sell out was the ninth-largest crowd to view a women’s basketball game since Bramlage Coliseum opened in 1988 and the 15th largest crowd to witness a home game in the program’s 44-year history.
This season’s 'Pack the House' promotion included $1 tickets, $1 concession items, a halftime performance by the Zooperstars!, and special guests from the 1st Sustainment Brigade, the Fort Riley partnership unit of K-State women’s basketball.
"We are so proud and appreciative of our tremendous K-State fans for leading the Big 12 in the 2012 'Pack the House' initiative," said head coach Deb Patterson. "The K-State faithful and our excellent fan experience staff create an environment in Bramlage that elevates the emotion, energy and intensity for our players and that always makes for great fun for families and fans of all types."
Kansas State finished the season ranked 24th in the nation in average attendance with 4,069 fans per game. It is the fourth-straight season and the ninth time in the last 11 seasons that K-State has finished among the top 25 in average attendance.
'Pack the House' is a national effort in which conferences and institutions compete to build attendance. NCAA Division I women’s basketball marketing staffs selected a home game and designated that date as a 'Pack the House' game with the goal of setting an attendance record. One winner from each of the 32 conferences and one from a group of independent institutions were named. Selections were based on marketing plan creativity and attendance criteria.
As winners of the 'Pack the House' challenge, the NCAA awarded a donation of $500 to the nonprofit organization of K-State’s choice, which the USO at Fort Riley. The USO is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to lift the spirits of troops and their families by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services and support. This donation will support USO center operations, which assists more than 3,500 troops and families a month.
"In the fifth year of this initiative, we are pleased to see the continued increase in attendance, excitement and exposure for our women’s basketball programs," said Greg Christopher, chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and director of athletics at Bowling Green State University. "The year-in and year-out success of Pack the House is a direct tribute to the commitment level put forth by the personnel at each campus. These efforts continue to help grow the game."
Events at Army, Baylor, Canisius, Delaware, Georgia, Green Bay, Kansas State, Maryland Eastern Shore, Navy, Sacramento State and Stanford produced sellout crowds. Sixty-nine programs surpassed their single-game attendance highs from last year.
CONFERENCE WINNERS
America East – Vermont
Atlantic Coast – Virginia
Atlantic Sun – Florida Gulf Coast
Atlantic 10 – Massachusetts
Big East – Marquette
Big Sky – Sacramento State
Big South – Winthrop
Big Ten – Iowa
Big 12 – Kansas State
Big West – Long Beach State
Colonial – Delaware
Conference USA – Memphis
Great West – New Jersey Institute
Horizon – Green Bay
Ivy – Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic – Canisius
Mid-American – Central Michigan
Mid-Eastern – Morgan State
Missouri Valley – Missouri State
Mountain West – Air Force
Northeast – Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley – Did Not Participate
Pacific-12 – California
Patriot – Bucknell
Southeastern – Kentucky
Southern – Georgia Southern
Southland – Sam Houston State
SWAC – Southern University
Summit – Oral Roberts
Sun Belt – South Alabama
West Coast – Portland
WAC – Louisiana Tech
Independents – Longwood
OVERALL WINNER
California- Pacific 12