I agree. I believe our student section has been weak for years. Our non-student fans aren’t any better. As a fan base we do travel well and can get loud. Our band is great. I don’t believe we generate the same energetic atmosphere we once had.
Yzerman19 points out what a difference the fans can make to create an energetic atmosphere and he is correct. Penn State’s entire fan base knows their cheers. Same for University of Wisconsin fans.
At a Regional final in Madison years ago, their entire fan base, including the “cotton tops” knew their cheers. Wisconsin also has a number of songs in addition to their fight song and Alma mater and they all know them. They play them at graduation, weddings, reunions etc.
We don't have that right now. We had the “Snake Pit” in BB many years ago, we had the “Farce” for a number of years. If you sit next to those fans having beers, a lot of their stories involved their shenanigans. This group of students can get together in 15-20yrs and reminisce about yelling “he sucks sh..”. We older fans are just as guilty. The best fans don’t need to wait until we are back at the F4. We need to do the little things as fans that might fire up a team or impress a recruit and their families. We need to dig a bit deeper for our favorite sports do we don’t loose key players cuz of NIL, and can afford to incentivize if necessary, key recruits to come here.