How about the attendance at The Q? 8900 for a championship game for all the marbles pitting two local teams! That is pathetic.
I also wish there could have been a better turnout. After all, the two biggest draws were represented. However if you watched the Atlantic 10 finals today on CBS, that attendance didn't come close, and that place wasn't near what the Q had. MVC is what lots of us aspire to be, and their finals were listed about 1800 up from the MAC's.
Like Jeff mentioned, weather wasn't good - never seems to be during the MAC tourney up there.
Now if Ball State and Miami, or heaven forbid a Michigan team would have been represented, then you'd see the big dropoff. I'm thankful it was Akron/Kent for TV's sake. (Ohio would have been a decent turnout too).
Sidenote on poor attendance by school: And this happens almost every year also in the early rounds, and the few that want to watch every game know this well. There is a minimum that each school is on the hook for in Cleveland, and I unfortunately do not know the minimum. However Ohio has nothing to worry about, much like Kent/Akron. But for the schools like BG(this year) that can't sell their minimum(can't draw fans), they're more than happy to sell their extras to Ohio fans, or anyone, at near 50% discount. That way the school at least recoups some of their money. Meanwhile, WMU table butts up against BG's and watches BG undercut them for the same exact seat (there's a econ lesson in there somewhere).