UK in Top 25 Attendance for Fifth-Consecutive Season: Kentucky football fans have done it again.
For the fifth consecutive season since Commonwealth Stadium was expanded in 1999, the Kentucky football program ranks in the nation?s Top 25 in attendance.
For the 2003 season, UK ranked 24th nationally according to final attendance figures released by the NCAA. The Wildcats had 454,457 in attendance for the seven home games, an average of 64,922 per game.
On game day, Commonwealth Stadium becomes the third-largest city in Kentucky.
Big Blue Nation! Everyone knows that Kentucky is a basketball-crazed state. But a closer look illustrates that Kentucky is really a Wildcat-crazed state.
Looking at the three most current attendance charts for football and men?s and women?s basketball, Kentucky is one of only four schools that rank in the Top 25 in attendance in all three sports:
as mentioned above, UK football ranked 24th nationally in attendance in 2003
UK men?s basketball has been the national attendance champ for eight consecutive seasons
UK women?s basketball currently ranks 15th in the nation for the 2003-04 season, according to figures compiled by the University of Wisconsin media relations office. (The NCAA does not compile official basketball attendance figures until the end of the season.)
In addition to Kentucky, the other schools ranking in the nation?s top 25 in attendance for 2003 football, 2003 men?s basketball, and current 2004 women?s basketball are Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Michigan State.
Seitze to Play in the Hula Bowl Maui: Senior center Nick Seitze will play in the Hula Bowl Maui on Sat. Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. EST in a game that will be televised by ESPN. Seitze will wear uniform No. 78 for the Aina team.
Seitze finished his career with 30 consecutive starts and was on the 2003 preseason watch list for the Dave Rimington Award for the top center in the nation. His blocking helped the Wildcats average 27.3 points per game, the second-highest average ever for a coaching staff in its first season at Kentucky.
Seitze is the 28th Kentucky player or coach to compete in the Hula Bowl. The first was quarterback Vito ?Babe? Parilli in 1952 (following the 1951 season) and the most recent was Glenn Pakulak in 2003 (following the 2002 season). While at last year?s Hula Bowl, Pakulak was formally given the Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Award for the nation?s top special-teams player. In 1958, UK?s Lou Michaels was named the game?s most outstanding lineman.
Tentative List of All-Star Game Participants: Here is the tentative listing for Wildcats who are scheduled to participate in the post-season football all-star games. Please be aware that all-star game rosters change frequently for various reasons.
Blue-Gray Game: DE Jeremy Caudill and C Nick Seitze, Dec. 25, Troy, Ala.
East-West Shrine Game: OT Antonio Hall, Jan. 10, San Francisco, Calif.
Las Vegas All-American Classic: no UK players, Jan. 17, Las Vegas, Nev., 3:30 p.m. EST, CSTV
Hula Bowl Maui: C Nick Seitze, Jan. 17, Maui, Hawaii, 8 p.m. EST, ESPN
Senior Bowl: no UK players, Jan. 24, Mobile, Ala., 5 p.m. EST, ESPN
The Villages Gridiron Classic: QB Jared Lorenzen, Jan. 31, The Villages, Fla., noon EST, ESPN
