College football fans must enjoy seeing points put on the board and the ball moving up and down the field. As records were shattered on the gridiron in points, passing offense and total offense, records were being set in the stands, too.

For the second straight season, NCAA football attendance set a new standard as during the 2007 season 619 schools combined for a total gate of 48,751,861, topping last season’s record by 842,548 fans.

Perhaps a more significant indication of the sport’s popularity than the total numbers is that the per-game mark was broken in both the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and for all divisions combined.

The average number of fans attending an FBS game in 2007 was 46,962, better than the record mark of 46,249 per game in 2006. For all divisions combined, the 2007 per-game average of 14,288 topped last year’s record of 14,124.

The FBS set a record in overall attendance, too (counting neutral-site games and bowls), as 37,146,661 people came through the turnstiles in 2007. The previous high in that subdivision was also last season with 36,814,468.

Division II also set a total-attendance record, topping three million fans for the second time with 3,033,616 and eclipsing the mark of 3,005,214 set in 2006.

Although all-time records were not set in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision and Division III, both classifications’ numbers were up for the second straight season. The 5,895,387 fans that saw FCS games in 2007 was the fourth-highest total in that subdivision and was up 238 fans per game from the previous year.

Division III realized an increase of 170,567 fans from 2006 to 2,270,313 in 2007. The average number of fans per game was also up with an increase of 121 fans per game to 1,961 spectators per contest.

Individual attendance

Michigan’s 110,264 fans per game over eight home contests topped Penn State’s 108,917 to give the Wolverines their 10th straight attendance title. Two other schools also topped the 100,000 mark: Ohio State at 105,110 and Tennessee at 103,918. The all-time record is 111,175 by Michigan in 1999.

Michigan was the first to average more than 100,000 a game in 1976 and has captured the attendance title 38 times since 1949, including 32 since 1974.

In total attendance, Michigan led with 882,115 in eight home games to set the NCAA record for most fans in a season. It topped the previous mark of 857,911 set by Penn State in 2002 in eight games. These are the only two times the 800,000 mark has been eclipsed in a season.

After Michigan’s record total, the Wolverines were followed this season by Penn State’s 762,419, Ohio State’s 735,773 and Tennessee’s 727,426. All three schools played seven home games in 2007.

As for league totals, the Southeastern Conference set the NCAA conference record for total attendance while topping all conferences in average attendance for the 10th consecutive year. While the Big Ten Conference boasted the nation’s top three teams in per-game attendance, the SEC claimed the next five spots. The Pacific-10 and Big 12 each provided one team to round out the top 10.

The SEC totaled 6,687,342 fans while averaging 75,139 per game. That total mark topped the SEC’s record of 6,586,408 from last season.

The Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-10 and Atlantic Coast rounded out the top five for conference attendance. The SEC, Pac-10 and Mountain West all set league bests in total attendance. The Big 12 and Pac-10 were the only two conferences to top its previous high for fans per game.

Other classifications

Appalachian State won the FCS championship for the third straight year, and with it came the school’s first football season attendance title. The Mountaineers’ attendance total of 217,968 was the most of any Division I FCS team. Their average of 24,218 fans per game displaced the winner from the past two seasons, Montana, which averaged 22,799. Yale finished a close third at 22,792.

In the FCS conference race, the Southwestern Athletic Conference held on to its top spot once again with 15,614 fans per game. The SWAC has finished first in 28 of the last 29 years, with the Southern Conference having won in 2005 and finishing second this season at 13,074. The rest of the top five were the Gateway (11,724), Mid-Eastern (11,420) and Big Sky (9,952).

Three conferences — the Big South, Great West and Gateway — had personal highs for total attendance. Those three also topped their average bests along with the Southern and Metro Atlantic.

In Division II, Miles captured the attendance title, barely topping last year’s leader, Tuskegee, by averaging 13,225 fans per game to Tuskegee’s 13,118. They were followed by West Texas A&M (12,421), Pittsburg State (10,196) and North Dakota (9,887).

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference took its fifth consecutive conference Division II league crown by averaging 7,255 per game for its 10 members. The Lone Star Conference finished second at 5,394 per outing, just edging the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association at 5,388.

In Division III, St. John’s (Minnesota) ran away with its seventh straight attendance title by averaging 8,769 fans per game. The rest of the top five were Concordia-Moorhead (5,441), Emory & Henry (5,249), Baldwin-Wallace (5,234) and Mississippi College (4,732).

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference took its third straight Division III league attendance title as its nine teams averaged 3,594 fans a game and totaled a Division III-best 176,129 fans. The Old Dominion Conference took second at 2,800 fans per game, followed by the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Conference (2,730), Ohio Athletic (2,648) and American Southwest Conference (2,641).

2007 NATIONAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE

(For All NCAA Men's Varsity Teams)

*Record       

#The New Mexico Bowl played in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with an attendance of 30,223 is included in the New Mexico Home attendance. If you include this bowl game with the others, the bowl totals are 32 bowls, 1,730,395 total attendance for a 54,074 average per game.

CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENTS: The total attendance for the Division I FCS Tournament was 202,351 for a 13,490 average over 15 games, the Division II Tournament was 119,341 for a 5,189 average over 23 games and the Division III Tournament was 67,740 for a 2,185 average over 31 games.