For the second straight season, women’s basketball fans in all three divisions broke attendance records, leading to the overall total topping 11 million fans for the first time. 

More games (or sessions) were played this season in DI than ever before as 4,779 sessions posted record numbers in total (8,096,852) and average (1,694 fans per game). The previous record marks had been set last season at 7,886,207 and 1,655. 

Division I team attendance was posted during the season this year for the first time ever on ncaa.com which led to more accountability during the season by schools and conferences, which may have led to more accurate numbers overall. For all three divisions combined, the total of 11,120,822 college basketball fans across the nation topped the record of 10,878,322 set in 2007. That record mark was helped by all-time highs in Division II of 1,701,121 fans and Division III with 1,198,495.

For all NCAA teams combined, the average crowd was 824, breaking the previous record of 815 fans a game from 2007. Average per game attendance was 481 fans in Division II and 239 per contest in Division III.

Big 12 Top Conference Again

For the ninth straight season, the Big 12 led in conference attendance as the only league to top the one-million mark with 1,010,528 fans overall and an average of 4,954 per game. Rounding out the top five conferences in average attendance were the same five as last season: the Big Ten, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big East.

Twelve conferences broke their own personal highs for total attendance while six conferences set highs in average attendance.

Tennessee repeated as the leader among all 326 Division I teams in home attendance with 236,940 Volunteer fans attending 15 games in Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville for an average of 15,796 per contest. No. 2 Connecticut had 10,968 fans a game while Oklahoma and Iowa State both finished above the 9,000 fans a game mark. Tennessee has led the nation every year since 1997, except for 2003 when Connecticut took the top spot.

Tennessee also was seen by the most fans in person, including home, road and neutral site games, with a total of 445,925 fans. The Vols were followed by Connecticut, Maryland, Iowa State and Oklahoma.

Louisville more than doubled its fans from 2007 to 2008 to lead the nation with the biggest increase in attendance from the previous season. The Cardinals went from 3,104 per game average in 2007 to 6,456 in 2008, for an increase of 3,352 fans per game.

There were 12 Division I teams that saw an increase in attendance from the previous year of more than 1,000 fans per home game. After Louisville, Arkansas-Little Rock and Murray State were the highest in increase with more than 1,900 fans per game each.

Divisions II and III

Northern State in Aberdeen, South Dakota, won its first-ever Division II attendance title totaling 29,803 fans over 12 games this season and averaging 2,483 a game. The state of South Dakota claimed three of the top five spots as Emporia State, Washburn, Augustana (S.D.) and South Dakota were the only other schools to finish above 2,000 fans a game.

As the Division III national champion while going undefeated for the season at 33-0 and hosting three rounds of the NCAA tournament, Howard Payne took its second straight Division III attendance title with 1,549 spectators a game and 23,234 total fans at 15 home games. Hope was the only other school to average more than 1,000 fans per contest at 1,107.

The North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference repeated its top spot in Division II conference attendance with 145,134 spectators and a 1,382 average. The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association finished second with a 1,312 average but totaled more fans at 174,464 because of three more teams and 28 more games. Besides the past two seasons, the North Central won every D-II attendance title from 1991 to 2005.

The Iowa Intercollegiate returned to the top among Division III conferences to take its seventh attendance title and its first since 2002. The conference averaged 480 fans a game to just edge out the American Southwest Conference, which averaged 474 fans.