Though entertainment options are booming for the average American and an increasing number of sports compete for fans' attention, NCAA men's college basketball continues to reach record attendance levels.

Attendance data from the 2002-03 season show that Division I men's basketball attendance topped the 25-million mark for the first time, while the overall mark for all three divisions hit a record 30 million.

The Division I mark eclipses a record the division set just last year. The division saw an increase of more than 500,000 over 2001-02 as an all-time high 25,001,678 Division I fans passed through the turnstiles this season.

For all three divisions combined, the total of 30,124,304 broke last year's record season by 729,064 fans. The average number of people attending an NCAA men's basketball game this past season was 2,339, while Division I averaged 5,372, up 85 people a game from the previous year.

As for postseason totals, the second year of the bracket pod system for the Division I tournament produced an average of 20,431 fans per session and totaled 715,080 people, just shy of the record of 720,685 set in 1999.

By conference, the Big Ten Conference, a perennial leader in men's basketball attendance, once again posted the highest totals. For the 27th straight season, in fact, the Big Ten set the standard for conference attendance as 2,254,658 fans attended Big Ten teams' games during the 2003 season for a 12,526 per-game average. The Big Ten set the conference record in 2001 at 2,342,022.

The Atlantic Coast Conference claimed the attendance title in the first year of record keeping for Division I men's basketball attendance in 1976. Since then, though, the Big Ten has taken the conference attendance title every year.

The ACC finished second nationally in 2002-03 with an average of 11,542 fans per game. The Southeastern Conference was third, averaging 11,106 fans per contest. The Big 12 Conference was the only other league to top the 10,000 mark per game with 10,110, which set its all-time conference high, as did its total of 1,961,380. Taking fifth was the Mountain West Conference, which also set league highs of 9,694 fans per game and 1,279,630 overall.

Rounding out the top 10 conferences in attendance were the Big East Conference, Conference USA, the Pacific-10 Conference, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Along with the Big Ten, the SEC and Big East were the only other leagues to top the two-million mark. The SEC attracted 2,132,439 fans and the Big East drew a league-record 2,107,630. Besides the Big 12, Big East and the Mountain West, other conferences to set league records for total attendance were the ACC with 1,719,813 and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 263,070.

Top campus draws

For the seventh straight year, Kentucky led the nation in home attendance among individual teams. The Wildcats totaled 389,526 fans and averaged 22,271 spectators over 13 games in Rupp Arena.

The next three teams by average all topped Kentucky's total number of fans but played more games for a lower per-game average. Division I champion Syracuse totaled 355,663 fans during 17 games and averaged 20,921 at the Carrier Dome. Louisville totaled 342,672 people at Freedom Hall and averaged 19,037 over 18 games, while North Carolina was fourth with 336,384 fans over 18 games for an 18,688 average at the Smith Center.

For the second straight year, the two teams in the Men's Final Four championship game also finished one-two in attendance for all games combined throughout the season. Syracuse attracted the most people, as 686,997 spectators watched coach Jim Boeheim and his squad at home, on the road and at neutral sites. National runner-up Kansas totaled 649,809 fans. Next was Kentucky with 644,596. Besides Syracuse and Kansas, the other Final Four teams took sixth (Marquette) and 11th (Texas). The 1989 Syracuse squad set the all-time record at 855,053.

There were 36 Division I teams that saw an increase in attendance of more than 1,000 fans per home game from the previous year. Brigham Young attracted 5,838 more fans per game to the Marriott Center than last season to lead the way for largest increase. A number of factors led to the increase. For one, Brigham Young's attendance totals the previous year were inordinately reduced because the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City during the basketball season. The Cougars also had an improved team that earned an NCAA tournament bid in 2002-03. The school also changed the way it recorded attendance from turnstile to paid. Also, the Cougars had fewer nonconference games shown on television, which prompted fans to come to the arena to see the team play.

Pittsburgh attracted 4,129 more fans this year than it did the previous season to finish second in the amount of increase. Four other schools with a 3,000 or more increase were South Carolina (up 3,900 fans a game), Syracuse (3,898), Maryland (3,400) and Rhode Island (3,375).

Syracuse broke its own 12-year-old national attendance record this season when 33,071 fans gathered in the Carrier Dome March 9 to watch the Orangemen defeat Rutgers, 83-74. The mark broke the on-campus, regular-season single-game attendance record, which was 33,048 for a Syracuse-Georgetown game March 3, 1991.

Divisions II and III

Nebraska-Kearney jumped from 15th last season to claim its first attendance title in Division II with 3,839 spectators a game in 2003. Last year's attendance winner, South Dakota State, dropped to second at 3,491 while North Dakota took third at 3,423. Three other schools -- Kentucky Wesleyan, Northern State and Saint Cloud State -- also finished above 3,000 fans a game.

Hope reclaimed the Division III attendance title after Calvin's three-year stay at the top. Hope finished at 2,383 spectators a game. Illinois Wesleyan was second with 2,263 and Calvin dropped to third at 1,904 fans a game.

The top conference in Division II for the 23rd consecutive year was the North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 328,903 spectators and a 2,473 average. Eight other Division II conferences averaged at least 1,000 fans per home game for the season.

The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association topped all the Division III conferences with a 1,050 average per game to take its 12th consecutive attendance title. The eight teams of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin again finished second with a 984 average.