Duke basketball attendance effect is absolutely staggering

The Duke basketball effect is in full effect.

Hours before the Duke basketball team’s Tuesday night away game against the Pitt Panthers to cap off the road portion of Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career, the program revealed on Twitter the magnitude of the “Coach K Retirement Tour” effect this season.

For starters, attendance in opponents’ gyms has jumped by an average of 54 percent when the Duke Blue Devils (25-4, 15-3 ACC) have been the visitors.

With that in mind, and given that every single game in Cameron Indoor Stadium is a sellout, it’s no surprise that 60 percent of the 25 sellout games in the ACC this go-round have included Duke on the ticket. In all, 83 percent of the Blue Devils’ contests in conference play have taken place in front of sellout crowds; the next highest mark is the 39 percent of the Virginia Tech Hokies.

Of note, Duke’s win on Saturday at the Syracuse Orange marked the largest on-campus crowd across all of college basketball this season (31,308).

Everywhere Duke basketball goes, people want to know

Duke ranks No. 1 in the nation in average attendance across road games this season. The Blue Devils have seen an average of 15,795 fans in the stands when on an opponents’ court; No. 2 on that list is the Michigan Wolverines, drawing 14,008 patrons per road outing.

ALSO READ: Freshmen should not do what AJ Griffin is doing this season

As for attendance in bouts on neutral floors, Duke sits above every team in the country — surprise, surprise — with 19,261 folks in the seats per game. Next on that list is the Indiana Hoosiers’ 17,905.

Finally, it’s safe to say the No. 4 Blue Devils have responded admirably to the big crowds and heightened pressure, with this being Coach K’s swan song. They boast an 8-2 record on the road (8-1 ACC) and 2-0 on neutral floors.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more Duke basketball news and views.