TCU fans pack their bags before their game against #3 Kansas on February 20, 2023. (Nick Girimonte / Staff Writer)
TCU men’s basketball has become a hot ticket in Fort Worth.
On Monday, the line to enter the Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena began forming more than two hours before the doors opened and three hours before the tip.
As the doors opened, the line snaked from the front of the arena to the end of the Sammy Baugh Indoor Practice Facility behind the arena.
The game between the horned frogs n. 24 and wildcats no. The crowd total reached 7,831, the third highest ever in a TCU basketball game.
TCU student participation in sporting events has increased over the past year. Women’s soccer set a fan record of 3,648 at the game against Duke on September 4, 2022. Attendance at football games peaked with a new student record of 6,512 at the October 22, 2022 game against Kansas State.
โTCU Athletics is on a warpath and isn’t stopping any time soon,โ said Austin Flanagan, a 2022 TCU graduate and host of FrogPodPodcast, a podcast focused on TCU sports.
Monday’s game was expected to break attendance records. This was advertised on social media posts and on campus posters. There was even a complimentary t-shirt.
๐๐ด๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ท๐ธ๐๐ด #GoFrogs pic.twitter.com/bdMneATVnN
โ TCU Basketball (@TCUBasketball) February 20, 2023
Monday’s student number may be underestimated. The crowd grew restless as they waited. Some students managed to enter before the doors officially opened.
“Someone accidentally opened the door about a half hour early, and it was a mad scramble to get a seat,” said Davis Putnam, a sophomore who attended the game.
Students who entered early did not swipe their student IDs, which is how the official student attendance count is counted.
The crowd was heard throughout the night. Bill Self, the head coach of the University of Kansas men’s basketball team since 2003, said it was the best TCU atmosphere he had seen during his tenure at Kansas.
Bill Self said the atmosphere at Schollmaier Arena was the best since he’s been at Kansas
โ S.Johnson (@StevenMJohnson_) February 21, 2023
TCU fell to Kansas 63-58, but it wasn’t just the game that got the fans cheering.
Red Panda, a Chinese-American acrobat who rode a six-foot-tall unicycle and balanced ceramic bowls on her head during intermission, kept the fans entertained.
RED PANDA pic.twitter.com/7pYAYE4FoH
โ Jamie Plunkett (@FrogPreacher) February 21, 2023
Freshly graduated TCU quarterback Max Duggan joined the crowd in the second half, coming in just after receiving the 2022 Davey O’Brien award, which recognizes the best NCAA quarterback.
Max Duggan showed up fashionably late and wowed the crowd
: ESPN pic.twitter.com/kKQ85HK4Cb
โ Sports Center (@Centrosportivo) February 21, 2023
TCU men’s basketball’s next home game is set for March 1 against No. 8 Texas.
