Football Attendance 16,13,16,15,12,18 -> That's not a strong positive trend, that's one decent-ish year. Further if you look at that year the Season opener against Stony Brook drew 21K, the other games were meh....
Yes, if you go outside of those three years to add more data, you will find it is cyclical. Which is my point. White rode a cycle where the program was up.
You want to cherry-pick games to single out? How about the 2014 season. 20k turned out to watch Duquesne play the Bulls in a game that didn't even count for bowl eligibility because Duquesne doesn't offer enough scholarships. Or the second FCS team the Bulls played--Norfolk State--that brought in 21k fans. You cite these are big wins for the program, right?
White must be a genius, you say.
Well, I like to look at all the missed opportunities, which I saw many come from White. How about that same season. Hosting the #8 team in the country at home. A Baylor that is in it's prime with all the country watching them. A team that didn't stumble and won the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season. How does UB fumble the game so much that there is only 24k--just slightly more than Norfolk State in attendance?
Do you know how rare it is to get a home FBS football game against a top-10 team?
That game was not scheduled by White, but it was squandered by White. Which was what I recognized happened a lot with him. He was great at promoting himself, not the school.
In case you forget the time Buffalo hosted #8 Baylor, just three years ago, here is a look at the crowd of 24k.
You can compare that to the Duquesne (partial scholarship program) game with 20k fans just two weeks earlier:
The 2014 season saw an uptick in attendance because the Bulls were coming off their second ever bowl game. People got into the team again. It wasn't like you can credit White with that bowl run.
