| Tuesday, February 20, 2018 |
| Lieutenant governor unveils plan to pay for infrastructure | |
 | Mississippi's lieutenant governor wants to divert existing revenue and borrow to provide more money for roads and bridges over the next six years. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday unveiled Senate Bill 3046 , which he said will increase infrastructure spending more than $1 billion through 2023. The Senate Finance Committee approved the bill Monday, sending it to the Senate for further action. The House has proposed a number of other infrastructure ideas, and the plans would have to be reconciled before they could go to Gov. Phil Bryant for his approval. "I hope it's something we can work with," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Charles Busby, a Pascagoula Republican. He added that he hadn't yet digested the proposal. |
| Reeves unveils transportation plan that relies on bonds, existing revenue | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves unveiled Monday what he described as a comprehensive six-year plan to spend $1.17 billion in new money on infrastructure needs throughout the state. Reeves' Building Roads, Improving Development, Growing the Economy (BRIDGE Act) passed the Senate Finance Committee after about three hours of discussions late Monday and must be taken up before the full Senate by Wednesday to remain alive in the process. Many of the Democrats on the committee say the plan does not fix what many agree is a deteriorating state and local government transportation system. The bill includes a little less than $1 million in new tax revenue from a yearly assessment on electric and hybrid vehicles. The rest of the funds in the plan are diverted from sources of revenue that in the past have gone toward funding other agencies, such as education, health care and law enforcement. |
| Reeves announces '$1 billion-plus' state infrastructure plan | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday unveiled a more than $1 billion, six-year plan to divert more state money and borrowing to roads, bridges and other infrastructure. "This is a comprehensive plan that addresses the needs across our state without raising anybody's taxes," Reeves said. The general fund spending would come primarily from the state's annual "2 percent set aside" cash reserves. The plan would spend half of the reserves this year, then the full 2 percent each year for the following five years. Proponents said the state's rainy day fund is fairly flush with about $350 million, so not holding back 2 percent of revenue shouldn't hurt the state's credit rating. But some lawmakers on Monday questioned what would happen to the plan if, as in past years, revenue fell short of projections and there was no 2 percent cushion or worse, a large shortfall. |
| Reeves pushes '$1 billion' road funding plan for state, local projects | |
 | After weeks of silence on a funding bill, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves finally unveiled his plan to fix the state's crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Senate leaders, just two days before the deadline to pass the measure, proposed a five-year infrastructure-funding plan Monday that they say would designate more than $1 billion in state money using a mixture of grants, loans and existing revenue streams. "We believe it's going to require collaboration between cities, counties, state and ultimately federal government, to meet all of the needs that our state has," said Reeves. Opponents of the legislation on Monday decried the lack of time they had to read the 300-page bill ahead of Wednesday's deadline to pass the bill out of the Senate chamber. "This is no way to consider significant legislation," said Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson. "And this bill is not near as significant as its proponents make it out to be. This is not what is needed of us to address infrastructure." |
| State might buy old Dennery's restaurant, Regency Hotel | |
| In its heyday, Dennery's restaurant adjacent to the Mississippi Fairgrounds in Jackson was a hot spot for state and national leaders, dignitaries and sports stars who wanted to dine and socialize. But for the last decade, the large building that housed the eatery has sat empty. The building is still listed as owned by John Dennery, but Hinds County tax records show no property taxes have been paid on it in the last three years. Now, if the state has its way, the old Dennery's, the Regency Hotel -- once a premier location in Jackson for conferences -- and another parcel on Greymont Avenue, immediately east of the fairgrounds, will be razed to make way for additional parking for the fairgrounds. A House bill awaiting Senate action would authorize the Department of Finance and Administration to purchase the properties for the Mississippi Fair Commission at fair market prices. |
| State defender: Gang numbers double the number submitted to senators | |
| The number of gang members in the state's prison system released in a public records request by two Mississippi senators is half that published in the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security's gang threat assessment, according to the state Public Defender's Office. The discrepancy adds fuel to the debate over Senate Bill 2868, which seeks to crack down on gang activity in the state through enhanced penalties for gang-related crime and penalties for recruiting people into gangs. The Senate passed the bill 35-14 and sent it to the House for further action. An email from State Defender Andre DeGruy, who opposes the bill, dated Friday states, "The Street Gang Assessment being used to support SB 2868 claims 62% of prison population is gang affiliated and cites as its source the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The attached information report from MDOC to Senators Willie and Derrick Simmons reports half as many -- 31%." |
| FCC commissioner speaks at technology roundtable with Sen. Roger Wicker | |
 | Like many states with large rural populations, Mississippi has a shortage of broadband service in those areas which may account for fewer jobs in the telecommunications and technology fields. That's part of the mission of a roundtable discussion at Jackson State University Monday morning with Senator Roger Wicker and JSU President Dr. William Bynum. Also at the table, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, announcing what the federal government is doing to help workforce development in states like Mississippi. "It's hard enough to get broadband to a lot of rural parts of the country, rural parts of Mississippi," said Carr. "We have unnecessary red tape that raises the cost and slows it down. We need to do something about that. At the FCC where I work, we have a number of reforms that we are teeing up. We can hopefully get it across the finish line. That'll help." |
| Wicker: Gun restrictions won't stop mass shootings | |
| A U.S. senator from Mississippi says he does not believe restricting access to guns will help stop mass shooting incidents like the one in Florida. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, was asked Monday about a call to restrict gun access and availability of semi-automatic weapons like the AK-15 assault-style rifle used to kill 17 people last week at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Wicker said he believes more attention should be placed on identifying potential shooters and people who are giving warning signs that they are capable of mass violence. Wicker said talking about limiting access to guns doesn't fix the problems and he hasn't seen real proof that it might. |
| After Florida School Shooting, Russian 'Bot' Army Pounced | |
 | One hour after news broke about the school shooting in Florida last week, Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia released hundreds of posts taking up the gun control debate. The accounts addressed the news with the speed of a cable news network. Some adopted the hashtag #guncontrolnow. Others used #gunreformnow and #Parklandshooting. Earlier on Wednesday, before the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., many of those accounts had been focused on the investigation by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. "This is pretty typical for them, to hop on breaking news like this," said Jonathon Morgan, chief executive of New Knowledge, a company that tracks online disinformation campaigns. "The bots focus on anything that is divisive for Americans. Almost systematically." |
| States move to protect voting systems from Russia with little help from Congress | |
 | With the first congressional primary less than three weeks away, state election officials are ramping up efforts to protect their voting systems from cyber attacks as the nation's intelligence officials warn that Russia will once again try to meddle in U.S. elections. Some states are moving to protect election data by encrypting their systems to thwart hackers, while others are asking the Department of Homeland Security to check their systems for vulnerabilities. Their actions come in the wake of revelations by homeland security officials last year that Russian hackers tried to break into the election systems of 21 states in 2016. In Mississippi, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said his agency just finished encrypting its system, including its voter database, and recently paid $27,750 for a company to try to hack its election system. The hackers could not penetrate the system. "That doesn't mean it's not hackable," Hosemann said. "I guess everything is in some form or fashion. We continue to be vigilant about that. We have all kinds of firewalls." |
| North Korea poised to launch large-scale cyberattacks, says new report | |
 | North Korea is quietly expanding both the scope and sophistication of its cyberweaponry, laying the groundwork for more devastating attacks, according to a new report published Tuesday. Kim Jong Un's cyberwarriors have been accused of causing huge disruption in recent years, including being blamed for the massive hack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and last year's WannaCry ransomware worm, as well as umpteen attacks on South Korean servers. Now it appears that North Korea has also been using previously-unknown holes in the Internet to carry out cyberespionage -- the kinds of activities that could easily metamorphose into full-scale attacks, according to a report from FireEye, the California-based cybersecurity company. |
| Lawmaker interest in NAFTA intensifies amid Trump moves | |
 | The North American Free Trade Agreement has never been more popular on Capitol Hill. The three-nation trade agreement that has long come under fire from both parties is getting a rousing defense amid a push from the Trump administration to either renegotiate or scrap the deal altogether. Business advocates of the 24-year-old deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico say lawmakers have become significantly more interested in the pact recently amid talks to update the deal despite President Trump's threats to withdraw from the agreement. While Democrats and Republicans might have different ideas on how an updated NAFTA agreement would look, most are supportive of remaining in the deal. |
| New report still can't explain illnesses of U.S. diplomats based in Cuba | |
 | The mystery surrounding strange symptoms of illness experienced by at least two dozen U.S. diplomats stationed in Havana has still not been resolved. More than a year after the symptoms were first reported, and the U.S. government blamed them on "attacks" against the diplomats, a new report by U.S. medical experts can find no explanation for the cause. The study by a team from the University of Pennsylvania, published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded the diplomatic personnel suffered brain injuries without evidence of head trauma. The Americans reported a range of symptoms including hearing loss, headaches, dizziness, nausea and loss of concentration. Initially, the U.S. government blamed the symptoms on "sonic" or "acoustic" attacks, but has since backed off those labels. Yet the Penn group could not determine a cause, saying that any "sensory phenomena" was of "unclear origin." |
| Pine Belt college students describe benefits of dorm living | |
| Jared Woullard is all about dorm living. The first-year Jones County Junior College student has a roommate and shares an adjoining bath with an additional two other guys in Covington Hall -- one of the college's older residences. "I have a lot of relationships with the people in the dorms," Woullard said. The decision to live on or off campus is a major one for new college students and their families. The factors that go into the selection are varied and involve more than just whether a student may enjoy campus living. There are many advantages to dorm living and drawbacks as well. But college officials say the pros far outweigh the cons. "I like to compare living on campus -- especially that freshman year -- as an insurance policy to a successful start to college," said Scott Blackwell, University of Southern Mississippi executive director of housing and residence life. "Students are most likely to be successful academically if they live on campus." |
| Meridian Community College instructor, student tapped as HEADWAE recipients | |
 | A Meridian Community College university transfer sophomore and Associate Degree Nursing Program instructor received Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) awards. Anna-Beth Loper and Holly Crane were selected MCC HEADWAE student and faculty honorees, respectively, according to an MCC news release. The Mississippi Legislature annually honors talented students and faculty members of Mississippi's higher education institutions who have made outstanding contributions in promoting academic excellence. On HEADWAE Appreciation Day, honorees are invited to the Capitol where they are welcomed by the lieutenant governor and recognized in each chamber of the legislature. A luncheon follows wherein each student and faculty honoree is recognized by name in front of their guests, institution leaders, corporate sponsors and legislators. |
| Auburn University offers students, faculty training to prepare for active shooter | |
 | In the wake of last week's Parkland, Fla., school shooting, Auburn University students and faculty who hope to be as prepared as possible for a similar event have opportunities to do just that. Since 2009, Auburn University Campus Safety & Security has offered a minimum of three free Active Shooter Response Training sessions per semester for students and monthly for employees. The goal is to provide those in need of life-saving information the tools by which to act in an active shooter situation. Seven training classes are scheduled on campus from now through May. Two classes will be offered for students this week, today and Thursday at the AU Campus Safety & Security Building. Chance Corbett, interim executive director for Auburn University's Department of Campus Safety and Security, founded the program when he was a senior instructor teaching the ALERRT program (Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training). The ALERRT program trains law enforcement how to respond to an active shooter. |
| Tiger Giving Day provides more than 20 ways to invest in Auburn projects | |
| Auburn alumni, fans, friends and members of the campus community are opening their hearts and their wallets for the third annual Tiger Giving Day. People can donate to more than 20 projects on the Tiger Giving Day website, which acts as a sort of crowdfunding site for specific university projects. Although the official day of giving is Wednesday, the website went live last week, and donors are already giving money to the projects of their choice. "We've heard from longtime donors who use Tiger Giving Day as an opportunity to teach their children and grandchildren about philanthropy," said Jane DiFolco Parker, vice president for development and president of the Auburn University Foundation. "And the many interesting, specialized projects also have inspired new donors and even those without a direct connection to the university." |
| Missouri frets over students' opting for U. of Arkansas | |
| With a dramatic decline in enrollment at Missouri's largest public university, talk in the state has turned to the role of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in attracting students. "In Kansas City, they are taking a lot of our students," Missouri state Rep. Greg Razer, a Democrat who represents the Missouri city, said in a Feb. 12 budget hearing. Missouri lawmakers are hashing out a budget after a proposal unveiled last month by Gov. Eric Greitens called for cuts of $68.2 million in funding for universities and two-year schools, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Missourinet, a radio and online news outlet, reported Razer's comments last week. Suzanne McCray, UA's vice provost for enrollment, in an email said the university hired a recruiter in 2014 to go after students from Missouri. "We are close to Missouri and offer really excellent educational opportunities," McCray said. |
| Grad assistants union at U. of Florida ends collective bargaining | |
 | Most of the 4,100 or so graduate assistants who work at the University of Florida -- graduate students paid by the university to help full-time professors with teaching and research -- rely on a single bargaining organization to negotiate their workforce benefits, from health care to pay raises to discrimination protections. Graduate Assistants United, the labor union that handles these negotiations, does so with a team of graduate student volunteers and no lawyers -- perhaps to their detriment. Just last Thursday, they voted on their new collective bargaining agreement with the university. It passed with a resounding 176-0 vote to ratify, but the cleanliness of the vote obscures the hard compromise forged by the GAU team. The new agreement, worked out over the course of a full calendar year, brings with it a suite of positive changes to the old graduate assistant contract, most notable among them two fee-relief payments and two raises. |
| Texas A&M honors outgoing agriculture dean Mark Hussey | |
 | Outgoing Texas A&M Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences Mark Hussey will soon return to teaching after nearly a decade of leadership, during which he has been praised for shepherding one of the university's founding disciplines to new heights. More than 100 A&M community members, including faculty and administrators, gathered at the AgriLife Center Monday evening to honor Hussey as he prepares to transition out of his leadership role and return to the faculty. Speakers at the reception included A&M System Board of Regents Chairman Charles Schwartz, Chancellor John Sharp and President Michael K. Young. State Rep. John Raney presented Hussey with a proclamation honoring his years of service. Hussey, who remained humble throughout the event, said although he may be stepping away from his leadership role, he looks forward to continuing on as a member of the faculty. |
| Air Force officer discusses report on Russian meddling at U. of Missouri | |
 | During the Soviet era, Air Force Lt. Col. Jarred Prier wrote in his journal article "Commanding the Trend: Social Media as Information Warfare," Russia used its propaganda tools to plant believable lies in foreign media, intending to sow discord among allies of the United States or weaken it in the eyes of other nations. Now, as the indictments handed down Friday by Special Counsel Robert Mueller show, Russian disinformation campaigns manipulate opinion here. They have been so successful, Prier said in an interview, that his findings that the Russian cyber warfare team targeted the 2015 turmoil at the University of Missouri will not be believed by a large segment of the public. "There are people who at face value don't believe what you said because you said Russia did something," Prier said. "On the opposite side, political left is so willing to believe anything that has to do with Russia right now." |
| Should Names of Campus Buildings Reflect Student Demographics? | |
 | Just over half the students at the University of North Texas are not white. But none of the 87 buildings on campus are named for a minority individual. As a result, some students have started a petition seeking to have a residence hall under construction named either for a minority individual or a woman (two campus buildings are named for women.) The campus is now debating not the petition, but an email sent by a woman who serves as one of the university's spokeswomen in which she sharply questioned the idea. Nancy Kolsti, the spokeswoman, sent the email to a student who was among those who organized the petition. That student then posted a screenshot of the email to Twitter. "UNT buildings should be named after individuals who are deserving of such an honor -- not individuals who are chosen to fill a quota system that you think the university should have because you feel that it is important 'to promote diversity in every aspect of the student experience,'" the email said. The email also said that the student petition effort was "a form of reverse racism." |
| Rhodes Scholarships Go Global as Students From Anywhere Now Qualify | |
| For the first time in the 116-year history of the Rhodes scholarship, students from anywhere in the world -- even Britain -- can now qualify for the award to study at Oxford University, the Rhodes Trust announced on Monday. The news culminates a multiyear push by the trust to raise money from philanthropists, expand the number of scholarships and broaden the program -- which until recently was limited to a fairly short list of countries -- into something global. "If we believe in our mission to find incredibly talented people who will change the world for the better, they're just as likely to be found in Indonesia as in Ohio," said Charles R. Conn, the chief executive of the trust and warden of Rhodes House at Oxford. "We don't feel constrained by who Rhodes was as a person, but perhaps each Rhodes scholar needs to reflect on that when they accept the money." |
| Sewanee debates honor for Charlie Rose, sin, forgiveness and harassment | |
| In November, The Washington Post reported that numerous women alleged that journalist Charlie Rose harassed them. The reports included groping, unwanted kissing and more. Rose acknowledged "inappropriate behavior" and said that he "deeply" apologized. In the weeks following the Post article, Rose's career essentially fell apart, as he lost jobs and speaking engagements. Several universities -- including Arizona State University, Fordham University and the University of Kansas -- that had honored Rose in various ways revoked those honors. One university -- the University of the South, known as Sewanee -- has in the last week been engulfed in a debate over its 2016 honorary degree to Rose. At Sewanee, the university's board rejected a call by students to revoke the degree, a decision that upset some students. The controversy escalated as students questioned a letter sent by Sewanee's leaders to the students who led the effort to rescind the degree. The letter offered a theological explanation for the decision, but students accused the leaders of minimizing the issue of sexual harassment. |
SPORTS
| State needs signature win tonight at Texas A&M | |
| Mississippi State's NCAA Tournament chances took quite a blow after a loss at Vanderbilt last week. Tonight, the Bulldogs have an opportunity to add a signature win to their resume as they visit Texas A&M for a 6 p.m. game on the SEC Network. The Aggies hold an RPI of 21 according to ESPN. But earning a win at Reed Arena won't be easy. In fact, MSU is 0-3 in College Station and the Aggies boast one of the league's most formidable frontcourts. Junior center Tyler Davis (6-10, 264) leads Texas A&M with 14 points and adds 8.7 rebounds. Sophomore forward Robert Williams (6-10, 241) is the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and is logging 11.2 points, 9.7 boards and 2.5 shots blocked shots per game. "They have an excellent front line that's long, athletic, big and powerful around the basket," said MSU coach Ben Howland. |
| Rebounding could decide Mississippi State game at Texas A&M | |
 | On the heels of a dominating win over Ole Miss, Mississippi State is inching back closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Bulldogs (19-8, 7-7) can likely thrust themselves fully into the Big Dance conversation with a victory on the road in a 6 p.m. game at Texas A&M (17-10, 6-8) Tuesday night. For State to do that though, head coach Ben Howland believes it could all come down to how well the Bulldogs crash the boards. "It's about blocking out," Howland said. " (Texas A&M's Tyler) Davis has 56 offensive rebounds in 14 (Southeastern Conference) games. (Robert) Williams has 39. "Between the two, they average seven offensive rebounds a (conference) game. They have 90 between the two of them. They have over half of (Texas A&M's) offensive rebounds. That's a real issue." |
| Texas A&M's Robert Williams doesn't want repeat of last year | |
| Texas A&M sophomore forward Robert Williams sees a little bit of last season creeping into this year's team, and he's trying to do whatever he can to hinder that view. "People are losing personalities. People aren't having fun with it anymore, and we just don't want to see that, so that is why we try to keep the spirits up," Williams said. The Aggies, who failed to make the postseason last year, have gone from a No. 5-ranked team and one of the favorites in the Southeastern Conference to having to win three of four games to finish .500 in the SEC. At 17-10 overall and 6-8 in league, getting into the NCAA Tournament, a given going into Christmas, is by no means a sure thing. The Aggies host Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7) on Tuesday and with the way the Aggies have played on the road in the SEC -- one win in seven -- holding serve at home appears to be a must. |
| Lamar Peters has developed into more of a floor general for Bulldogs | |
| There is one number that Mississippi State men's basketball head coach Ben Howland likes associated with sophomore guard Lamar Peters. In the last three games, Peters has 22 assists. That means he is getting fellow Bulldogs involved in the offense. "I'm just concentrating on setting up the offense and getting other guys open like Tyson (Carter) and Xa (Xavian Stapleton)," Peters said. "Those guys have been finding their groove lately and have been knocking down shots, so I want to keep creating for them and get some offense going." Before arriving at MSU, Peters was a scorer at Landry-Walker High School in New Orleans. As a senior, he averaged 19.7 points per game. Peters even averaged in double figures as a freshman with the Bulldogs at 10.7 points per outing. |
| SEC ready for record NCAA haul | |
| Mississippi State's Ben Howland was hardly shocked when South Carolina upset No. 12 Auburn on Saturday, and doesn't believe his Southeastern Conference coaching peers were either. "Auburn goes into South Carolina the other day and South Carolina dominates the game, which doesn't surprise any of us coaches," Howland said Monday. "It's just so difficult night-in and night-out." He's not knocking the league-leading Tigers but praising the depth in the SEC, which doesn't have a team ranked in the top 10 but may have 10 good ones. The SEC appears poised to land more than six teams in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, with some coaches and bracket observers predicting eight or even nine. |
| Mississippi State's Tre Brown adapts to life in the SEC | |
| Life at a Southeastern Conference school was going to take some getting used to. Mississippi State's spacious campus and 61,337-seat Davis Wade Stadium were foreign to Tre Brown from the much smaller surroundings he was used to. Brown grew up in nearby Ackerman and played on the final Indians football team before the school was consolidated into Choctaw County High and would later spend two seasons at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He wasn't exactly sure what he was getting himself into when he transferred to MSU in January 2016. "I really didn't know what to expect when I first got here," Brown said. "I was used to playing at a small (Class) 2A school and a junior college that was kind of small. Seeing the big environment and big crowds were new to me." |
| What will Ole Miss' football assistants be paid in 2018? | |
| The newest additions to Ole Miss' coaching staff are on multi-year contracts while one of the Rebels' assistants will receive a significant raise in 2018. Charles Clark, who will help coach the Rebels' secondary, and linebackers coach Jon Sumrall are on two-year deals that will pay each of them $350,000 next season, according to contract figures obtained by the EAGLE through an open-records request. Clark, the former Ole Miss defensive back who spent last season coaching Oregon's cornerbacks, was hired as the Rebels' 10th on-field assistant in January while Sumrall came from Troy to replace Bradley Dale Peveto, who took a job on Jimbo Fisher's staff at Texas A&M last month. Head coach Matt Luke, who had the interim tag removed in November, is entering the first year of a four-year contract that will pay him $3 million next season and increase by $100,000 each year after that for the duration of his contract. |
| Deep pockets: Tiger Athletic Foundation gives $23M to LSU athletics in 2016 | |
 | The Tiger Athletic Foundation in 2016 contributed more than $10 million to LSU athletics for operating expenses, but that's not all. TAF, a nonprofit corporation supporting LSU athletics, gave the university another $12.8 million in donations for the golf program's practice facility locker room, the gymnastics facility, the Bob Pettit statue and tennis facility. TAF's figures were available Monday in a report of the LSU athletic department produced by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. The report was carried out by an independent certified public accounting firm last spring and is performed each year to evaluate the athletic department. There were no findings from the report. TAF gave $10,596,644 to LSU athletics for operating expenses in the calendar year 2016, up about $2 million from 2015, according to last year's numbers. The club gave $12 million for operating expenses in 2014. In 2016 TAF contributions, the football program received $2.4 million, far out-distancing the $239,961 given to men's basketball. Women's basketball received $60,561. All other sports, including baseball, took in $1.4 million. |
| Memphis, UT Vols football attendance drops per game; Vandy up slightly | |
| Memphis and Tennessee both experienced a decline in their per-game home attendance numbers last season, according to figures released by the NCAA. Memphis had a 2.8 percent decrease in per-game attendance from 2016 to 2017 (37,346 in 2016 for seven home games to 36,302 in eight home games). That's a slight dip compared to Tennessee, whose average attendance dropped by more than 5,000 last season. The Vols had a per-game attendance of 95,779 last season, a 5.14 percent decrease from 2016, when they averaged 100,968 per game. Tennessee still ranked No. 7 among FBS schools in total attendance. The declines were part of a bigger trend with FBS schools having their largest drop in per-game attendance in 34 years. The average per-game attendance in 2017 was 42,203, which was 1,409 fewer than the 2016 season. |
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