I was at the game tonight and have made all conference games but the one on Saturday. Tornado watches and warnings kept me away. I agree that the team deserves better support. However, unless you live a short distance from Starkville, it is hard to leave work at 5:00 and get to a game with a 6:00 tipoff. I live about 45 minutes away and barely made it for tipoff. The member schools in the conference decided when the SEC network was formed and all the tv contracts were signed that it is better to have television viewers than fans at the games.
The MSU marketing department should focus most of its efforts on marketing the basketball games to people that live an hour or less from Starkville. Howland, Cohen, Kennum and anyone else that can or will should be hitting the civic club circuit and every other venue possible in that area, promoting the program if they desire to have fans in the stands. There are some promotions where the university tries to attract students to the games, but new and different promotions need to be added for non-student fans. I doubt that anyone will agree with this, but I also think the size of the student section needs to be reduced. That age group is wired in like never before, but tuned out of actually attending events or going anywhere else. They shop online, watch church online, take college classes online, order groceries online, order restaurant food online, and watch sports online. The mindset of the college kids isn't going to change anytime soon, so the university needs to recognize that and redouble the efforts to get non-students to the games.