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Why is this news?: Ohio State tops 2014 college football attendance rankings

Everything you need to know about Ohio State, in one helpful place.

By Meredith Hein
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

"Ohio State not only finished as the No. 1 team on the field in the FBS, it also led the country in total and average attendance for the 2014 season."

–Chip Patterson, CBS Sports

With an average attendance of 106,296, Ohio State beat out Texas A&M by more than 1,000 fans per game to top NCAA attendance rankings for 2014. With the new rankings, Ohio State broke out of the No. 2 spot to beat out perennial No. 1 Michigan.

Football attendance nationally was down overall by about 1,000 fans per home game compared to 2013, as was bowl game attendance and neutral site game attendance.

Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska represented the Big Ten well with the number three, five and 10 spots, respectively. The SEC led nationally in total conference attendance with more than 7.7 million fans heading to games in 2014, beating out the Big Ten in the No. 2 spot. The Big 12, PAC 12 and ACC rounded out the top five and the power five conferences.

Ohio State’s official attendance trumped its official capacity by more than 1,300 people. Ohio State added 2,500 seats to the Horseshoe prior to the 2014 season and had three games break attendance records during the season, with five 2014 games on top of Ohio Stadium’s record games. The team also set a national spring game record with more than 99,000 fans in attendance this year.

"I never considered myself a top guy. I always wanted to be the guy that handled the process the right way."

--D’Angelo Russell, interviewed by DraftExpress

D’Angelo Russell says he is the top pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. More likely, he is sitting around the No. 3 spot, but that is still a far cry from where he was sitting at the start of last season. Russell says that he had initially expected he would be a four-year player at Ohio State, but credits a great group of seniors and a winning culture at Ohio State with getting him in the position he is today as one of the premiere players in this year’s draft class.

Russell’s outstanding passing and ability to see the court turned a lot of heads last season, but he says he will continue to train and condition up until the draft June 25. As for areas of improvement, he says he will continue to work on his shooting and defense, but that what he lacks in athleticism he will try to make up for by being the smartest guy on the court.

There may be 193 days until Ohio State faces off against Michigan in Ann Arbor, but that isn’t stopping the fresh tide of jabs against "that team up north."

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott tweeted out his shot at Michigan Saturday, showing exactly how he feels about Michigan’s place in the world. A brief Twitter battle ensued, in which Michigan fans posted "potty mouth" comments about Elliott, who responded with the ultimate trump card—he has two pairs of gold pants and a national championship ring

All of this drama ensued after a young boy’s father posted a picture of his son’s kindergarten geography homework on Twitter, in which the boy had crossed out Michigan, declaring there to only be 49 states. Well played, young man, well played...

Sterling Gibbs, former Seton Hall guard and second team all-Big East selection, chose to transfer to UConn over Ohio State and Pittsburgh. He will be eligible to play next year following his graduation from Seton Hall. Gibbs began his college career at Texas before transferring to Seton Hall following his freshman season.

After losing out on Gibbs, Ohio State will be without a senior on scholarship for the first time since 2009. They will have two scholarships remaining for its 2015 recruiting class. Even without Gibbs, the Buckeyes still have the top recruiting class in the Big Ten, according to 247sports.com.

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