One of John Calipari’s favorite phrases is saying UK is everybody’s “Super Bowl.”

On the eve of UK’s first conference road game — and only its second of the year — I wanted to look at that statement through the prism of attendance. How many more fans did UK draw compared to an average SEC game?

To find out, I looked at the eight opponents UK played on the road last year. I found the average attendance those teams drew in non-UK home games and then compared it to the home games against UK. The results:

UK did indeed produce a higher turnout than the average, as expected. It was the highest draw in two games, the second-highest draw in two more games and one of multiple sellouts in two others.

I did a little more research and found that, combining the attendances from these eight games, UK played in front of a 94.5 percent capacity crowd in total. The chart:

Now, looking at attendance figures aren’t the only criteria for judging just how much of a “Super Bowl” UK games are. It’s also evidenced by how teams consistently do color-outs (Red Outs, Orange Outs, Black Outs) and the increased energy in the crowd. Additionally, rival teams can often outdraw UK, and depending on how teams calculate attendance and how far above the listed capacity a crowd can be.

But going by the fans in the seats, it’s clear UK is a big deal on the road.

No matter where they are.

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