As of Wednesday morning, over 1,500 tickets to Michigan's season opener against Appalachian State were still available. This isn't a huge number - especially in a stadium that seats 115,000 - but it speaks to deeper issues with the football program and AD Dave Brandon's athletic department. For Michigan, it's extremely rare to have any tickets available just days before a game, and even though Michigan's home openers aren't typically played against great teams, they've traditionally been sold out well in advance.
Michigan Stadium has been the highest-attended stadium in college football for 15 consecutive seasons, but there are fears that the streak could be in jeopardy. Brady Hoke's Wolverines have struggled since his first 11-2 season, and there has been widespread criticism of AD Dave Brandon's policies regarding ticket sales.
There are also concerns that the matchup against Appalachian State - a team responsible for the most embarrassing loss in the history of Michigan's football program - could be a major deterrent for fans. In the best-case scenario, Michigan does their job and wins comfortably, but the worst-case scenario...well, we're pretty sure most UM fans remember how that played out last time around, and we aren't surprised that some fans would want to sit this one out.
MORE Michigan Football News:
NCAA denies Ty Isaac's hardship waiver, Michigan appealing (Michigan Daily)
Michigan's Kyle Kalis, Joe Burzynski both working with first-team offense (The Detroit News)
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