So who drew the largest first round crowd in the FCS Playoffs yesterday? It had to be Northern Iowa, right? With the UNI-Dome that seats 16,000-plus? Nope.
[divider]COMPARE: Any Two FCS Players | Any Two FCS Teams[divider]
RANKING: Every Special Teams Unit In The Playoffs
RECAP: All 8 Of The First Round Games
FULL PREDICTIONS: HERO Sports' Staff Predicts bracket[divider]
Nicholls hadn't been in the FCS Playoffs since 2005 and the fans proved the Colonels were stoked to be back in the fray, filling 92-percent of the seats at Manning Field at John Guidry Stadium yesterday. Hey NCAA playoff committee — take note: This program is serious about hosting, and with as young a lineup as this program had this year on this 8-win team? They'll be back.
Many of the other programs definitely suffered from it being a holiday weekend, but we figure the second round next week will see a massive improvement all around the FCS once the students are all back on campus. Here's a look at who had the top playoff crowds this past weekend.
So here were the attendance figures from yesterday's first round games:
| ATT. | HOST | VISITOR | CAPACITY | STADIUM |
| 9,612 | Nicholls | South Dakota | 10,500 | Manning Field |
| 6,876 | Weber St. | Western Ill. | 17,312 | Stewart |
| 5,566 | Kennesaw | Samford | 8,318 | Fifth Third Bank |
| 4,131 | Stony Brook | Lehigh | 12,300 | LaValle |
| 4,095 | No. Iowa | Monmouth | 16,324 | UNI-Dome |
| 4,068 | No. Ariz. | San Diego | 16,200 | Walkup |
| 2,934 | Elon | Furman | 13,100 | Rhodes |
| 2,385 | UNH | CCSU | 11,015 | Wildcat |
