Mississippi State was venturing into the Northeast for the first time in 30 years, while UMass was roughly 100 miles removed from its Amherst campus when the two teams met for Saturday’s non-conference matchup in Foxborough, Mass.

So nobody should really be all that surprised that the game drew only a sparse announced crowd of 13,074 who bothered to show up at Gillette Stadium, home of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Sep 24, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; A general view of Gillette Stadium prior to the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Massachusetts Minutemen. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The game only became a reality last year when Tulane backed out of a game that had been scheduled to have been played at MSU’s Davis Wade Stadium, leaving the Bulldogs scrambling to find an opponent for this week.

UMass agreed to a three-game series between the schools, with the Minutemen scheduled make return trips to Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville on Sept. 23, 2017 and Oct. 17, 2020.

The NFL, however, remains the undisputed King of the Hill in the Northeast and it was readily apparent Saturday.

Attendance Game Date Venue
102,455 Florida at Tennessee Sept. 24 Neyland Stadium
101,821 Kent State at Alabama Sept. 24 Bryant-Denny Stadium
87,451 LSU at Auburn Sept. 24 Jordan-Hare Stadium
67,751 Arkansas vs. Texas A&M Sept. 24 AT&T Stadium
65,843 Georgia at Ole Miss Sept. 24 Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
53,472 Delaware State at Missouri Sept. 24 Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field
51,702 South Carolina at Kentucky Sept. 24 Commonwealth Stadium
23,674 Vanderbilt at Western Kentucky Sept. 24 L.T. Smith Stadium
13,074 Mississippi State vs. Massachusetts Sept. 24 Gillette Stadium