Music City Bowl attendance was fourth largest among games outside College Football Playoff

Attendance for the TransPerfect Music City Bowl was the fourth-largest among all college football bowl games this season excluding the College Football Playoff.

Attendance was 50,088 at Nissan Stadium for the Dec. 30 game in which Maryland defeated Auburn 31-13. That was up from the 2022 Music City Bowl, which had an attendance of 42,312 for Iowa's 21-0 win over Kentucky.

Average attendance for the last five Music City Bowls is 53,552.

The bowl with the highest attendance this season was the Peach Bowl at 71,230. Ole Miss defeated Penn State 38-25 in that game played Dec. 30 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The second highest was the Cotton Bowl at 70,114 where Missouri defeated Ohio State 14-3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the third highest was the Orange Bowl at 63,324 won by Georgia over Florida State 63-3 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.

The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, won 35-0 by Tennessee over Iowa, had the eighth-largest attendance at 47,769.

Dylan Windler signs with the Lakers

Former Belmont guard Dylan Windler signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Windler was selected in the the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has played in a total of 87 NBA games with the Cavs and New York Knicks.

Windler signed with the Lakers the day after he scored 23 points and grabbed a G League record 33 rebounds for the Westchester Knicks.

Tennessee Tech football adds five transfers including former Missouri QB

New Tennessee Tech football coach Bobby Wilder added five transfers to the Golden Eagles’ roster including former Missouri quarterback Dylan Laible.

Laible, from Little Elm, Texas, played at Hutchinson Junior College before transferring to Missouri. He completed 161 of 281 passes for 2,182 yards and 22 touchdowns and helped Hutchison reach the 2022 NJCAA national championship.

The other transfer are receivers Jordan Yates (Georgia Tech) and Tramel Jones (Wingate) along with defensive backs James Edwards (Appalachian State) and Ty Moss (East Carolina). Yates also saw action at quarterback.

Belmont's Malik Dia is MVC newcomer of the week again

Former Ensworth basketball standout Malik Dia, now a sophomore at Belmont, was the Missouri Valley Conference newcomer of the week.

Dia, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 61% field goal shooting last week in games against Drake and Southern Illinois. It's the second time Dia has earned the honor.

Dia, a Murfreesboro native, scored a career-high 32 points on 10-for-16 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists against Drake and had a game-high 25 points and seven rebounds at Southern Illinois. Dia ranks fourth in the MVC in scoring, having come off the bench in nine of 15 games. He has 13 double figure scoring games, including six games of 20 or more points.

Big South/OVC announces second season schedule

The Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association announced its league schedule for the 2024 season. The second-year of the joint Association features nine league teams including Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech each playing an eight-game conference schedule.

The league schedule starts Sept. 7 and conference games will primarily take place between Week 5 and Week 13, with one game apiece during Week 2 and Week 4.

On Sept. 28 co-champion Gardner-Webb will host Tennessee Tech in a matchup of the Association’s newest coaches − Tech's Bobby Wilder and Gardner-Webb's Cris Reisert.

TSU will play at Tech on Sept. 21. TSU's other Association games will be at home against Charleston on Sept. 28, at Lindenwood on Oct. 5, at home against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 12, at home against UT Martin on Nov. 2, at Western Illinois on Nov. 9, at Gardner-Webb on Nov. 16 and at home against Southeast Missouri on Nov. 23.

For the complete Association schedule visit bigsouthovcfootball.com.

OVC basketball tournament tickets on sale

Tickets for the 2024 OVC basketball tournament at Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, scheduled for March 6-9 are now on sale.

Tickets can be purchased for $60 through each OVC schools' ticket office and at fordcenter.com/events-tickets through Feb. 18.The price of an all-session ticket increases to $80 beginning on Monday, Feb. 19.

Single-session tickets ($15-$30) go on sale Feb. 9 through Ticketmaster.

Busse named Austin Peay beach volleyball interim coach

Ginny Busse, a who played volleyball at Austin Peay (2017-18), was named the Governors' interim beach volleyball coach.

Busse began her career as an assistant volleyball coach at Ensworth where she helped lead the Tigers to the TSSAA Division II State Championship in 2021.

"I'm excited to bring Ginny back to Austin Peay and lead our beach volleyball program," Austin Peay athletic director Gerald Garrison said in a school release. "Her outstanding collegiate career speaks to her hard work and determination to reach the highest levels of achievement."

Austin Peay First Pitch banquet is Feb. 3.

Austin Peay baseball's second Governors’ First Pitch banquet is set for Feb. 3, at the Dunn Center.

Coach Roland Fanning will present a preseason look at the Govs' 2024 season. Other featured speakers will be announced in the upcoming days.

Fans will have the opportunity to meet with Austin Peay's players and coaches at the event which begins at 7:30 p.m. Dinner will be served and there will be a silent auction.

Individual tickets are $40 and full tables are $400. Registration at First Pitch.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Music City Bowl attendance No. 4 for non-College Football Playoff games