Next week, we'll take a deeper dive into college football attendance and some of the challenges surfacing both nationally and in the Big Ten. Today, it's time to check out the official NCAA attendance figures for the 2013 season.

The Big Ten reached several attendance milestones in 2013:

• The league drew 6,061,514 fans, breaking its previous conference record of 6,008,124, set during the 2011 season

• The 48 Big Ten games drew 3,414,448 fans, breaking the mark of 3,408,963 set in 2011

• The Big Ten championship game between Michigan State and Ohio State drew 66,002, the largest crowd in the game's three-year existence

The Big Ten ranked second behind the SEC in average attendance by conference (70,451), an increase of 391 from 2012. The SEC averaged 75,674 fans last season, while there is a significant drop-off after the Big Ten. The top two spots in average attendance are occupied by Big Ten schools (Michigan, Ohio State), and two others place in the top 10 (Penn State and Nebraska). Wisconsin, Michigan State and Iowa all finished in the top 25 nationally.

Although the Big Ten had an overall average increase, eight of the 12 programs saw decreases in average last season.

Here's a look at the school-by-school attendance averages (and how they changed from 2012) ...

Illinois: 43,787 (decrease of 1,777)

Indiana: 44,353 (decrease of 449)

Iowa: 67,125 (decrease of 3,349)

Michigan: 111,592 (decrease of 660)

Michigan State: 72,328 (decrease of 3,054)

Minnesota: 47,797 (increase of 1,160)

Nebraska: 90,933 (increase of 5,416)

Northwestern: 39,307 (increase of 3,610)

Ohio State: 104,933 (decrease of 397)

Penn State: 96,857 (decrease of 143)

Purdue: 48,953 (increase of 5,365)

Wisconsin: 78,911 (decrease of 1,095)

Number of 2013 home games: 8 (Indiana, Nebraska); 7 (Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin)

Notes/observations

• There are some important factors to remember when reviewing these numbers, such as stadium renovations -- Nebraska completed one before last season -- number of home games and the quality of the opponents on each team's home schedule. It's interesting to see teams that saw improvement on the field, such as Iowa and Michigan State, had declines in attendance, while Purdue had an increase despite a 1-11 campaign. Iowa didn't have a sellout for the first time in coach Kirk Ferentz's tenure.

• The buzz about new Purdue coach Darrell Hazell and an attractive home schedule (Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State) played a role in the rise, although Purdue's crowds became smaller as the season progressed. Purdue had seen attendance decline for five consecutive seasons before 2013.

• Nebraska had the biggest attendance increase among Big Ten teams from the previous season and ranked No. 13 nationally. Purdue was 14th and Northwestern was 19th.

• Incoming Big Ten member Maryland had an average increase of 5,256 fans in 2013, putting its attendance average at 41,278. Incoming league member Rutgers averaged 46,549 fans in 2013, a decrease of 2,639 from the previous year.

• Minnesota returned to the national rankings in November and ended a four-year stretch of declining attendance with an increase in 2013.

• Attendance continues to be a concern for Illinois, which has seen its average drop every year since 2008. Although the Illini doubled their wins total from two to four in 2013, their attendance is hovering around the 2006 total (43,445), when the team went 2-10.

• In terms of total attendance (home, road and neutral-site games), Ohio State led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally (1,191,436 in 14 games), followed by Michigan (1,174,360 in 13 games). Nebraska ranked fifth nationally (1,096,097 in 13 games), while Penn State (1,011,515 in 12 games), Michigan State (994,069 in 14 games) and Wisconsin (951,252 in 13 games) all ranked in the top 20.

• It will be interesting to see how the excitement around new Penn State coach James Franklin, and the recently implemented variable pricing model for single-game tickets, impacts attendance in 2014. Penn State's home schedule isn't overly attractive, although both Ohio State and Michigan State visit Beaver Stadium.

We'll have more on what the teams and the league are doing to improve attendance and the game-day experience next week.