While waiting for tonight's tilt (and hopfully a win for Bo's Badgers), some curious NCAA basketball tidbits: ncaa.com - Top 5 most passionate college basketball fan bases: 1. Duke 2. Arizona 3. Kentucky 4. Syracuse 5. Dayton http://www.ncaa.com/video/basketbal...-five-most-passionate-college-basketball-fans And on the flip side: The Most Hateable Fan Bases in College Basketball BY BROBIBLE STAFF / 03.20.14 TWEET |LIKE608 1. Maryland 2. Duke 3. North Carolina 4. W. Virginia 5. UConn (woman's) 5. UConn Women’s Basketball Ah, a curveball on the list! Had to put UConn women’s basketball on here—no fanbase has been more spoiled over the last 10 years, and no group has more casual fans who come out of the woodwork when it becomes clear that the Huskies are about to rip off one of those 39-0 seasons. Does this apply to every UConn women’s fan? Of course not. But for those of you who like to latch onto a winning team, and then don’t even pretend to care about women’s basketball during UConn’s off-years? You suck. 4. West Virginia Drunk fans can be very funny. Who hasn’t enjoyed the antics of a beer-bellied man falling face-first into a stadium trough, or a shitfaced college kid heckling obscure bench players during a blowout? West Virginia, though, takes this to another level. Perhaps due to that rumor that Morgantown is responsible for 1% of all alcohol sales in the country (and if you’ve been anywhere near the city, trust me, you’ve heard it), Mountaineer fans get aggressively drunk and terrorize the living piss out of anyone who makes the trip to WVU Coliseum. It’s not uncommon for the PA announcer to be forced to announce over the intercom that foreign objects should be refrained from being thrown on the court. Fights in the stands and outside the stadium are routine. (All that said, Bob Huggins’ sweatsuit rules, and, if I may switch sports, the football team’s “Country Road” tradition really ef'fin' rules.) 3. University of North Carolina Many, many people who didn’t go to UNC like UNC. This stems from national distaste for Duke, Carolina’s status as Michael Jordan’s school, and the fact that they’ve put together some really fun teams to watch in recent years. Roy Williams, I think, will knowingly lose games before dropping his fast-paced run-and-gun offense, and coach sabotage is always entertaining. Here’s why their fanbase is hatable: A large portion of people’s hate for Duke comes from its elitism. This is fair. The dirty secret, though, is that UNC is at least as superficially elitist as Duke. Watch a game sometime at the Dean Dome. The lower levels are almost completely occupied with well-heeled donors, older types who sit during the entire game while always wearing light blue argyle sweaters. As Sam Cassell famously said, “It’s not a Duke kind of crowd. It’s more like a cheese-and-wine crowd, kind of laid back.” He was referring to these old people who are wasting seats that should be reserved for students. Another reason to hate UNC fans: The Dean worship has grown to ridiculous levels. It’s got to stop. Like Wooden, he was a legendary coach, but if you went to school there after he retired, and you still refer to him as “Coach Smith,” you’re a colossal douchebag. Go to a game at the Dean Dome, though, and you’ll experience something not unlike going to the Vatican. One more thing: You want to talk bandwagon jumpers? This is the New York Yankees of the college sports world. After UNC wins another championship, walk around Duluth, Minnesota for 20 minutes and you’ll see a light blue Tarheel sweater. 80% of their fanbase will never set foot in Chapel Hill. 2. Duke Look, I went to Duke, and I totally get it. I get the perceived elitism, and I get the widespread feeling that Duke’s fans are not as creative and intense as the media gives them credit for. Neither point is wrong. Elitism: N.C. State was greeted last year with signs that said Duke=Culture, N.C. State=Agriculture. The students constantly chant “Safety School” at, like, UPenn. I’ve seen “Can you read this?” signs directed at oafish looking centers. It’s all more than a little douchey. Fan Overratedness: The cheer sheets are real, and they are abhorrent. The crowd for early season games and the UNC game is predominately composed of freshmen (the only people who will camp out for a month in a fucking tent). Many couldn’t pick Christian Laettner out of a lineup. Most ACC schools aren’t intimidated by the student section. And yet, Dick Vitale continues to say this, creating resentment from fans who may actually be louder. I’m still a massive fan, but I have no defense. No. 2 is an appropriate ranking. (Editor’s Note: Worth mentioning that everyone on the staff, save for Andy, wanted Duke to go number one on this list. Fuckin’ fanboy.) 1. Maryland Okay, Maryland. You’re really, really passionate about the Terrapins. But when your immediate reaction to a big win (or loss) is to turn College Park into a scene out of Syria, it might be time to go through a little self-evaluation. Plus, there are non-riot related things. There’s the almost incredible amount of abuse opposing fans receive, including debris hurled at the mothers of players. There’s Virginia Tech guard Malcolm Delaney’s remarkably candid quote, “They might have the worst fans ever. Duke is loud because the gym is so small, but Maryland might have the worst fans.” And there are the chants directed at J.J. Redick, although I suspect 99.9% of the people reading this will find that understandable. It’s kind of a shame. I like every Maryland fan I’ve met. Scott Van Pelt even sometimes sits courtside, and he seems like a pretty cool guy. Unfortunately, though, there’s a lot of history justifying this No. 1 spot. _________________________________________________________________________ From the The Emory Sports Marketing Analytics: Fan Equity Rankings Rankings are based on a statistical analysis of self-reported revenue data. We create a statistical model of revenue as a function of team quality (winning percentage, NCAA tournament qualification, etc…) and market potential (conference affiliation, median income, area population, number of students, etc…) and then compare the model’s prediction to the self-reported revenues. Yes, we get that this self-reported revenue data can be a bit quirky, but it’s what the schools themselves choose to report. The key point in the analysis is that we are looking at support after controlling for team quality. Some of our critics seem to think that selling out a 16,000 seat arena when your team regularly wins 20 plus games and makes deep tournament runs is amazing support. Reality check: pretty much any major school would be able to sell out under these conditions. The top ten “non-power” conferences rankings are given below. The number 1 fan base was Dayton. The Flyers were followed by Gonzaga and UNLV.
Fantastic game so far. Very evenly matched teams. The zone has been messing with Wisconsin which is surprising but if Winslow picks up another foul Duke is in serious trouble.
finally Duke's lack of depth starting to become a factor. They really only give 7 guys regular minutes. Then Plumlee with 10 minutes a game. They managed to get lucky for so long to stay out of foul trouble and avoid injuries. Let's see if the Badgers can finish
As soon as I post, Duke goes on a big run and Raftery is making all his animal noises. He's getting very excited.
Wisconsin in big trouble. Duke getting every call down the stretch. Winslow should have 4 fouls but they called it a block and he got 2 free points
Okafor is choosing a good time to finally start playing. That shot clock violation by Wisconsin was brutal.
it's criminal. it's just not fair. every god damn call including up 1 ball goes off duke they give it back to duke then winslow steps OOB and passes to Oakfor and Oakfor scores. it's just not fair.
it's so damn frustrating how they cannot let the players decide it and duke has to get the benefit of every bad call. when Wisconsin went up 9 K called a TO, berated the official the entire TO and ever since then it's been all duke calls.
C'mon refs. I hate this "inconclusive evidence" bullshit to overturn a call. If it's 51-49 to overturn the call you overturn the damn call. Duke getting very lucky.
another blown call, Duke possession when Winslow knocked it out of bounds a few possessions ago, Winslow stepped out of bounds, refs didn't call it, led to a 3 point opportunity for Okafor
the 3rd BS championship in a row for duke. the last 3 handed to them by typical duke officiating. it's a disgrace.
bizarre decision by Wisconsin, down 3, they were guaranteed to get the ball back they fouled Tyus Jones, a superb FT shooter Wisconsin shot too many perimeter shots, but they still would've won had the officials not been in the tank for Duke Five horrible calls in the second half, all went in Duke's favor
