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WRALSportsFan

Facebook Fans Despise Duke Most, Then UNC

By J. Mike Blake

Apr 3, 2008

Last week, the Harris Poll announced that Duke as the most popular team in college basketball.

But the Harris Poll probably didn’t ask too many Facebook users about their thoughts on the Blue Devils. Facebook, a social networking site consisting of mostly college and high school students, found different results in their own NCAA popularity contest.

Right before March Madness, Facebook allowed its users the opportunity to name both their favorite team and, unlike the Harris Poll, their least favorite team.

Duke was the team most despised by those in Facebook. There were almost as many Duke haters (76,492) as there were for the next six teams on the list (North Carolina, Florida, Ohio State, Kansas, Indiana) combined.

But those of the “ABC” mindset (Anybody But Carolina) didn’t go entirely unheard.

More than 37,000 users listed the Tar Heels as their most disliked team, good enough for a second-place finish to Duke in that category.

The most favored team? That would be North Carolina, with more than 40,000 votes. Duke was second at 26,976.

The Tar Heels and Blue Devils were two of just three teams to finish with more than 20,000 fans on the bandwagon.

At the same time, they were also the only two teams with more than 11,000 haters.

While Duke and Carolina fans may cheer for widely-hated teams, that’s probably a good thing according to a noticeable trend.

Only eight Facebook users had an axe to grind with Louisiana Tech, which finished the year 6-24. It was the teams with greater college basketball success, particularly recent success, that drew the ire of others.

That trend might explain how Davidson, Drake, George Mason and Butler all had more haters than did tradition-rich ACC schools that didn’t go the NCAA Tournament such as Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and N.C. State.

In fact, each one of those three schools had fewer than 2,000 supporters, a likely result of fans turning more apathetic to bracket pools when their school doesn’t make the field.
Much like a fan wearing a paper bag mask to games, Facebook users were less likely to be caught supporting a struggling team.

Out of all 341 teams, North Carolina Central, which had a 4-26 record in its first year of Division I play, finished tied with two others for the fewest fans with nine.

Out of the 65 participants in this year’s NCAA Tournament, 16-seed Mississippi Valley State had the fewest fans with 27, and Texas-Arlington had the fewest haters with 21.

The most popular team not invited to the Big Dance was Maryland, which had the 16th-most fans. The most hated team left out was Michigan.

Favorite Teams

1. North Carolina (40,119 Fans)
2. Duke (26,976)
3. Kansas (21,327)
4. Wisconsin (14,106)
5. Kentucky (11,675)
6. UCLA (9,537)
7. Michigan State (9,093)
8. Indiana (8,918)
9. Texas (8,829)
10. Tennessee (8,644)
…
33. N.C. State (1,918)
58: Davidson (914)

Hated Teams

1. Duke (76,497 Haters)
2. North Carolina (37,065)
3. Florida (10,949)
4. Ohio State (9,079)
5. Kansas (8,285)
6. Indiana (6,247)
7. UCLA (5,014)
8. Texas (4,767)
9. Tennessee (4,669)
10. Kentucky (4,647)
…
64. Davidson (301)
74. N.C. State (220)