Cool map using likes on Facebook to show the top 3 teams liked by zip code. At first you want to get upset when you see 45701 has 55% OSU and 22% Ohio...until you look at other MAC schools areas and how they fare.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa...

Very interesting. Only one MAC team dominates their regional area, NIU (plus U.Mass, if you want to count them as MAC). Some MAC schools, like EMU and Miami, I can't even find in the top three at all in any county. A non-MAC school I can't seem to find in the top 3 in any county anywhere on the map, either, is Cincinnati.

Ohio doesn't dominate any county, but I am extremely impressed with their showing on this map. They are #2 across a very wide number of counties in SE Ohio, which I believe is exactly the goal at the current time. No other MAC school has appeal across such a broad area. I may have missed a few counties, but check out the very large list of counties where Ohio is in the top 3.

22% 45701
20% 45761,45766
19% 45710
17% 45711, 45769,45735
16% 45732, 45764, 45775
15% 45723
14% 45728, 45741, 45722, 45772, 45743
13% 45651, 45695, 45724, 45651
12% 45742
11% 45620, 45622
10% 43766, 45634, 45784, 45787
9% 43138, 43782, 45714
8% 45614, 45686, 45729
7% 45692, 45786
6% 43149, 43748
5% 43107, 43155, 43715, 43756, 43764, 45672, 45685, 45715, 45750
4% 43135, 43727, 45640, 45647, 45768, 45768, 45773, 45788
3% 43130, 43148, 43150, 43745, 43777, 43783, 45601, 45644, 45745
2% 43701, 43720, 43727, 73732, 73746, 43760, 43772
1% 43762, 43802

They are far from #1 in these counties, but they seem to be developing a very broad following of their own.


It would also be skewed to younger people, who are more apt to use facebook. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. People who are fans of another school are not apt to be swayed, and if they can gain fans among the younger people, they could become lifelong fans.

thanks for the data pull LC, much easier to read. My first reaction was $%^# that team from Columbus, but then as I clicked around, and as LC has noted, I realized that our support is pretty impressive.

Marshall's poor showing surprised me, growing up in Charleston my perception was that it was roughly 50/50 in Charleston and southwest of there, but this study doesn't bear this out. That was during Marshall's absolute peak and a few down years for the Mountaineers, though, and my personal teenage observations aren't exactly scientific.

Looks like Akron has the second biggest following in the MAC in Ohio after OU.

If I read correctly that the survey is based on Facebook preferences, resident campus schools like Ohio and Miami are at significant disadvantage as their fans are spread out far and wide. As for Akron; well, nobody leaves.

The fact that we have a presence among the residents of Southeast Ohio while Miami has absolutely no showing is indicative of Ohio's efforts and Miami's abject failure.

For Cincinnati to have no showing in a single Cincinnati zip code is crushing.

Not really. As The Optimist pointed out, the map doesn't include the actual city zipcodes, probably becasue they are too small to show up on a map this size. It probably means that UC has most of it's appeal within the actual city.


Or it may be a sign that the appeal of popped collars is confined to the campus area.

Alternately, maybe we're both just saying the same thing, something that can more concisely be expressed as "Miami sucks".

Cincinnati's absence says they have a very localized fanbase. Interest in UC is not that much higher than what you see at the games. Their fans have an easy time of getting to the games with them all right there.

I think UC has dreams of being invited to the Big 12, and I'd say that this map would indicate that UC would not draw a lot of fans across the state for the Big 12 if that were to happen.

Notre Dame where I live at a whopping 10%.

Also Northwestern barely even owns Evanston. Chicago's B1G 10 team!

Even scarier is that near where I live, 60644, the top 3 teams are:

OSU 8%
Illinois 7%
ND 7%

I agree - I think a mistake was made. I looked again, and all the zipcodes are there. The top three teams supported in that area only adds up to ~50%, and there is no mention of UC in any county. I think a mistake was made, and UC is not included as a possible answer.

Or maybe they thought "Like Cincinnati Football" meant the Bengals?