The North Carolina Rivalry Continues: UNC and Duke Tied for Favorite Men’s College Basketball Team

University of Connecticut is favorite women’s college basketball team

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The field of 64 teams are now set. Around the country, brackets are being filled out, erased, and done over again. Fans are bemoaning that their favorites aren’t part of the Madness, are ranked unfavorably, or are in a horrible bracket. For college basketball fans, the period known as March Madness is finally upon them and the hours and hours in front of television sets is about to begin.

“Do you follow any of these sports?”

This year, even though they may not have had the best season, last year’s NCAA champions and last year’s number one, University of North Carolina (UNC) has to share the top spot with their arch-rival, Duke, as they are tied for favorite men’s college basketball team. Rounding out the top five teams are University of Connecticut at number 3 and Texas and Maryland who are tied for the number 4 spot on the list.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults, of whom 627 follow college basketball, surveyed online between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

In the bottom half of the top ten favorite teams are Ohio State and Kentucky, both tied for the 6^th spot on the list, UCLA at number 8, Purdue at number 9 and Wisconsin at number 10. Maryland returns to the list after a seven year absence having last been in the number 9 spot in 2003. Wisconsin also returns to the list after dropping off last year and Purdue is a brand new addition to the favorite men’s college basketball list. Dropping off the top ten this year are Illinois (was number 6), Boston College (was number 8) and Florida (was tied for number 9).

The four number one seeds for this year’s men’s tournament are also the four top choices to be the men’s NCAA champion. Almost one in five of those who follow college basketball (18%) believe Kansas will be cutting down the hoops on April 5^th, while 15% say it will be Kentucky, 11% believe it will be Syracuse and 7% say Duke. No other team was chosen by more than 2% of college basketball followers to win the tournament.

Women’s College Basketball

Just like last year -- and especially since they have not lost a game since before then -- the University of Connecticut is the favorite women’s college basketball team followed by the Lad Vols of Tennessee at number 2 and Texas at number 3. Maryland and UCLA are both tied at number 4 on the list, Wisconsin and Purdue are tied for number 6, Nebraska and Ohio State are tied for number 8 and Michigan State is at number 10 on the favorite women’s college basketball list.

When it comes to winning the women’s NCAA tournament, there is a clear favorite as almost two in five (39%) say University of Connecticut will be the women’s champs this year. Less than one in ten (8%) say it will be Tennessee while 2% each say it will be Duke or Stanford. No other team was chosen by more than 1% to win the tournament this year.

TABLE 1
FAVORITE MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM: RANK ORDER
“Which is your favorite men’s college basketball team?”
Base: Follow college basketball
	1993	1995	1996	1997	1998	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
North Carolina (UNC)	2	3	7	2	3	7	=2	3	2	1	2	1	=1
Duke	1	2	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	2	1	2	=1
Connecticut	*	*	*	*	=6	*	=7	5	5	*	*	=9	3
Texas	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	9	7	6	*	5	=4
Maryland	*	*	*	*	=8	9	*	*	*	*	*	*	=4
Ohio State	8	9	=4	*	*	*	*	*	4	3	*	4	=6
Kentucky	5	1	1	1	1	5	=2	4	*	4	=9	7	=6
UCLA	*	5	*	5	5	4	=7	=7	8	5	4	3	8
Purdue	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	9
Wisconsin	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	=9	*	10
*Not in the top 10.

DROPPED OUT OF THE TOP 10 THIS YEAR

(Last year’s rankings)

Illinois (No. 6), Boston College (No. 8), and Florida (tied for No. 9)

TABLE 2
FAVORITE WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM
“Which is your favorite women’s college basketball team?”
Base: Follow college basketball
	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Connecticut	1	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Tennessee	2	1	1	1	1	1	2	2
Texas	5	8	6	*	*	*	4	3
Maryland	*	*	*	*	5	=4	5	=4
UCLA	*	=9	=8	*	*	*	*	=4
Wisconsin	*	*	*	*	=9	=8	*	=6
Purdue	=9	7	*	*	*	*	*	=6
Nebraska	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	=8
Ohio State	*	*	9	4	*	*	6	=8
Michigan State	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	10
*Not in the top 10.

DROPPED OUT OF THE TOP 10 THIS YEAR

(Last year’s rankings)

UNC (No. 3), Duke (No. 7), Illinois (No. 8) Rutgers (No. 9) and Kentucky (No. 10)

TABLE 3
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL CHAMPION
“What team do you think will be the men’s NCAA champion this year?”
Base: Follow college basketball
	Total
	%
Kansas	18
Kentucky	15
Syracuse	11
Duke	7
Note: Other teams mentioned all received 2% or less

TABLE 4
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL CHAMPION
“What team do you think will be the women’s NCAA champion this year?”
Base: Follow college basketball
	Total
	%
Connecticut	39
Tennessee	8
Duke	2
Stanford	2
Note: Other teams mentioned all received 1% or less

TABLE 5
COLLEGE SPORTS FOLLOWERS
“Do you follow any of these sports?”
Base: All adults
	2007	2008	2009	2010
	%	%	%	%
FOLLOW COLLEGE SPORTS (NET)	41	41	44	42
College football	33	34	36	35
Men’s college basketball	24	23	26	26
Women’s college basketball	8	7	8	9
College baseball	6	8	8	9
College hockey	4	3	5	6
Other college sport	8	7	7	8
I follow none of these sports	59	59	56	58
Note: Multiple-response question.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States March 1 to 8, 2010 among 2,320 adults (aged 18 and over) of whom 627 follow college basketball. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words “margin of error” as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J37772
Q805, 810, 815, 820, 825

The Harris Poll^® #38, March 16, 2010
By Regina A. Corso, Director, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

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