What Makes a Team Popular?

[IrishFutbol]

This weekend got me thinking.

Excluding the ND/Pitt and PSU/School for the blind games (as there's too many fans in the area that skew casual popularity), the most popular/talked about game seems to be the USC/ASU one.

Even weirder, the same people that watched USC/ASU and went on for a while about Kiffin as a coach had absolutely no clue why I brought up OSU/aTm, and responded with "oh are they supposed to be good?". Hell, one guy was under the assumption that Florida was still ruling the SEC with an iron fist. I'm already preparing for the inevitable "Are they even DI teams? Why is ESPN going to host the UW/Nebraska game?"

How do teams like USC and Florida remain popular while the same people have no idea about teams like Bama and LSU?

 

[Tomhusker]

Good football, star players, longevity.

 

[CalvinJohnson4God]

Media exposure.

The more you are told to watch a team, the more people will watch them.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Big time football,big time rivalries,big time alumni base,big time boosters

 

[mysfit]

Blue field

 

[LSUfanFloridaAlumni]

Alabama and LSU are very popular I would say.

I am surprised Tennessee is still popular in a lot of other parts of the country. I guess people just can't forget their dominate run in the 90s.

 

[TigerBait1971]

any fan that has no idea what is going on with Bama or LSU is a homer of some variety...

...they outnumber knowledgeable fans btw....kinda like dumb voters outnumber ones that have a clue.....

 

[Papalou]

any fan that has no idea what is going on with Bama or LSU is a homer of some variety...

...they outnumber knowledgeable fans btw....kinda like dumb voters outnumber ones that have a clue.....

True ^^^^^^^^

 

[ForkEmBucky]

LSU is not very popular outside of Louisiana.

It's media hype, and sometimes you don't even have to have a huge $$ influence to get it. Miami of the 80s had a tiny fan base, but by the nineties, ESPN was pimping them out, and now they're an ESPN favorite. People still expect them to be good, regardless of facts. Once you get some good marketing, you can live on that forever.

USC is a perfect example. They're flashy. They're LA. I still remember Snoop Dogg in the locker room before one of their games. That stuff sticks with the average "fans."

Kind of like the Notre Dame effect....

 

[BadMotoWeazal]

winning or the high expectation of winning

 

[Papalou]

Puttin out on the first date

 

[popeyecv64]

the amount of thar games being televised that year

 

[UTVolCountry]

Team colors and uniform designs.

 

[iowajerms]

Good question.

Never thought I'd give a ND fan some Rep points, but I just gave you some.

 

[metal_frk_334]

TV Contracts. The SEC has an ESPN contract, but they also have a CBS contract. Guess what happens when we have to fulfill our CBS obligations? Nobody even gets to see a highlight of our game. Alabama just put on a dominating performance this weekend. It was one of the biggest games of the weekend, but it was on CBS and not ESPN. So not only did fans not get exposed to how big of a game it was, they didn't even get to check out how awesome of a game it was. It is things like that...

#3 vs #14 and it is a completely dominating performance by the #3 team.

#2 vs #16 and it was anything but a dominating performance by the #2 team.

Yet after it was all over the #2 team played on ESPN at prime time and the #3 team played on CBS during the day. #2 team gets voted to #1 in a landslide and the #3 team loses almost all of their first place votes. That is just a small indications of what ESPN does for teams.

 

[Disney Plorster]

TV Contracts. The SEC has an ESPN contract, but they also have a CBS contract. Guess what happens when we have to fulfill our CBS obligations? Nobody even gets to see a highlight of our game. Alabama just put on a dominating performance this weekend. It was one of the biggest games of the weekend, but it was on CBS and not ESPN. So not only did fans not get exposed to how big of a game it was, they didn't even get to check out how awesome of a game it was. It is things like that...

#3 vs #14 and it is a completely dominating performance by the #3 team.

#2 vs #16 and it was anything but a dominating performance by the #2 team.

Yet after it was all over the #2 team played on ESPN at prime time and the #3 team played on CBS during the day. #2 team gets voted to #1 in a landslide and the #3 team loses almost all of their first place votes. That is just a small indications of what ESPN does for teams.

Yeah, I hear ya, but I saw both performances, and would have both you and LSU tied for first. I know that is not how you vote, but that is what I would do.

We get a lot of SEC because of CBS here in Ohio. I watch them all the time when my team isn't playing.

 

[TigerBait1971]

A win by 4 TD's is not dominating?

Oh...you are going to bring up the 400+ yard thing.....

LSU's punter pinned WVU behind their 10 yard line like 5 times. I'm not going to look up the numbers, but they started like at their 3, 5, 6, and 10 yard line.

The D scheme was to keep them and front, not give up big plays, and force turnovers. It worked. You get a lot of yards by driving the ball 60 yards every possession, then having to punt and then repeat 5 times. The only gripe I have about the LSU defense is a few missed tackles, two missed assignments, and two dropped INT's.

It was a blowout.

TTYL!

 

[Brasky]

This weekend got me thinking.

Excluding the ND/Pitt and PSU/School for the blind games (as there's too many fans in the area that skew casual popularity), the most popular/talked about game seems to be the USC/ASU one.

Even weirder, the same people that watched USC/ASU and went on for a while about Kiffin as a coach had absolutely no clue why I brought up OSU/aTm, and responded with "oh are they supposed to be good?". Hell, one guy was under the assumption that Florida was still ruling the SEC with an iron fist. I'm already preparing for the inevitable "Are they even DI teams? Why is ESPN going to host the UW/Nebraska game?"

How do teams like USC and Florida remain popular while the same people have no idea about teams like Bama and LSU?

Sounds like the people you were talking to don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. I hope you revoked their man cards on the spot for knowing so little about college football.

 

[huskers1217]

TV Contracts. The SEC has an ESPN contract, but they also have a CBS contract. Guess what happens when we have to fulfill our CBS obligations? Nobody even gets to see a highlight of our game. Alabama just put on a dominating performance this weekend. It was one of the biggest games of the weekend, but it was on CBS and not ESPN. So not only did fans not get exposed to how big of a game it was, they didn't even get to check out how awesome of a game it was. It is things like that...

#3 vs #14 and it is a completely dominating performance by the #3 team.

#2 vs #16 and it was anything but a dominating performance by the #2 team.

Yet after it was all over the #2 team played on ESPN at prime time and the #3 team played on CBS during the day. #2 team gets voted to #1 in a landslide and the #3 team loses almost all of their first place votes. That is just a small indications of what ESPN does for teams.

So, I am the only one that goes to CBS before I go to ESPN?

 

[24seven]

It's all about me.