Root for your rival? Poll shows what NC fans will do if their team loses this March
It’s an age-old tale: Your favorite North Carolina college basketball team loses in the madness of March — but their rival has survived and advanced to the next round.
What’s a fan to do? Cheer for the rival in the spirit of supporting other teams in the Tar Heel State? Or root against them?
According to a new poll from Elon University, released Wednesday, North Carolinians tend to fall into first camp.
Of the poll’s sample of 800 North Carolina adults, 36% said they tend to cheer for the remaining North Carolina teams if their own favorite team is eliminated from the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. Just 5% of respondents said they root against the other North Carolina teams.
“Rivalries between North Carolina’s ACC basketball teams are legendary in the sports world,” a news release about the poll read. “Yet, no matter how the tournaments play out, North Carolinians tend to be loyal to teams from their home state.”
Meanwhile, 21% of respondents said they don’t care if the remaining teams win or lose, and 38% said they don’t have a favorite North Carolina team.
As for which local teams North Carolinians are cheering for, UNC-Chapel Hill garnered the most interest from survey participants, with 37% saying they are fans of the Tar Heels. NC State followed close behind, with 31% saying they are Wolfpack fans. Slightly more than a quarter, or 26%, of those surveyed are fans of the Duke Blue Devils, while 17% reported being fans of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. (Participants were able to declare allegiances to more than one team, hence a total higher than 100% for this question.)
The poll also measured characteristics of the fans of each team, including their political parties. Generally, the fans of each team had a fairly even split between Democrats and Republicans, though NC State saw the biggest difference between the two with 29% identifying as Democrats and 37% identifying as Republicans.
Interest in men’s vs. women’s tournaments
Given the major increase in attention that the Division I women’s basketball tournament received last year — even drawing millions more viewers for the championship game than that of the men’s teams — the Elon poll also surveyed participants about their interest in each tournament.
Overall, the survey found that half of North Carolinians are interested in this year’s tournaments, with men being “far more interested” overall than women, per the news release. Nearly two-thirds of men, or 63%, reported being interested in the events, compared to 38% of women.
The men’s tournament was the most popular among both groups, with 35% of men and 19% of women saying they were more interested in that event. More than a fifth, or 21%, of men and 13% of women said they have equal interest in the two tournaments.
Just 7% of men and 6% of women reported being more interested in this year’s women’s tournament.
Interest in the tournaments was also associated with fans’ income levels, per the news release.
Of those survey participants making $50,000 or less, 58% reported no interest in the tournaments, compared with 48% of those making between $50,000 and $100,000, and 35% of those making more than $100,000.
“The lower someone’s family income, the less interested they are in either the men’s or the women’s tournament,” the release said.
The survey also measured fans’ interest according to their political party affiliation. Democrats and Republicans expressed equal interest in the tournaments, with 54% of both groups saying they plan to tune in, while unaffiliated voters showed less interest at 38%.
There are five teams from North Carolina competing in this year’s women’s March Madness tournament: Duke (2 seed), NC State (2 seed), UNC-Chapel Hill (3 seed), UNC Greensboro (16 seed) and High Point (16 seed). The Tar Heel State sent four teams to the men’s tournament: Duke (1 seed), UNC-Chapel Hill (11 seed), UNC Wilmington (14 seed) and High Point (13 seed).
