Facebook Data Shows NCAA Tournament Fan Statistics In The US

Remember last month when we showed you Facebook data of NFL fans across the US? It's back again, only this time it's all about the NCAA men's basketball tournament that just started yesterday. The data is from over 1 million Facebook users who have "liked" a fan page of one of the 68 teams in the tournament.

Just like the NFL fan map from last month, the data from the NCAA tournament is quite interesting. One of the biggest things you'll notice is that fans are very state-loyal, especially in the midwest, where almost all counties in a state are rooting for one team, even if that state has multiple teams in the tournament. Indiana, for example, is completely rooting for Indiana University, who is a number one seed this year. Other Indiana teams include Notre Dame and Butler, the latter of which made it to the championship game last year.

It's interesting to see the states that have multiple teams in the tournament, such as Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Florida. Some states are split in the middle as far as what home team they're rooting for, but some states are almost 100% loyal to a single team, including Michigan and North Carolina, both of which are rooting for the Michigan Wolverines and the North Carolina Tar Heels, respectively.

What's perhaps more interesting, however, is that there are 17 teams in the field of 68 where zero counties were rooting for them (one of them being Indiana's Notre Dame). Furthermore, there are regions of the US that are pretty much scattered as to who they're ultimately rooting for, Texas being the most obvious, which is just one of the states that don't have a home team in the tournament this year.

[via Deadspin]