In the spirit of Election Day, the Wall Street Journal decided to look at battleground states.
College football battleground states, that is.
North Carolina was one of the 15 states the Journal, with help from Public Policy Polling, chose to profile. The question was simple: which team do you prefer? There were five choices for North Carolina residents: the four ACC schools (Duke, UNC, NC State and Wake Forest) and East Carolina.
UNC was the clear favorite, getting 32 percent of the vote. In second, though, was Duke with 19 percent.
Yes, Duke football is more popular the N.C. State football, which came in third with 18 percent of the vote.
Now, this is surprising to me for a few reasons. One, Duke football, until this year, had not been relevant since its last bowl birth in 1994. The then-freshmen at Duke are now 35 years old. That was awhile ago, folks.
Second, Duke is a significantly smaller school than N.C. State--three times smaller, to be more precise. N.C. State enrolls 25,176 undergraduates, per its website, while Duke has 8,220. Naturally, that gives the Wolfpack a much larger alumni base and (in theory) many more potential fans. And then remember that most Duke graduates do not even settle in North Carolina, flocking to New York City and Washington, D.C. instead.
So, yeah, Duke football is more popular than NC State. How about that for an election-day surprise?
- Laura Keeley
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Poll: Duke football more popular than NC State in North Carolina
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34 comments:
What, no love for Appalachian State?
Though the Journal article - and the Observer's - refers to football, the question asked in the survey didn't seem to refer to football at all. Specifically, the Journal article says the survey "asked respondents...which school is their favorite" Not that I really care either way, but the answers given may or may not mean that Duke football is more popular that NC State. Also says the survey was taken over the last 2 years, during a time when Duke football was significantly less popular. I will say without a doubt that Coach Cut is now more popular than TOB right now.
Ahhhh, the tradition of the Walmart fan reigns supreme in all colors blue. The question should be which football team is playing well RIGHT NOW and winning that you would like to align yourself with, NOT loyalty or long term success.
Always was, am and will be a loyal Demon Deacon! There's not many of us but we are the most loyal of fans. GO DEACS!!
This is really funny. Everyone knows that Carolina and Duke fans swamp nc state fans. But Duke even has more football fans than state. hahahahahahaha. And they try to say they are a football school. What a joke!!!!
It’s very obvious from the question that was asked (“Which team do you prefer?”) that people in North Carolina didn’t take it as a football-focused question. Obviously, that’s why Duke came in second, as they have multitudes of bandwagon fans with no connection to the university, just like Carolina. Obviously, there’s no way there are more Duke football fans than State football fans. To argue otherwise is absurd.
To anon at 11:13. How come NC State does not have any bandwagon fans that you speak of? Could it be because they suck at every sport where they field a team. Maybe because they have only won 2 NCAA titles and the last was way back in 1983. Maybe because the school is perceived as being a bunch of rednecks and most people other than other hayseeds do not want to be associated with that stigma.
To Anonymous 4:06. I without a doubt think NC State has some bandwagon fans just like every sports team in the nation, however to even think that their bandwagon is the size of UNC's or Duke's is just plain ignorance. There are only a handful of teams where you can fly to the far corners of the US and see individuals wearing athletic apparel and cheering for a team that they do not have any ascertainable connections to. Duke and UNC are two of those teams along with the likes of Kentucky basketball, UCLA, Miami Heat, LA Lakers, NY Yankees, etc. But to argue that a school who can barely fill their 33,000 seat football stadium has more football fans than NC State who can fill their 57,000 seat stadium is just plain stupidty.
Anyone who believes Duke football is popular need only visit Wallace Wade Stadium on gameday. The tickets are so cheap and plentiful that opposing fans routinely dominate the stands.
This paper and particularly this article are such jokes. You wear UNC or Duke gear because you went to Wal-Mart. I wear NC State gear because I actually went to school there and got a degree. Rednecks...fine...also know as engineers, economists, scientists, teachers, etc. Come to Carter-Finley on game day and you tell me who has more fans whether we are having a good season or not. That is how TRUE fans behave.
I always enjoy the mouth breathing knukle dragging "fans" of Duke and UNC with their hats and tee shirts. It is obvious that they could not pass 7 th grade much less a college class.
No need to get upset fellow packers. Duke football is about as relevant as attending class at unc.
Anon at 10:17. REAL FANS??? Did you get a look at Carter Finley in the 4th Quarter of the UVA game?? You did not have as many fans as are at a Meredith field hockey game. The end zone shot of the student section had maybe 5 or 6"fans". State is no different from any other school. You win, your fans show up. You suck and they bail like they did at CF on Saturday.
I advise you wolfies to pull up the latest rankings from US News and World Report before you brag on State's "academics". US News is the accepted authority on college rankings. Duke is ranked #8. UNC is ranked #30. NCSU is not even in the top 100 falling all the way down to #106 which also happens to be DEAD LAST in the ACC. I think the knuckle draggers reside in West Raleigh.
UNC-CHEATS!
UNC-CHEATS? That's the best you got? Maybe you should check out Esquire magazine who named NC State as one of the 7 dirtiest basketball teams of all time. And by dirty, they were referring to cheating. And they did not even include the cheating that went on with Valvano. Valvano cheated and NC State puts him in their Hall of Fame. Incredible!!
Duke football has the same 8,000 fans on Saturday afternoon that Duke basketball has on any given day at Cameron Gym. Granted the school would do just as well with attendance in New Jersey as it does in Durham, NC.
I always get a kick out of State fans calling Carolina fans Wal Mart fans. I am from eastern NC and nothing I see of the State fans here leads me to believe the majority of them made it out of the 6th grade much less attended college (even one as pathetic as Cow Tech). If Carolina fans are Wal Mart fans, State fans must be Family Dollar or Dollar General fans. Both places are where you will find most of their merchandise when it doesn't sell at Wal Mart the first time around.
Maybe Duke's popular now because they won the state title this year...beat Wake, Carolina, NC "I Lie about Rape" Central...
By the way, Duke would kill to play NC State instead of FSU and Clemson every year....
Anonm @9:58. Sorry dude, but the article nowhere says that duke is "popular". It just says they are more popular than nc state.You guys only received 19% and even a dookie can figure that is less than 1 in 5.Personally I think dook got the sympathy vote for having the worst program and the worst stadium in the state not to mention the ugliest. cheerleaders.Enjoy your bowl game as it will be another 20 before you go again.
Anonymous @9:58. Funny comment: "Duke would kill to play NC State instead of FSU and Clemson every year....". NO KIDDING!! Considering Clemson and FSU together "KILLED" duke by a total score of 104-27 that sounds like a no-brainer.
1gerisfa@Sam Walton If Carolina and Duke have Walmart fans, I guess that means nc state has Tractor Supply fans. I hear you can get a nice set of red bib overalls there. Also I think nc state is the only school in the nation who admits that nobody likes them except people who went to school there. Is that something you really want to brag about?
Don't get too excited dookies as you know that in the end you will have a losing season again this year. No way you beat GT in Atlanta and Miami will also take you out. You lose your bowl game and finish with a losing record for the millionth time.
UNCheats still clearly pissed Duke beat them and is in contention for the ACC title........and that the Cheats have a bubble team in basketball at best.....and that Dook's a better school and UNCheat academics is a punchline......
Love how Duke football has MAJOR haters now, too! Times are a-changin!
The reasons for the results are rather obvious. N.C. State is tremendously bushleague in the most fundamental of ways. Not only is it - by far - the worst academic school in the ACC (worse than FSU, yikes!), it also has no tradition in football. This is particularly troublesome for "a football school." I think "the Pack" have only one 10 win football season in their entire history. UNC has a relatively bushleague football history (in absolute terms, not as compared to State), but yet lead the all-time football series by a wide margine over the hapless Pack. In fact, I think the Heels have beaten state 30 times more than state has beaten them. N.C. State is a joke. They will always play third fiddle to Duke and UNC. In fact, I think East Carolina is a more attractive choice. It would be great if we could kick out State for ECU. We don't need State. Raleigh is also a pit.
31erreysActually Duke also holds an all time edge over the Wolfpack. Now that is sad.
Anon @9:40. Obviously you are not a Duke fan since you used the word dook in your comment.You used the lame term UNCCheat which is only used by wolfies. It is sad that you have to resort to living vicariously through Duke academics since state "academics" are rated dead last in the ACC. And actually comparing apples to apples Carolina is rated higher in its academic group than Duke. Carolina is ranked #5 in the country among public institutions while Duke is ranked #8 among private institutions.
Wolfpack fans can spin this anyway that they want, but this is downright embarassing
7:08pm...I've heard a lotta whoppers out there, but that academic argument for UNCheat takes 'em all!!
Btw, Duke is not only ranked #8 among private institutions (just below ya know like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.), it's ranked above every state school in the nation by a country mile. That includes your beloved Cheats.
Any bowl but the Meineke Car Care Bowl! Worst bowl in football!
-Duke fan
The survey just says favorite team - doesn't refer to football. One would have to be dumber than a rock to think duke has anywhere near the number of football fans that NCSU has.
The survey just says favorite team - doesn't refer to football. One would have to be dumber than a rock to think duke has anywhere near the number of football fans that NCSU has.
The survey just says favorite team - doesn't refer to football. One would have to be dumber than a rock to think duke has anywhere near the number of football fans that NCSU has.
really? lol that is a quite interesting poll and I would like to know much more about it, I will go and check out that link you shared, thanks!
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