Data reveals which college sports team is most popular on social media
- Alabama Crimson Tide is the most popular college football team on Instagram, according to new data
- The most popular college basketball team on Instagram is the Duke Blue Devils
- Florida Atlantic has the most dedicated fans on social media
Alabama Crimson Tide is the most popular college football team on social media, despite Georgia Bulldogs reigning supreme as the national champions.
A new study conducted by online sports betting site Betting-AZ, analyzed NCAA data to see where the current top 25 college men’s football and basketball teams rank in popularity on social media. The data analyzed the team’s verified Instagram accounts to see their followers, engagement rate, comments and likes to determine which team is the most popular online.
Football
Alabama Crimson Tide was found to be the most followed Instagram account compared to the other 24 teams. They have a following of over 1.1 million, and each post gains an average of 24,000 likes and 155 comments. Despite the high following, the team has a low engagement rate of 1.94%. This is low considering the team’s number of followers, showing that only a handful of followers engage with the account. On average, the Instagram engagement rate for the 25 football teams that were measured is 2.5%.
Ohio State Buckeyes is the second most followed college football Instagram account, with over 1 million followers. The team’s posts receive an average of 16,000 likes, 101 comments, and have an engagement rate of 1.5%.
The third most popular team is the LSU Tigers, who have a following of 945,000. Though they rank third, their likes are significantly higher compared to Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes, with their posts receiving an average of 32,000 likes and 234 comments. Consequently, their engagement rate is also higher, at 3.38%.
Oregon Ducks take fourth place with over 793,000 followers, an average of 4,000 likes, and 52 comments per post. Michigan Wolverines take fifth place with over 533,000 followers, and an average of 13,000 likes and 44 comments per post. They also have an engagement rate of 2.45%.
Georgia Bulldogs, the current national champions, ranked ninth with a following of over 308,000. On average, their posts receive over 2,000 likes and eight comments. Despite being the current champions, they have a low engagement rate of 0.7% which shows that most of their followers do not engage with the content posted.
Surprisingly, the college football team with the highest engagement rate is the Pittsburgh Panthers, who rank at number 18 overall. The team has a following of over 110,000 and an engagement rate of 7.3%. This means that though their following is lower, more of their audience interacts with their content.
Basketball
Duke Blue Devils are the most popular college basketball team on Instagram, compared to the other 24 teams. They have a following of over 1.3 million – one million more than any other team in the top 25 – and receive an average of 25,000 likes and 252 comments per post. The average engagement rate for all basketball teams on Instagram is 6.2%, and this team is on the low end with an engagement rate of 1.29% – the lowest engagement rate out of the 25 college basketball teams that were measured.
The Kansas Jayhawks is the second most popular team, with a following of over 274,000. The team’s posts receive an average of 9,000 likes and 55 comments, with an engagement rate of 3.3%.
UCLA Bruins come in third place with a following of over 230,000, an average of 12,000 likes, and 121 comments per post. Their engagement rate is higher than the previous two teams, at 4.24%. Tennessee Volunteers are the fourth most popular team on social media, 171,000 followers and an average of 9,000 likes and 145 comments per post.
In fifth place are the Indiana Hoosiers, with a following of 167,000. They receive an average of 9,000 likes and 86 comments per post, leaving them with an engagement rate of 5.15%.
UConn Huskies are the newly crowned national champions, and they have ranked number eight, with a following of 132,000. Their posts, on average, receive 16,000 likes and 122 comments, giving them a high engagement rate of 7.21%.
The college basketball team with the highest engagement rate are Florida Atlantic. They have over 21,000 followers and receive 5,000 likes and 172 comments per post, giving them an engagement rate of 26.13%. The team have seen a significant increase in engagement on their Instagram page after making it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament and have accumulated more than 13,000 Instagram followers over the past 30 days.
A spokesperson from Betting-AZ , commented on these findings: “College teams and social media go hand in hand in today’s digital age. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, have become integral tools for college sports teams to connect with their fans and engage with their communities.
“This new data provides a fascinating guide into the world of college sports, revealing that the most followed or popular team on social media is not necessarily the team that ranks high in the polls. Interaction on Instagram and other social media platforms can help boost morale and confidence in team players, as they continue to receive an overwhelming amount of support no matter where they land in the ranks”.
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Sources: National Collegiate Athletic Association
Football (Associated Press, Week 15 – Released January 10th)
| Popularity Rank | Team | Username | Followers | Engag-ement (%) | Avg Comments | Avg Likes | NCAA Rank |
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | alabamafbl | 1,183,182 | 1.94 | 155 | 24,646 | 5 |
| 2 | Ohio State Buckeyes | ohiostatefb | 1,076,258 | 1.5 | 101 | 16,957 | 4 |
| 3 | LSU Tigers | lsufootball | 945,106 | 3.38 | 234 | 32,170 | 16 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | goducks | 793,652 | 0.56 | 52 | 4,624 | 15 |
| 5 | Michigan Wolverines | umichfootball | 533,081 | 2.45 | 44 | 13,765 | 3 |
| 6 | Tennessee Volunteers | vol_football | 522,065 | 2.3 | 67 | 12,435 | 6 |
| 7 | Penn State Nittany Lions | pennstatefball | 438,820 | 2.08 | 36 | 9,123 | 7 |
| 8 | Texas Longhornte | texaslonghorns | 355,061 | 1.46 | 32 | 5,936 | 25 |
| 9 | Georgia Bulldogs | ugaathletics | 308,882 | 0.7 | 8 | 2,236 | 1 |
| 10 | USC Trojans | usc_athletics | 269,620 | 1.11 | 25 | 3,126 | 12 |
| 11 | Clemson Tigers | clemsontigers | 236,590 | 1.32 | 13 | 3,305 | 13 |
| 12 | UCLA Bruins | uclambb | 230,019 | 4.24 | 121 | 12,517 | 21 |
| 13 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | thefightingirish | 176,714 | 1.68 | 9 | 3,018 | 18 |
| 14 | Mississippi State Bulldogs | hailstatefb | 169,838 | 1.28 | 7 | 2,348 | 20 |
| 15 | Utah Utes | utahfootball | 162,447 | 2.19 | 36 | 3,857 | 10 |
| 16 | TCU | tcufootball | 160,042 | 2.92 | 18 | 4,934 | 2 |
| 17 | Washington Huskies | uw_football | 134,882 | 1.73 | 26 | 2,513 | 8 |
| 18 | Pittsburgh Panthers | pitt_fb | 110,740 | 7.3 | 40 | 8,188 | 22 |
| 19 | Oregon State Beavers | beaverfootball | 84,531 | 1.65 | 6 | 1,493 | 17 |
| 20 | Florida State Seminoles | seminoles | 77,187 | 1.42 | 3 | 1,139 | 11 |
| 21 | South Carolina Gamecocks | southcarolinagamecocks | 65,647 | 4.65 | 25 | 3,113 | 23 |
| 22 | Kansas State Wildcats | kstatefb | 58,528 | 6.48 | 47 | 4,073 | 14 |
| 23 | Fresno State Bulldogs | fresno_state_football | 55,508 | 3.09 | 11 | 1,834 | 24 |
| 24 | Tulane Green Wave | greenwavefb | 36,254 | 2.38 | 2 | 871 | 9 |
| 25 | Troy Trojans | troytrojansfootball | 24,625 | 2.65 | 8 | 1,040 | 19 |
Basketball (Division 1 – Associated Press Rank, Week 19 – Released 13th March)
| Popularity Rank | Team | Username | Followers | Engagement (%) | Avg Comments | Avg Likes | NCAA Rank |
| 1 | Duke Blue Devils | dukembb | 1,334,645 | 1.29 | 252 | 25,449 | 12 |
| 2 | Kansas Jayhawks | kuhoops | 274,150 | 3.30 | 55 | 9,707 | 4 |
| 3 | UCLA Bruins | uclambb | 230,019 | 4.24 | 121 | 12,517 | 7 |
| 4 | Tennessee Volunteers | vol_hoops | 171,947 | 5.16 | 145 | 9,087 | 20 |
| 5 | Indiana Hoosiers | indianambb | 167,712 | 5.15 | 86 | 9,307 | 21 |
| 6 | Alabama Crimson Tide | alabamambb | 146,884 | 5.80 | 190 | 8,729 | 1 |
| 7 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | zagmbb | 135,709 | 8.05 | 97 | 11,301 | 9 |
| 8 | UConn Huskies | uconnhuskies | 132,961 | 7.21 | 122 | 16,782 | 10 |
| 9 | Purdue Boilermakers | boilerball | 124,922 | 8.19 | 41 | 10,507 | 3 |
| 10 | Arizona Wildcats | arizonambb | 112,408 | 3.39 | 59 | 4,196 | 8 |
| 11 | Texas Longhorns | texasmbb | 106,259 | 6.66 | 90 | 9,137 | 5 |
| 12 | Virginia Cavaliers | uvamenshoops | 89,385 | 4.06 | 58 | 4,289 | 14 |
| 13 | Memphis Tigers | memphis_mbb | 89,120 | 3.99 | 87 | 3,669 | 24 |
| 14 | Miami Hurricanes | caneshoops | 84,071 | 10.41 | 163 | 9,077 | 16 |
| 15 | Baylor Bears | baylormbb | 70,466 | 3.39 | 7 | 2,496 | 11 |
| 16 | Missouri Tigers | mizzouhoops | 61,221 | 4.11 | 13 | 2,711 | 23 |
| 17 | Kansas State Wildcats | kstatefb | 58,528 | 6.48 | 47 | 4,073 | 15 |
| 18 | Marquette Golden Eagles | marquette.basketball | 57,076 | 8.36 | 46 | 5,908 | 6 |
| 19 | Houston Cougars | uhcougarmbk | 49,658 | 5.09 | 28 | 2,632 | 2 |
| 20 | Texas A&M Aggies | aggiembk | 43,838 | 5.68 | 54 | 2,628 | 17 |
| 21 | San Diego State Aztecs | goaztecs | 36,669 | 8.40 | 34 | 3,044 | 18 |
| 22 | Xavier Musketeers | xaviermbb | 33,926 | 5.76 | 39 | 1,935 | 13 |
| 23 | TCU Horned Frogs | tcumbb | 28,589 | 7.15 | 19 | 2,165 | 22 |
| 24 | Florida Atlantic | faumbb | 21,766 | 26.13 | 172 | 5,677 | 25 |
| 25 | Saint Mary’s Gaels | saintmaryshoops | 7,544 | 9.99 | 3 | 834 | 19 |
Credit to betting-az.com