Gtown 7th most popular team in NCAA hoops

[David Brent]

As March Madness heads into
the Sweet Sixteen, one of the top-seeded teams, the University of North
Carolina (UNC), is named the nation's favorite basketball team by the
latest Harris Poll. The No. 1 team for the past four years, Duke, not only
took an early exit from the tournament this year, but dropped to No. 2 in
the Harris Poll as well. Ohio State, another top seeded team, moves up one
spot and is now No. 3.

Georgetown is returning to the list after a 10-year absence (last on in
1996) while Michigan also returns, last having been on the list in 2003.
Three teams have dropped out of the top-10 this year: Illinois, Connecticut
and Villanova.

www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-20-2007/0004549890&EDATE=

[sweetness]

Wow, have to admit that (positively) surprises me. I mean, clearly in the 80s we were top 5, and arguably #1 in most urban areas. Good to see us back in the mix -- hopefully we can keep the run going and keep rising. Let's sell some shirts & hats!

[HooHoya]

Sounds like there are some fair-weather fans out there.

[HoyaChris]

This is, quite simply, astonishing. In marketing terms we would appear to have recaptured much of the latent strength of the Georgetown brand. Now lets capitalize, in terms of recruiting, donations, merchandising and applications. Lots of brands do not get second chances like this one.

[williambraskyiii]

the georgetown brand is a monster...it just had to be tapped into. glad to see it. go hoyas!

[PDRHoya99]

Duke had been the most popular team for 4 years in a row? How are they measuring popularity, level of hatred?

[theexorcist]

What drives me nuts is Michigan. We are having a wonderful season with great players and an amazing coach... and we're one slot ahead of a school that just fired their head coach and whom WE BEAT AT THEIR ARENA earlier in the season.

The article is also wrong in that UM isn't in the tourney this year.

[HoyaChris]

theexorcist said:

What drives me nuts is Michigan. We are having a wonderful season with great players and an amazing coach... and we're one slot ahead of a school that just fired their head coach and whom WE BEAT AT THEIR ARENA earlier in the season.

The article is also wrong in that UM isn't in the tourney this year.

Michigan is a monster state school with probably 6-7 times the number of living alumni as Georgetown. For us to get into the same area code as their popularity is a tremendous achievement.

[1227]

The best part is the schools that fell off the list...

[SoCalHoya]

Agree, we do need to capitalize on this surge in popularity. We let the window of opportunity close on us in the early 90s, let's not do so again.

[ExcitableBoy]

I don't mean to beat Barbaro, but someone should send this to the WaPo. Their attempts to pander to the national masses should probably take into account the fact that we are the only local team on the list. Yes, there are a lot more UMCP fans in the region, but apparently there are a LOT more Georgetown fans across the nation.

[tal1286]

anybody notice the poll at the very bottom?

59% don't follow any college sports. i have a hard time believing 59% of any sample wouldn't follow college basketball or, especially, college football.

[HooHoya]

What this means, to me, is this: instant credibility with recruits. Obviously, JTIII is doing just fine in recruiting anyway, but there's no reason why GU shouldn't be able to get into the conversation with any recruit anywhere in the country. That's part of the battle.

[DFW HOYA]

Polls don't buy t-shirts, apparently.

According to the Collegiate Licensing Company, Georgetown fell from 54th to 58th in licensing royalties through the end of 2006. Lots of work to be done.

[vcjack]

dfw said:

Polls don't buy t-shirts, apparently.

According to the Collegiate Licensing Company, Georgetown fell from 54th to 58th in licensing royalties through the end of 2006. Lots of work to be done.

I bet this doesn't include WAG shirts or all the GU stuff that was sold during the BET or that has been and will be sold throughout the tourny

[RusskyHoya]

hoohoya said:

What this means, to me, is this: instant credibility with recruits. Obviously, JTIII is doing just fine in recruiting anyway, but there's no reason why GU shouldn't be able to get into the conversation with any recruit anywhere in the country. That's part of the battle.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

I'd really like it to be where, one day soon, whenever any school sees Georgetown on a list of colleges a kid is interested in, they immediately have to think to themselves: "Oh crap, we have to compete with Georgetown. This is gonna be tough." Once we have that kind of weight on a national level, a la Duke and UNC, we will have arrived.

[RBHoya]

This news is both extremely surprising and extremely encouraging.

Now is the time for us to finally get our act together though. The success on the court is there. The coach and the staff are in place. The players are here and coming. Time for us to step it up in the front office too. We have a lot of name recognition and that figures to only increase under JTIII.

I think it's about damn time that Georgetown Basketball is run like the big time program it is in regards to ticket sales, merchandise, and marketing/management in general. It's a huge opportunity for the University as well as the basketball program to make itself known to every person in the country, and it shouldn't be taken lightly.

[utraquehoya]

I agree with others: that's great AND surprising.

The participants seem to be a bit more fickle, though, than I would have thought: teams high in the ranking one year, gone the next. That might explain why this surge in popularity hasn't translated into apparell purchases.

[Jack]

I like numbers as much as the next Government major and probably more than the average English major, but I don't really know statistics- how much validity can one really attach to a nationwide poll of over 2,000 in which only around 600 follow college basketball? With 300+ Division I teams and more than 70 in the BCS conferences alone, isn't it possible that a team finishes 7th with something like 10 votes? And couldn't that be almost completely random? TV ratings and apparel sales will be a much more meaningful measure, I reckon.

[GIGAFAN99]

Kind of, well, largely unrelated thoughts here I think.

I think JT introducing himself to your mom and dad while JTIII talks to you is pretty good "instant credibility" in the DC area especially. Not sure this poll means anything there.

Merchandising numbers, I've often argued, aren't as bad as indicated. Remember we're 2nd (to a huge state school, Montana) amongst non-D-IA football colleges. As expected, since the bassist for BTO left Gonzaga, they fell behind us to 65th. So let's not get too crazy here. Football just sells more merchandise and we're still very strong for non-D1 football schools and always have been.

I think JTIII's fantastic efforts to get the students involved are more important than this poll. Money comes from alums with a connection to their school. That starts with students who have memories of playing horse with NBA players because everyone was a Hoya, not just the guys on the court. National attention is nice but considering that we conspicuously fell out of the top 10 in 1996 (hmmmmm) and are back this year (double hmmmmm) maybe we should focus on alums and future alums for steady support to build the program.