Gtown 7th most popular team in NCAA hoops

[DFW HOYA]

jack said:

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?

A sample size of 2,000, properly selected, is more than enough to get a very statistically significant sample. The fact that it's Harris and not some online "stuff the ballot" poll, gives at least some credence to its methodology.

gigafan99 said:

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.

Which leads me to something that needs some fixing this spring: market more football merchandise! A lot of people don't go to college football games but they like the jersey of the"hot" school no matter if they're good (Florida) or not (UNC). No one is saying "Gee, the Heels had a down year. I'll buy a Purdue jersey instead." They want Carolina blue. And they'll want Georgetown blue, too.

Get those new (Nike-authorized) Georgetown jerseys in the stores for this fall!

N.B. I say this because last year, during the Sun Bowl tournament, a store was actually selling knock-off Georgetown football jerseys in its window at the mall, like the ones on Ebay.

People want Georgetown--give it to 'em!

[lichoya68]

NOT TO GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES WE NEED TO WIN ONE BY ONE AND BEAT VANDY BUT DO YOU REALIZE WHAT OUR POPULARITY WILL BE IN THE PUBLIC AND SALES OF STUFF IF WE HAPPEN to win four more games keep that quiet tho ok GO HOYAS BEAT VANDY EAT THE BANNANNA

[HooHoya]

gigafan99 said:

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.

Well, no, not in the DC area. GU's prestige there hasn't sustained any significant drop, IMO.

But you can't be an elite program by recruiting in one metro area. All this talk about "Georgetown is back" brings credibility elsewhere, and that is important. It means this staff should (hopefully) be able to focus on great players, anywhere in the country.

Heck, I shouldn't say hopefully...they've already demonstrated that ability, as far as I'm concerned.

[McBricks]

I hope Georgetown's PR people do something with this information. And I also hope that GU's fundraisers use this info wisely. Way too much momentum not to take advantage.

[PDRHoya99]

jack said:

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.

I think the answer is, not particularly significant. I feel like the autodialer was stuck on the 919 area code. How is it that amongst all the college basketball fans I know Duke is the most loathed program in the country, yet they've finished 1st in this survey 4 out of the past 5 years? I'm quite certain there is some regional bias involved in this poll, because if you were to just select numbers equitably from the 50 states each one would only have 10 representatives.

[HoyaChris]

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hoyagsb99 said:

jack said:

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.

I think the answer is, not particularly significant. I feel like the autodialer was stuck on the 919 area code. How is it that amongst all the college basketball fans I know Duke is the most loathed program in the country, yet they've finished 1st in this survey 4 out of the past 5 years? I'm quite certain there is some regional bias involved in this poll, because if you were to just select numbers equitably from the 50 states each one would only have 10 representatives.

If they selected 10 representatives from each state the poll would be completely invalid since Montana would be wildly overrepresented and California would be massively underrepresented. It is possible to be the most popular and the most unpopular team. The poll is not a net measure of popularity - i.e. lovers less haters. High profile teams have lots of haters.

I strongly suspect that when we were at the height of our popularity in the mid-eighties that we were probably the most hated team as well.

[lichoya68]

I HEARD THAT MONTANA JUST LOVES US GO HOYAS BEAT VANDY AND VACATION IN MONTANA AFTER EATING THE BANNANNA

[PDRHoya99]

HoyaChris -- I realize that I wasn't advocating that be the model for their survey, I was just pointing out how few respondents 500 was, and how easily it could be swayed by geography, given that most college basketball fan bases are local.

[HoyaChris]

hoyagsb99 said:

HoyaChris -- I realize that I wasn't advocating that be the model for their survey, I was just pointing out how few respondents 500 was, and how easily it could be swayed by geography, given that most college basketball fan bases are local.

As noted in the disclaimer at the bottom of their survey, they have adjusted the survey to theoretically eliminate regional bias.

[GIGAFAN99]

hoohoya said:

gigafan99 said:

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.

Well, no, not in the DC area. GU's prestige there hasn't sustained any significant drop, IMO.

But you can't be an elite program by recruiting in one metro area. All this talk about "Georgetown is back" brings credibility elsewhere, and that is important. It means this staff should (hopefully) be able to focus on great players, anywhere in the country.

Heck, I shouldn't say hopefully...they've already demonstrated that ability, as far as I'm concerned.

I don't know about either of those statements, honestly. I believe them in theory but they really haven't been put into practice. We start Wallace from Sparkman, Alabama (who was never recruited by Georgetown) NCA, Mcdonough, Northwestern, Georgetown Prep. In fact 7 of the top 9 this year (now three were inherited but note the one that transferred was outside the area), 9 of the top 11 projected for next year, and 7 of the top 9 projected for the following year are all Maryland, DC, or Virginia.

And I don't know if it's a bad thing either. All the players from outside the area (Egerson, Thornton, Spann) have all transferred or get very few minutes save Wallace and Rivers.

Like I said, I believe it in theory but two walk-ons-turn-schollies (Wattad and Wallace) and Jeremiah Rivers isn't exactly a national coup. But then again I'm not sure how much we should focus there. If we can get Sims and Joseph for example and make it 9 of 11 in two years, I say continue to load up on the locals.

[HooHoya]

IMO, to be a consistent elite program, GU has to get the absolute cream from the DC area -- and they are poised to do that -- then supplement that. Now, they could pilfer the rest of the roster from the Southeast, or the east coast, or wherever, but I really don't think you can be top notch without recruiting elite players from outside the area.

Just MO.

[nomer]

hoohoya said:

IMO, to be a consistent elite program, GU has to get the absolute cream from the DC area -- and they are poised to do that -- then supplement that. Now, they could pilfer the rest of the roster from the Southeast, or the east coast, or wherever, but I really don't think you can be top notch without recruiting elite players from outside the area.

Just MO.

Duke can have all the assorted white kids from oregon or indiana and can own alaska, if Georgetown can get continue to get great recruits from DC, can turn Summers into a foothold in Baltimore against the likes of Syracuse and fight Pitt and Wright/Calhoun for some scraps in the Jersey prep schools and NYC we will be more than fine. That is a fairly compact, Mid-atlantic/east coast area and that area can support a powerhouse without too much difficulty.

Recruiting isn't everything either, Barnes Calipari and Pitino can recruit just about anything but if they lose their best player every year and don't coach them up (although Pitino and Calipari can coach well at the college level) it won't matter.

We have credibility in DC (check out Chris Wright's quote in the RISE article on si.com) and that will spread to other areas if we let it.
Look at an Ohio State football roster, different sport but it's way more players and an absurd amount of them are from one state.

[HoyaSpirit]

vcjack said:

dfw said:

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

Yeah - that was end of 2006 when we still had a weak ooc record etc. I would think merch sales probably lag success in college hoops by nearly a year. many stores probably don't even carry us now, but after a couple of years of success, polls like this and growing sales, more and more stores will get us back in there and also display our stuff more prominently. if we have a final 4 or national champtionship - that will accelerate all that a good amount.

Other thoughts:

* I bet our style of play and classiness are attracting a lot of support. i remember someone who was at the louisville game said that all their fans were commenting on how classy and great our team was. now i bet kentucky is one of the places least likely to be into the hoyas and if our team won them over - it says a lot.

* I think 59% not following college hoops or football is accurate. Straight away you get to 45% because about 90% of women don't - unless they went to a state football school. Also a lot of people have full lives and especially once they get serious jobs and/or have families they typically only follow 2-4 sports. I pretty much follow college hoops, NBA and baseball - and even then I spend more time than I ideally want to on those.

I think the figure is encouraging and personally think spending more than a small chunk of time watching sports sitting on my butt is a waste of time especially when there are so many amazing things in the world and also when so many people are desparately in need of help. There are something like 800 million malnourished people (and many other people in dire straits) and 60,000 people will die of very easily preventable causes - like having a simple shot that costs $3 - between now and tip-off, and I'd rather have my life be about helping people (both strangers and loved ones) than gorging on sports. I kind of find it refreshing when someone knows nothing about sports. But I also love the fact my gf has been a Hoya fan since she was 8 years old - even though she didn't even go to G-town.

* The G-town ranking might not be totally accurate since such a large number weren't hoops fans, but it's probably not far off the mark. Especially given our history and also given that we were on TV a humongous (spelling?) amount this year, and have gotten tons of press and positive acclaim, and almost anyone who has seen us (minus Cuse fans) would have to like us.

* Agree the WaPost would probably see the poll as reason esp. on their website coverage to get more behind the Hoyas. The question is whether they're paying attention or not.

* Our school has got to capitalize on this plus the success we'll have next year as well - can DeGoia raise the standards or shake up the ADs office. And how about signing JT3 up for a super long contract.

Go Hoyas!!!