The “craziest” fans among the teams remaining in this year’s NCAA Sweet 16 Tournament have been revealed, as Clemson earned the title of top “underdog” but Houston failed to live up to its ranking of first favorite.
Using nine relevant factors to create an indexed score out of 100, Casino.org found that ‘Vol Nation’, also known as Tennessee, ranked as the number one craziest fan base in March Madness with a score of 83.3.
The Vols, who have won six championships and entered the tournament as the second seed in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), have their average attendance at home games (10,532) to thank, considering it exceeds the size of their student section on the home court, Thompson–Boling Arena, which can only hold 10,000 college students, the largest of the other 15 teams.
Only Arizona comes close to Tennessee’s student section (9,000).
But while ‘Vol Nation’ appears in droves at games, it ranks fourth from last in terms of alcohol consumption by state (in gallons) with a score of 29.9. Only the Gonzaga Bulldogs (Washington), Purdue Boilermakers (Indiana) and the UConn Huskies are below Tennessee.
Tennessee Volunteers fans have been named the ‘craziest’ March Madness fans this year
Clemson earned this year’s edition of the NCAA tournament’s top “underdog” title.
The Houston Cougars, who technically have the best record in the country, ranked last according to the data.
However, when it comes to party reputation, the school ranks 55th in the United States, according to Nice. Only Alabama (No. 4), Illinois (No. 9) and Arizona (No. 40) rank higher.
The Vols also have a large social media following (94,000), ranking above some of their opponents (Clemson, Illinois, San Diego State, Creighton, Marquette, Gonzaga and Houston).
Tennessee Greek life is also on par with some of the other teams in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, with a score of 47 out of 100. Only North Carolina State, Alabama, North Carolina, Purdue, Iowa State and Illinois are ranked higher.
Meanwhile, Houston Cougar fans fail with a 34.6 out of 100 despite being ranked number one in the nation (and the Big 12) during Selection Sunday.
UConn ranked sixth with a score of 58.2/100, behind Tennessee, NC State, Alabama and UNC.
Marquette Golden Eagles fans ranked first in alcohol consumption by state among 16 teams
The best “underdog” fans are the Clemson Tigers with the best ratio of fan support to performance, with an average attendance of 80,694 fans despite being the #6 seed on the Atlantic Coast and having 0 championships.
At the same time, despite being the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds in their conferences, San Diego State and Marquette rank in the bottom 5 among the “craziest” March Madness fans with scores of 45.3 and 43. .9, respectively.
The Creighton Bluejays and Gonzaga Bulldogs join the aforementioned schools and Houston as part of the bottom five, with respective scores of 43.9 and 43.
Interestingly, Marquette (Wisconsin) ranked first in alcohol consumption by state with a score of 39.2, while Houston (Texas) came in second (36.9), while San Diego State (34.5) and Creighton took third and fourth place.
Alabama is the No. 1 party school among the teams remaining in the tournament, ahead of Illinois.
That’s four teams in the bottom five of ‘craziest fans’ in the Sweet 16 round of March Madness that rank atop that category, suggesting alcohol consumption doesn’t necessarily contribute to grassroots ‘hype’ of fans of a team.
In terms of leaders by championship won, North Carolina and Tennessee have the most titles of all Sweet 16 teams (six each), with Duke and UConn trailing by one each.
The North Carolina State Wolfpack has two championships, while the Arizona Wildcats, San Diego Aztecs and Marquette Golden Eagles have one each.
UNC (Atlantic Coast), Purdue (Big Ten), UConn (Big East) and Houston (Big 12) are the only teams entering the tournament as the conference’s number one seeds.