Syracuse Is The 8th-Best College Basketball Fanbase, I Guess

A statistical analysis based on various criteria to determine who is the "best" fanbase sounds like the kind of thing that exists solely to anger everyone (other than whoever comes in first, that is). It also sounds like the kind of thing that pops up during the off-season and works everyone up for a couple hours before we all go back to making fun of LeBron James for flopping like a falling statue of an Eastern European despot.

So, I'm just gonna throw this link to Emory University's Manish Tripathi's rankings of the very best college basketball fanbases in the nation and try not to read too much into any of it because....whatever.

For our College Basketball Fan Equity analysis we use a "Revenue Premium" method. The intuition of this approach is that fan base quality is reflected in a school’s men’s basketball revenue relative to the team’s performance. To accomplish our analysis, we use a statistical model that predicts team revenues as a function of the team’s performance, as measured by winning rates and post season success. The key insight is that when a team achieves revenues that greatly exceed what would be expected based on team performance, it is an indication of significant brand equity. The analysis therefore avoids bandwagon effects and gets at the core loyal fan bases.

The top ten goes...Louisville, Arizona, Duke, Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Marquette and Oklahoma State.

All I know is, Hi Georgetown and UConn! Also, you'd think Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma State would have more to show for things...