Minnesota No. 2 in Big Ten basketball fan base rankings

Feb 14, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; The Minnesota Gophers barnyard honors head coach Tubby Smith as he is announced before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

The home for Gopher Basketball is 85 years old, but that does not mean the fan base in Williams Arena is lacking in energy or commitment. A recent study done by the Emory University Marketing and Analytics Center ranked the Big Ten Conference fan bases and Minnesota came in at No. 2 overall.

The research compiled by Sports Marketing professors Mike Lewis and Manish Tripathi  looked at the quality of each Big Ten school’s fan base relative to the revenue of the men’s basketball program and how it translated to on-court success.

Their data was based on public revenue numbers submitted to the Department of Education over the last five years. The team at EU also factored in attendance numbers, market share, winning-percentage, and other variables to come up with their formula to determine fan equity.

The Big Ten Conference as a whole was ranked No. 1 overall in the study. Primarily based on the revenue each school receives from the Big Ten Network annually. No Big Ten school was ranked in their Top 10 overall fan base rankings. Louisville came in at No. 1 overall for Rick Pitino and his Cardinals. The calculations were completed before their recent National Championship win.

• BTN’s Tom Dienhart released a journalstar.com report of the average finish for Big Ten schools in the conference over all men’s and women’s sports. The Gophers ranked No. 2 overall with an average of 4.43 in conference standings. Michigan came in at No. 1 overall and Iowa was dead last at No. 12.
• Amelia Rayno of the Minneapolis Star Tribune chatted with potential Gopher Basketball recruit Rashad Vaughn. She sat down with the “Big Three” member to do a little Q&A about Vaughn and the recruitment by Richard Pitino and his staff.
• Rayno also had a chance to talk with Rodney Williams Jr. during his pre-draft NBA workout with the Minnesota Timberwolves this week. She reported that he hopes to sneak on to an NBA team this coming year. She also posted the notes from her Williams Jr. interview and her talks with new Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders. She has been busy.
• The Big Ten Conference released its 24 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2012-13 academic year. The two representatives for the University of Minnesota are Allie Phillips (Vadnais Heights, Minn. – Women’s Soccer) and Andre Hollins (Memphis, Tenn. – Men’s Basketball).
• Gophers softball standout Kaitlyn Richardson was named a Division I Third Team All-American by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Richardson is the first All-American for Minnesota in softball since 1998. The Phoenix, Ariz. native hit .430 on the season with 43 runs batted in, 34 runs scored and 10 home runs.

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• Both Martin and Leddy have yet to win the Stanley Cup. Go Gophers!

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