RE: Floridians like UCF > Miami or USF
Technically, Floridians do not like UCF more than Miami or USF, but CFU. They ask about Central Florida University. Sorry, I had to get that in there.
Now as for the poll...some of these numbers don't really surprise me. UCF finished the season ranked and went 11-2, so it is not surprising that fans would jump on the bandwagon. The same goes for Miami, which had a disappointing year and probably had fans jump off the bandwagon.
There are a few things in this poll, however, that strike me as odd. The first is that Florida Atlantic is significantly more popular than Florida International, and almost as popular as USF. Another is that USF did significantly worse among the 18-29 age group than they did among the three older age groups. Furthermore, UCF received 4x as many votes than USF from that age group. From someone that has significant familiarity with the USF and UCF fan bases (my sister went to UCF), that just doesn't add up.
Three things come to mind as possible explanations, while maintaining the assumption that the poll is legitimate. One is that USF has really been pushing the "USF" name, and playing down the "South Florida" name. This could have led to some confusion among more casual fans (non-alumni). A second is that this is first and foremost a political poll, not a sports fan poll. As such, people were polled if they were a voter, and the 18-29 age group account for only 12% of the votes. While this makes sense for a political/voters poll (younger people typically don't vote as often as older people), it might not make sense if the poll were for sports fans. This would explain why certain fan bases that rely heavily on younger fans, such as Miami, received fewer votes than expected. My third thought is that some fan bases might just be more apolitical than other fan bases.
Some of those ideas are a stretch, particularly the last one. However, I think most sensible people would agree that a few of these poll numbers just don't add up. I think to get a truly accurate picture of college fan bases in Florida, you would need to allow for all college football teams. A great deal of the population here is made of transplants, and I think allowing those polled to choose out of state schools would give a more accurate depiction of where loyalties lie. My hunch is that a number of people (particularly older voters) voted for a school that their child or grandchild attends, and that their true college sports loyalty is with an out-of-state program.
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