With just a few more days until Christmas, Santa Claus is checking his list a couple of more times before he embarks upon his journey across the world, delivering presents to deserving children who have been good throughout the year. If college football had implemented its four-team playoff system this season, culminating with three games to determine the true undisputed national champion, which team would Santa have left off of his list, given the fact that only four teams could receive an invitation? While four teams would receive quite the Christmas gift by being selected to play in the four-team playoff in 2014, a few teams would be left off of Santa’s list and would have plenty to complain about as they opened their bags of coal instead of tickets to the playoffs.
- My views are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Discover Products Inc. and its affiliates.
Speaking of gifts, the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll posed quite a few entertaining questions to college football fans across the country that pertained to the upcoming Christmas season!
Week seven of the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll asked college football fans questions that determined whether they are more naughty or nice as the Christmas season approaches. Thankfully, it turns out that more of them lean strongly toward the nice side, although there are still a fair share of fans who have quite a naughty streak, even during the most wonderful time of the year.
While the sentiment around this time is that it is better to give than to receive, when a national title is on the line, 30 percent of college football fans believe the opposite to be true, as they would opt to not hand out any Christmas presents, choosing instead to bask in the glory of their favorite college football team winning the final BCS Championship.
While 30 percent may sound like a lot, it is heart-warming to see that 61 percent of college football fans surveyed in the latest Discover Fan Loyalty Poll still said that they would rather play Santa than Scrooge and still give Christmas presents to loved ones instead of having their favorite team win the national championship.
Week seven results from the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll also revealed that fans really do love a good underdog. That is, as long as that underdog is not playing against their favorite team.
When their favorite team isn’t playing, the vast majority – 77 percent of fans – root for the underdog, compared to just 10 percent who cheer on the dominant team. The remaining 13 percent were unsure. Perhaps they root for a tie. They just can’t bare to see either team go home a loser.
* Discover Products Inc. sent me a Gift Card for participating as a Blogger in the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll program
When asked which side fans would rather coach, 83 percent of them said that it would be a dream to coach their favorite team in an attempt to lead them to victory. What better feeling than to be a part of the Gatorade bath showered upon you by your players leading up to the final seconds of a big win?
Well, I am glad that you asked, because 9 percent of fans have a slightly different view.
When asked the same question, only with a different response, 9 percent of college football fans said that they would rather be on the opposing team’s sideline so that they can sabotage that team’s chances against their favorite squad.
In the latest Discover Fan Loyalty Poll, 30 percent of fans who were surveyed selected the Florida State Seminoles as the best team in the country right now. The Seminoles are set to take on the Auburn Tigers in the BCS National Championship on Jan. 6, 2014. The Alabama Crimson Tide had held the top spot for the past six consecutive polls, yet dropped to third in the last poll. The remaining rankings broke down as follows:
- Auburn, 24 percent
- Alabama, 15 percent
- Michigan State, 7 percent
- Stanford, 4 percent
That part all makes sense, as the ‘Noles are a 7.5 point favorite over the Tigers. They are considered the top team by most throughout the world of college football, including every poll as well as the latest Discover Fan Loyalty Poll.
So, how can more people be picking Auburn to win than Florida State?
When asked which team will win the BCS Championship Game, 50 percent of all fans favored Auburn, compared to 44 percent who were on Florida State’s side. So while more people feel as if Florida State may be the better team, the must be picking Auburn based either on personal preference or that lady luck is on the side of the Tigers more so than the Seminoles.
When looking at the latest results of the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll, the BCS Standings, the AP Top 25, the USA Today Coaches Poll or any other official ranking system, the top spots were all the same. Florida State and Auburn were the clear choices for the top two, followed by Alabama at No. 3. The Michigan State Spartans were ranked ahead of the Stanford Cardinal for the fourth spot, which would have been the final team to make it into the four-team playoff system had it started this season.
That would mean that the Cardinal would be left off the list for the playoffs, whether or not you feel they should be fifth. If this were Santa’s list, Stanford would be considered naughty. The top four would be the only ones on Santa’s college football nice list.
Which four teams should have been in the playoffs had it started this postseason? Does Stanford have a legitimate argument to have a spot on Santa’s nice list, considering they did lost twice this season? What about teams such as the South Carolina Gamecocks or Missouri Tigers or Oregon Ducks or Oklahoma State Cowboys? They all lost two games as well. So did the Oklahoma Sooners and Clemson Tigers.
Better yet, the Ohio State Buckeyes lost just one game this season. Would they deserve a spot in the playoffs to fight for the national championship? The Baylor Bears could make a similar argument.
You see, while a four team playoff system is nice, it is just one step in the right direction. We need more. Forget about four teams being on Santa’s nice list. College football fans deserve to have Santa deliver at least an eight-team playoff system, with 16 probably being the ideal number.
This postseason, we have 35 bowl games, although just one will decide the national championship. Still, that is not the only important game over the next few weeks.
Speaking of other big games that will place a huge emphasis on a big win, the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl features a matchup that could go down as an instant classic. The Ohio State Buckeyes and Clemson Tigers will square off in Miami on January 3, with a BCS Bowl Game victory at stake. While the game should be a great one on the field, it will also go down as the most socially interactive contest off of the gridiron.
Leading up to the official announcement of the Discover Orange Bowl matchup, fans everywhere were able to let the world know which team was the most deserving to play in Miami on January 3, 2014. Fans with rooting interests for various teams all weighed in to let the committee know that they would support their favorite team in this season’s Discover Orange Bowl. While the response was overwhelming, that was only Phase One!
Phase Two is about choosing sides. Are you pulling for #Clemson? Are you hoping for one more big game from Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins? Or, are you rooting for the #Buckeyes? Would you like to see Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde put up plenty of points after coming up short in the Big 10 Championship Game? The vote is in your hands!
The Discover Orange Bowl wants to know which side you are on when it comes to the big game in Miami on January 3. Are you rooting for the team from Death Valley to travel south and claim another victim in the new year? If so, make sure to visit http://www.discoverorangebowl.com/ and tweet your support for the Tigers, using the hashtag #Clemson as well as #DiscoverOrangeBowl. But, if you are rooting for Ohio State to win its first bowl game under Urban Meyer, then use the hashtag #Buckeyes, as well as the #DiscoverOrangeBowl from the website and in your tweets. In fact, feel free to upload images to the site and go crazy by showing your support for #Clemson or the #Buckeyes on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
After you vote, feel free to keep the discussion going by tweeting #Clemson or #Buckeyes, remembering to use the hashtag #DiscoverOrangeBowl. Through an interactive social media dashboard at http://www.discoverorangebowl.com/, both Clemson and Ohio State fans can monitor just how socially active their fan base is through a real-time conversation meter that builds based on volume of messages fans send with team specific hashtags/keywords or #DiscoverOrangeBowl. Now that we know the two participants in the big game, it will be interesting to see which school’s fan base will be more active through social media!
The Discover Orange Bowl should be a great game, just like so many of the other 34 bowl games this college football postseason. Fans everywhere view this as the most wonderful time of the year, and with good reason. Whether you would rather receive a title or pass out presents or cheer for the underdog or the favorite, we can all be sure of one thing.
So, are you rooting for Florida State or Auburn? Ohio State or Clemson? What about in the 33 other bowl games? Favorites or underdogs? Make sure to weigh in below with your responses!
Discover has been an incredible sponsor for college football throughout the entire season. Aside from their participation with the Orange Bowl, they also are in charge of the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll, which asks college football fans across the country all sorts of entertaining questions related to their favorite college football team. You can follow Discover on Twitter and Facebook and make sure you use the hashtag #FanLoyaltyPoll!
Make sure that you stay tuned to Boston Super Blog for all of the latest polls and results from the Discover Fan Loyalty Poll. We have got you covered throughout the remainder of the 2013 college football season, leading all the way up to the BCS Championship Game! Make sure to Like Discover on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!
The Discover Fan Loyalty Poll is conducted twice a month by Rasmussen Reports, a nationally recognized leader in polling, who gathers sentiment by phone from 1500 college football fans who follow games at least once per week on television, radio, in person or online. The Poll leads up to the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl. Discover’s commitment to college football includes relationships with ESPN and Notre Dame Football on NBC.
About Discover
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America’s cash rewards pioneer, and offers home loans, private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its direct banking business. It operates the Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation’s leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.
