What is the most popular college football team in Arizona?
The answer, at least according to google search data, may surprise you.
You have to be thinking Arizona State Sun Devils or Arizona Wildcats, right?
If not, maybe you think the answer is the NAU Lumberjacks.
You’d be wrong on all three accounts, according to google trends data shared with USA TODAY from 2017 to 2022.
You see, according to the data in that time frame, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the most searched-for college football team in Arizona, making it also the most popular college team in Arizona, according to USA TODAY.
More:Here’s the most popular college football team in every state, based on Google search data
Say what?
Interestingly, Arizona isn’t the only state with Pac-12 schools that apparently aren’t the most popular in their state, according to the google data shared with USA TODAY.
Utah’s most popular team is not Utah. Nor is it future Big 12 member BYU.
It’s Alabama.
Colorado isn’t the most-searched team in Colorado. Neither is Colorado State or even Air Force.
According to the USA TODAY story, it’s Nebraska.
Oregon evidently has a stranglehold on Washington and Oregon while the other Pac-12 state, California, has USC as its most searched college football team.
More:ASU football fans had jokes about Arizona’s 2021 loss to NAU after win over Lumberjacks
We’re still trying to get our heads around the team representing Arizona.
Sure, Ohio State might be popular with some winter visitors and transplants in Arizona, but popular enough to be the most popular college football team in Arizona?
Are times really that tough for the Sun Devils and Wildcats that the Buckeyes are more popular and more searched?
We have a hard time believing that.
Who do you think is the most popular college football team in Arizona?
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More:Arizona State football vs. NAU rewind: Sun Devils dominate Lumberjacks in season opener
Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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