This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/DanielLevysFather on 2023-12-31 20:37:56.
As many of you may remember, a couple days ago I posted this in order to determine by way of democracy the true owners of college football’s most used acronyms (or, as one Alabama flair pointed out, most used initialisms. Acronyms are only when you pronounce the letters as a word, like NASA or SCUBA. Turns out some of them did come to play school). 48-ish hours and 3,220 responses later, we have our results! Below are the 7 most contentious/discussed in my opinion, followed by the rest in alphabetical order. The “statistical anomaly” polls (biggest blowout, photo finish, etc) will be awarded at the end. Polls that had issues or technicalities will be denoted with an asterisk. Thank you all for participating!
The Big 7
OSU - 3,038 votes
- the Ohio State University - 1,811 (59.6%)
- Oklahoma State - 813 (26.8%)
- Oregon State - 414 (13.6%)
UA / U of A - 2,861 votes* many said UA and U of A should’ve been polled separately as they are two different monikers
- Arizona - 1,541 (53.9%)
- Alabama - 999 (34.9%)
- Arkansas - 202 (7.1%)
- Akron - 119 (4.2%)
UM / U of M - 2,879 votes* same issue as UA / U of A
- Michigan - 1,949 (67.7%)
- Miami (FL) - 422 (14.7%)
- Memphis - 204 (7.1%)
- Minnesota - 200 (6.9% nice)
- Mississippi (Ole Miss) - 58 (2%)
- Montana - 46 (1.6%)
UT - 3,005 votes
- Texas - 1,697 (56.5%)
- Tennessee - 1,211 (40.3%)
- Toledo - 97 (3.2%)
USC - 2,975 votes
- Southern California - 2,599 (87.4%)
- South Carolina - 376 (12.6%)
UW - 2,910 votes
- Washington - 2,367 (81.3%)
- Wisconsin - 467 (16%)
- Wyoming - 76 (2.6%)
NU - 2,736 votes
- Nebraska - 1,546 (56.5%)
- Northwestern - 1,190 (43.5%)
Best of the Rest (alphabetized)
ASU - 3,077 votes
- Arizona State - 2,849 (92.6%)
- Appalachian State - 124 (4%)
- Alabama State - 66 (2.1%)
- Arkansas State - 32 (1%)
- Alcorn State - 6 (0.2%)
BSU - 2,911 votes
- Boise State - 2,334 (80.2%)
- Ball State - 577 (19.8%)
BU - 2,897 votes
- Baylor - 2,676 (92.4%)
- Butler - 177 (6.1%)
- Bucknell - 44 (1.5%)
CU - 3,031 votes
- Colorado - 2,736 (90.3%)
- Clemson - 195 (6.4%)
- Columbia - 64 (2.1%)
- Cornell - 36 (1.2%)
DC - 2,279 votes
- Dartmouth College - 1,165 (51.1%)
- Davidson College - 1,114 (48.9%)
DU - 2,395 votes
- Duke - 1,379 (57.6%)
- Duquesne - 539 (22.5%)
- Drake - 47 (19.9%)
FSU - 3,084 votes
- Florida State - 3,004 (97.4%)
- Fresno State - 80 (2.6%)
FU - 2,295 votes
- Furman - 1,288 (56.1%)
- Fordham - 1,007 (43.9%)
GSU - 2,691 votes
- Georgia State - 1,240 (46.1%)
- Georgia Southern - 1,150 (42.7%)
- Grambling State - 301 (11.2%)
ISU - 2,908 votes
- Iowa State - 2,422 (83.3%)
- Illinois State - 199 (6.8%)
- Idaho State - 153 (5.3%)
- Indiana State - 134 (4.6%)
JSU - 2,654 votes
- Jackson State - 1,401 (52.8%)
- Jacksonville (Jax) State - 1,253 (47.2%)
KSU - 2,995 votes
- Kansas State - 2,809 (93.8%)
- Kennesaw State - 120 (4%)
- Kent State - 66 (2.2%)
LU - 2,592 votes
- Liberty - 2,044 (78.8%)
- Lehigh - 549 (21.2%)
MSU - 3,045 votes
- Michigan State - 2,487 (81.7%)
- Mississippi State - 464 (15.2%)
- Montana State - 60 (2%)
- Missouri State - 19 (0.6%)
- Morehead State - 8 (0.3%)
- Murray State - 5 (0.2%)
- Morgan State - 2 (0.06%)
MU - 2,519 votes
- Missouri - 1,697 (67.4%)
- Miami (OH) - 822 (32.6%)
ND - 3,005 votes
- Notre Dame - 2,548 (84.8%)
- North Dakota - 547 (15.2%)
NSU - 2,193 votes* Nicholls State was added after the form opened and missed out on approx. 500 potential votes
- Northwestern State - 1,054 (48.1%)
- Norfolk State - 802 (36.6%)
- Nicholls State - 337 (15.4%)
NU - See above
OSU - See above
OU - 2,973 votes
- Oklahoma - 2,641 (88.8%)
- Ohio - 332 (11.2%)
PSU - 2,974 votes
- Penn State - 2,795 (94%)
- Portland State - 179 (6%)
SDSU - 2,930 votes
- San Diego State - 2,440 (83.3%)
- South Dakota State - 490 (16.7%)
SU - 2,359 votes* Stanford was added after the form opened, missed out on approx. 300 votes
- Syracuse - 1,033 (43.8%)
- Stanford - 589 (25%)
- Southern - 477 (20.2%)
- Samford - 260 (11%)
TSU - 2,295 votes
- Tennessee State - 1,112 (48.5%)
- Texas Southern - 953 (41.5%)
- Tarleton State - 230 (10%)
TTU - 2,863 votes
- Texas Tech - 2,564 (89.6%)
- Tennessee Tech - 299 (10.4%)
TU - 2,352 votes
- Tulane - 985 (41.9%)
- Temple - 820 (34.9%)
- Tulsa - 489 (20.8%)
- Towson - 58 (2.5%)
UA - see above
UD - 2,322 votes
- Delaware - 1,182 (50.9%)
- Dayton - 1,140 (49.1%)
UH - 2,715 votes
- Houston - 1,909 (70.3%)
- Hawai’i - 806 (29.7%)
UI / U of I - 2,620 votes
- Illinois - 1,464 (55.9%)
- Iowa - 692 (26.4%)
- Idaho - 464 (17.7%)
UL / U of L - 2,567 votes
- Louisville - 1,901 (74.1%)
- Louisiana (Lafayette) - 666 (24.9%)
UM / U of M - see above
UNC - 2,926 votes
- North Carolina - 2,838 (97%)
- Northern Colorado - 88 (3%)
USA - 2,437 votes* entire question was added after the form was opened, missed approx. 600 submissions
- United States of America - 1,787 (73.3%)
- U South Alabama - 650 (26.7%)
USC - see above
USD - 2,472 votes
- San Diego - 1,509 (61%)
- South Dakota - 963 (39%)
UT - see above
UW - see above
VU - 2,338 votes
- Vanderbilt - 1,366 (58.4%)
- Villanova - 682 (29.2%)
- Valparaiso (Valpo) - 290 (12.4%)
WSU - 2,882 votes
- Washington State - 2,838 (98.5%)
- Wright State - 44 (1.5%)
Awards and Factoids
Biggest Blowout - Washington State defeats Wright State by 2,784 votes, bringing in 98.5% of the total count. WSU edges out FSU and UNC (97.4 and 97% respectively)
Closest Call - The battle for “UD” between Delaware and Dayton was decided by a mere 42 votes, as the Fightin’ Blue Hens beat out the Flyers by 1.8 percentage points. “DC” was won by 50 votes by the Big Green, and GSU was decided by 90.
Team With Most Votes - Florida State dominated Fresno State to come away with 3,004 votes. Arizona State had 2,849 (likely due to their question being first alphabetically), followed by Washington State and North Carolina at 2,838 each. Hey, at least you won something this weekend, 'Noles!
Team With Least Votes - Morgan State came away with only 2 selections. Murray State had 5, Alcorn State had 6. I didn’t know Alcorn State existed until I made this, so no surprises here
Most Responses to Question - FSU squeezed by ASU and OSU with tallies of 3,084, 3,077, and 3,038 respectively. Another consolation prize after that butt whooping yesterday
Least Responses to Question (aka the “Who tf cares about these teams?” question) - NSU only raked in 2,193 responses, making them the only question in the 2,100-2,199 range. TSU, DC, and FU were in the 2,200-2,299 range.
Plurality Winners (These schools won more votes than each of their opponents without achieving absolute majority, ie more than 50% of the total) - Georgia State (46.1%), Northwestern State (48.1%), Syracuse (43.8%), Tennessee State (48.5%), and Tulane (41.9%)
Biggest Surprises - Most of this survey ended up as I would have predicted. UA / U of A going to Arizona and not Alabama was a bit surprising, but as I have been told, U of A is typically associated with Arizona and UA is more associated with Bama (I think). South Dakota State getting beat by nearly 2,000 votes also came as a bit of a shock. The results of NU, UT, and TSU were interesting to me but not particularly surprising.
FUN FACTS!
- In its battle against South Alabama, the United States of America won 1787 votes. 1787 is coincidentally the year the US Constitution was signed. Go USA!
- Louisiana Lafayette finished with 666 votes. They are now required to change their name from Ragin’ Cajuns to Hatin’ Satans.
Congrats! You made it to the end. Thank you to everyone who read, voted, and argued in the comment sections. Feel free to ask any statistical questions you might have about the results, and let me know if you like this kind of content! And of course, Happy New Year to everyone in r/CFB