College basketball fans in Chicago??? (chapel, home, schools)

[adamtrip]

My wife and I are hoping to move to Chicago next year and we were curious if college basketball is as big of a deal as it is in the south? We're from North Carolina and all you hear around here from October til March is who's going to win, UNC or Duke.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by adamtrip

My wife and I are hoping to move to Chicago next year and we were curious if college basketball is as big of a deal as it is in the south? We're from North Carolina and all you hear around here from October til March is who's going to win, UNC or Duke.

Short answer, yes! You can also find a bar dedicated to most major colleges to watch games at (UIUC bar, USC bar, Michigan bar, etc)

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

You can also find a bar dedicated to most major colleges

read: big 10

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by adamtrip

My wife and I are hoping to move to Chicago next year and we were curious if college basketball is as big of a deal as it is in the south? We're from North Carolina and all you hear around here from October til March is who's going to win, UNC or Duke.

There's a decent interest in College Basketball, but I'd place it pretty low on the Sports Interest Totem Pole of Chicago. It's above hockey and spring training, below the NBA, the Bears, and College Football.

Basically, its big in March. Other than that, its marginal.

[Flite]

Originally Posted by jessiegirl_98

Short answer, yes! You can also find a bar dedicated to most major colleges to watch games at (UIUC bar, USC bar, Michigan bar, etc)

that's awesome. I wish we had something like that where I'm from, but I guess a Bulls sports bar here would be empty, yet alone college sports.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by adamtrip

My wife and I are hoping to move to Chicago next year and we were curious if college basketball is as big of a deal as it is in the south? We're from North Carolina and all you hear around here from October til March is who's going to win, UNC or Duke.

Chicago is generally a pro sports town, but with the presence of the Big Ten and Notre Dame, it's a better college sports town than, say, the major cities in the Northeast like NYC and Boston. I'm an Illini guy, so college sports are huge for me personally, but what you'll find is that Chicago is much more split in its college sports loyalties than a lot of other cities in the South and Midwest because the city draws from so many different colleges. I think there are a lot of college sports fans here, but the difference is that most of those fans have some sort of direct connection to those schools (i.e. went to school there or parents went to school there) as opposed to how a lot of natives from North Carolina grow up as UNC fans regardless of whether they went to school there. The exception to this general rule is Notre Dame football, which still has a huge "Subway Alumni" presence in the Chicago area with people that have no real connection to the school cheering for the Irish (with the flip side being that everyone else pretty much hates ND - I'm sure there's a similar dichotomy with Duke where you live right now).

Illinois, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and DePaul are the main colleges that get significant media coverage in Chicago. The amount of attention that those programs get are directly correlated with how well they are doing (i.e. Illini basketball was always at the top of the sports section during the 2005 season where they eventually made it to the NCAA championship game, but not too many column-inches have been given to the extremely poor Illini football program over the past few years), although as I've alluded to before, there's always a lot of interest in Notre Dame football win or lose. All of the other Big Ten schools have huge alumni bases here, so you get a lot of focus on that conference in particular. As someone mentioned above, almost every BCS school has its own "home bar" where that school's fans gather to watch games - Chicago is so large that there's usually a sizeable number of people from every school that you can think of across the country.

Long story short - college sports don't predominate in Chicago like they do in places like NC, Indiana, or Kentucky (Chicago is, without question, a Bears town first and foremost, followed by the Cubs, Bulls, and White Sox), but there is still a good amount of attention to college sports with the presence of the Big Ten and Notre Dame.

[Fishtacos]

Chicago is a pro sports town, similar to most bigger cities. However there are a ton of college sports fans who follow a wide variety of schools nationwide. Yes there are a lot of Big Ten and Notre Dame fans and coverage....but you will have no problem finding some other fans of UNC etc...if you seek it out. It won't smack you in the face, but if you seek it out you will be pelasantly surprised how many others are out there like you.

Also, the United Center has often had NCAA games and/or Big Ten Tourney...and occasionally other special made for tv matchups. U of Illinois is a few hrs away...Marquette University is 1-1.5 hrs away and will be top 15 or better this year...etc...and both have big student, alum and general fan followings. DePaul isn't as good of an atmosphere but plays in the Big East, as does Notre Dame, another short road trip away for a game.

You certainly won't find it comparable to Tobacco Road for college hoops. But sports in general college and pro are big in Chicago, and in the region.

[Manigault]

Adam, do you remember who UNC beat for the title in '05? I was rooting for the Illini and my daughter was attending Chapel Hill. Talk about your divided loyalties.

Since there are so many other sports outlets in the area, Chicago doesn't really go ape over the Final Four but it is certainly watched closely. Plus, there's usually a Chicago prep player in the Final Four.

[Chicago_Illini_26]

I'd say about 75% of the city even has college loyalties and of that I'd say it breaks down like this:

50% Illini
20% UND
5% NU
15% Various Big Ten
10% Other

[adamtrip]

We went to the UNC v. Valpariso game at the United Center this past year it was packed with Carolina fans. It was like a home game.