What college team does the majority of Evansville root for? (South Bend: high school, university)

[iDontLikeSand]

Just wondered cause I'm moving to Evansville soon.

[EscAlaMike]

I have no idea, but this is an interesting topic and I hope you get some responses.

My guess would be mostly Indiana with Purdue being a distant second. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kentucky teams get some representation as well. The Catholic community probably roots for Notre Dame, as is true of pretty much every Catholic community in the Midwest and Northeast.

[Toxic Toast]

You're typical college sports fan in Evansville is a Notre Dame fan during football season and an IU fan during basketball season. There have been more IU football fans the last few years, but they still pale in comparison to the ND/IU split fans. When I lived in Evansville, the breakdown was generally:

1) Notre Dame football/Indiana Basketball
.
2) Purdue
3) Kentucky basketball
.
.
.
.
.
everyone else

EDIT - Edit to point out that, obviously, if you plan to settle on the Kentucky side of the river that changes the equation quite a bit. I only mention that because in OP's other thread, it was stated that he/she is not actually moving to Evansville, but somewhere nearby. The Kentucky side of the river is Kentucky 1 and Louisville 2.

[censusdata]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

...
1) Notre Dame football/Indiana Basketball
.
2) Purdue
3) Kentucky basketball
.

everyone else

... The Kentucky side of the river is Kentucky 1 and Louisville 2.

I've been to Evansville quite a few times and that seems spot on. I think the Univ of Evansville has a local following for basketball as well.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by censusdata

I've been to Evansville quite a few times and that seems spot on. I think the Univ of Evansville has a local following for basketball as well.

UE has a fairly niche following in Evansville, which is too bad. The Aces play in a strong mid-major conference in a nice arena, on paper it seems like the community would be more interested but there is a lot of apathy toward the Aces. It seemed like that was turning the corner under Walter McCarty, and of course, that all went sour.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I realize Notre Dame is in (or directly across the street from) South Bend, but Notre Dame never seemed like an Indiana school to me. Mainly because it's small enrollment and the vast majority of the students come from outside of Indiana. When I lived in Muncie I only knew of 2 people who went to Notre Dame and they both went on a football scholarship, and neither one of them were Catholic. I never knew anybody who went there just for an education. I wonder what percentage of all Notre Dame students are graduates of an Indiana high school. And what percentage of those Indiana students came from South Bend and St Joseph County? Actually it would be interesting to know the percentage breakdown of Notre Dame students by the state the high school they graduated from is in. I don't know if those kinds of stats are available to the general public or not. If they're not they probably should be.

[Berteau]

Originally Posted by Toxic Toast

You're typical college sports fan in Evansville is a Notre Dame fan during football season and an IU fan during basketball season. There have been more IU football fans the last few years, but they still pale in comparison to the ND/IU split fans. When I lived in Evansville, the breakdown was generally:

1) Notre Dame football/Indiana Basketball
.
2) Purdue
3) Kentucky basketball
.
.
.
.
.
everyone else

EDIT - Edit to point out that, obviously, if you plan to settle on the Kentucky side of the river that changes the equation quite a bit. I only mention that because in OP's other thread, it was stated that he/she is not actually moving to Evansville, but somewhere nearby. The Kentucky side of the river is Kentucky 1 and Louisville 2.

This. And the vast majority never went to any of these colleges or even been to any games. And then you have all the die hard St. Louis cardinals fans. They basically pick and choose teams from all around to root for.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

I realize Notre Dame is in (or directly across the street from) South Bend, but Notre Dame never seemed like an Indiana school to me. Mainly because it's small enrollment and the vast majority of the students come from outside of Indiana. When I lived in Muncie I only knew of 2 people who went to Notre Dame and they both went on a football scholarship, and neither one of them were Catholic. I never knew anybody who went there just for an education. I wonder what percentage of all Notre Dame students are graduates of an Indiana high school. And what percentage of those Indiana students came from South Bend and St Joseph County? Actually it would be interesting to know the percentage breakdown of Notre Dame students by the state the high school they graduated from is in. I don't know if those kinds of stats are available to the general public or not. If they're not they probably should be.

According to collegefactual.com, Notre Dame is 18th out or 2,183 schools for location diversity. Indiana is 5th on the list with 6.3% of students coming from Indiana. It's behind Illinois, California, New York, and New Jersey. Compare this with IU Bloomington where 63.4% come from Indiana, Purdue with 63.2%, and Ball State not surprisingly with 83.4% of students being Hoosiers. Notre Dame is very much a national school since 93.7% of students come from out-of-state. It kind of ranks it up there with the Ivy Leagues in terms of out-of-state students. Yale has 93% of students from out-of-state. Dartmouth is 96.8% out-of-state, Brown is 95.5% out-of-state. Or specialty schools like The Julliard School, which has 86.2% of students from out-of-state or MIT with 90.1% of students from outside Massachusettes.

https://www.collegefactual.com/colle...ife/diversity/

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by ischyros

According to collegefactual.com, Notre Dame is 18th out or 2,183 schools for location diversity. Indiana is 5th on the list with 6.3% of students coming from Indiana. It's behind Illinois, California, New York, and New Jersey. Compare this with IU Bloomington where 63.4% come from Indiana, Purdue with 63.2%, and Ball State not surprisingly with 83.4% of students being Hoosiers. Notre Dame is very much a national school since 93.7% of students come from out-of-state. It kind of ranks it up there with the Ivy Leagues in terms of out-of-state students. Yale has 93% of students from out-of-state. Dartmouth is 96.8% out-of-state, Brown is 95.5% out-of-state. Or specialty schools like The Julliard School, which has 86.2% of students from out-of-state or MIT with 90.1% of students from outside Massachusettes.

https://www.collegefactual.com/colle...ife/diversity/

That's very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

[dodeca]

ND is popular in Indiana three reasons - it is in Indiana, though just barely; it had a winning program in the 1980s into the early 1990s (is that right?), and it's a Catholic school. Evansville is a very Catholic city, so the ND fandom makes sense there.

IU basketball is by far the most popular in southern Indiana, and NE Indiana; according to this map, the rest of the state is divided among Purdue (NW Indiana); Notre Dame (north-central), and Butler (Indy's northern suburbs).

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most...ball-teams-map