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Reddit users have been collecting data on the most hated sports teams across the U.S. On Wednesday, it was college football's turn and the results are, well, pretty confusing.
Most hated college football team by state pic.twitter.com/8BUutO2HP9
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 7, 2014
Some of these seem rather obvious. Oregon hates Washington, and Washington hates Oregon. Arkansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma -- all states with former SWC or Big 12 teams -- all hate Texas. West Virginia hates Pitt. Minnesota hates Wisconsin.
Other states hate on ... their own schools, which at first seems strange but makes some sense when you really think about it: UNC fans don't hate on UNC, but Duke, N.C. State, Wake Forest and East Carolina fans do.
Then we come to New England, where the region apparently is not a fan of the Big Ten:
Maine - Michigan
New Hampshire - Michigan
Vermont - Maryland?!
Massachusetts - Michigan
Rhode Island - Michigan
Connecticut - Ohio State
I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised that the Big Ten's two heavyweight programs garnered the most ire in a majority of New England states, but what's up with Vermont? Maryland? Really? The Catamounts haven't fielded a college football team since 1974 and the two state's flagship schools have never met on the gridiron. Maybe UVM still holds a grudge over being passed over by Maryland and Rutgers in the latest round of Big Ten expansion? Who knows.
Of course, these sort of polls are incredibly unscientific and can be rigged by ballot stuffing or folks claiming they're from a place they aren't. The original poll creator even went back through the votes to remove some of the stuffed ballots to create a more realistic hate list:
The original poll creator went through and removed some of the stuffed votes to create a more believable hate list: pic.twitter.com/s5BdtWwNQL
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 7, 2014
Nope. Still Maryland. Vermont is weird.