• Loading stock data...
Saturday, July 12, 2025

Trending 20: NCAA Tournament Special (Part 1)

Every Tuesday, we partner with Conviva to release the Trending 20 Leaderboard showcasing the professional teams, leagues, and events that have generated the deepest engagement on social media of the past week.

Over the next few weeks, we are shifting that focus to highlight the college programs participating in the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournaments.

NCAA Digital Series:
— Today (March 23) — Men’s Field of 68
— Next Tuesday (March 30) — Womens’ Field of 64
— Tuesday, April 6 — Player Spotlight

Engagement: We took the 68 teams who made each tournament field, then looked specifically at Twitter engagement rate over the course of the 2020-2021 basketball season (November 25 – March 14th). For each matchup in the full bracket, the program with the higher season-long engagement rate “wins” the matchup and moves on to the next round.

The first two rounds of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament provided no shortage of upsets. However, the volume of upsets in our engagement rate bracket actually far outweighed those in the real-world bracket.

While running our simulation, it quickly became evident early that some smaller programs of the lower seeds in the tournament combined with their dedicated fan bases, their engagement rates outperformed those of the higher seeded “blue blood” teams. In fact, there were only five games out of the first 32 in which the higher seeded teams won the engagement rate matchup:

#6 BYU (0.37%) over #11 UCLA (0.16%)
#7 UConn (0.25%) over #10 Maryland (0.16%)
#2 Alabama (0.49%) over #15 Iona (0.36%)
#6 San Diego State (1.28%) over #11 Syracuse (0.09%)
#8 Loyola Chicago (1.51%) over #9 Georgia Tech (0.52%)

Three out of the four winners of the First Four matchups went on to win their Round-of-64 contests in this Twitter engagement rate bracket. The only team that dropped its first round matchup was UCLA, as the storied program earned a 0.16% engagement rate throughout the season, falling short of BYU’s 0.37% engagement rate figures. Granted, UCLA’s tweets garner more impressions among their 81.7 thousand followers than BYU’s do among their 34.6 thousand followers.

Click/Tap to enlarge bracket.

Of note: the Final Four teams in our engagement rate bracket have a combined Twitter audience of approximately 19,000 followers. Cleveland State won the Twitter Engagement Rate bracket with 5.54%.

If this 19,000 figure made up one team’s Twitter account, it would rank 44th in Twitter audience out of the 68 teams in the tournament.

For comparison, we also filled out a bracket in which the winner of the matchups was determined by the total Twitter audience.
In this bracket, the “Final Four” programs boast a combined total of 2.31 million Twitter followers. The University of North Carolina won the Twitter Audience bracket with over 963,800 followers.

The 68-team bracket determined by Twitter followers. Click/Tap to enlarge. (Numbers are in thousands)

Top Twitter Engagement Rates of March Madness Opening Weekend (Men’s Field):

  1. Abilene Christian: 8.29%
  2. UCSB: 5.69%
  3. Oral Roberts: 5.65%
  4. Texas Southern: 4.28%
  5. North Texas: 3.97%

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Misiorowski’s Path From Anonymous to MLB All-Star In 5 Games

The Brewers flamethrower has just five games of major-league experience.
Bobbleheads are seen at Vintage Indy Sports, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Speedway. The local sports memorabilia store opened recently.

Baseball’s Bobbleheads Are the Center of the Collectibles Universe

Baseball’s most important keepsake drives long lines—and big business.
NFL

30 NFL Second-Rounders Still Unsigned With Camps Set to Open

Saturday is the earliest rookie report date for training camp.

Featured Today

Rimouski, QC - JUNE 1: Final Game of the 2025 Memorial Cup between the Medicine Hats Tigers and the London Knights on June 1, 2025, at the Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Qc.

CHL Is Facing a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of Questions Amid NCAA Talent Departure

As players defect to college, the Canadian Hockey League won’t cede ground.
Jun 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) bats during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field.
July 9, 2025

The Torpedo Bat Business Is Still Going Strong: ‘Here to Stay’

Demand for the oddly shaped bats has stayed strong across the sport.
July 6, 2025

American Celebs Want to Be Sports Owners. Soccer Is Where They Start

As U.S. team prices climb, investors set their sights abroad.
July 5, 2025

Baseball’s Celebrity Row: Behind MLB’s First-Pitch Ritual

Often planned, sometimes spontaneous, the ritual throw is baseball’s celebrity row.
Sponsored

Hottest Matchups Following NFL Schedule Release

The NFL released the 2025 regular-season schedule, and anticipation is already building in the ticket marketplace with four months to go.
Sponsored

The MVP of Clean Nutrition: Inside Bryce Harper’s Partnership with Just Ingredients

 Championing clean, effective nutrition beyond the baseball diamond—with Bryce Harper and Just Ingredients. 
Sponsored

Fighting for Clarity: Inside UFC’s New Partnership With Total Wireless

UFC teams with Total Wireless in a no-frills partnership built for today’s mobile-first, value-driven fanbase.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
Sponsored

League One Volleyball’s Defining Moment: A Championship Years in the Making

Volleyball has long thrived at the youth level—now it’s transforming professionally. The LOVB Finals mark a pivotal moment for the sport.
Sponsored

Win. Advance. Repeat: The Professional Fighters League’s Rise to Prominence 

As of 2025, PFL has introduced a World Tournament format, where every fighter must battle through a high-stakes bracket to reach a championship.
Sponsored

How NFL Next Gen Stats and AWS are Modernizing NFL Scouting Combine..

In an era where data is king, evaluating football’s next great talents demands a more sophisticated approach.
Sponsored

Game the Green: Transforming Fan Experiences at TPC Sawgrass

As fans gather at THE PLAYERS Championship, Comcast Business will be keeping spectators and the PGA TOUR connected like never before.