Nielsen ranked the best college basketball fan bases. Did your school make it?

The Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals have one of the fiercest rivalries in college sports, and new data shows that the Battle of the Bluegrass also features the two most devoted college basketball fan bases.

Lexington, Kentucky ranked as the No. 1 market in the country for men’s and women’s basketball programs, according to the “Nielsen Scarborough Fandom Index” released on Tuesday, Nov. 3 by media audience research firm Nielsen. The index was created by analyzing data across seven metrics: apparel purchases, event attendance, streaming, social media following, TV viewership, radio listening, and overall interest level.

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On Nielsen’s list of the top 20 college hoops markets in America, Lexington’s index score of 289 took the top spot, followed by Louisville’s score of 277. Nielsen noted in its news release that both Kentucky markets dominated in every metric.

The No. 3 spot belongs to Des Moines/Ames, home to Iowa State and Iowa fans. Raleigh/Durham (Duke, UNC and NC State) came in at No. 4, while Indianapolis (Butler, Indiana and Purdue) rounded out the top five.

Surprisingly, last season’s NCAA men’s and women’s champions – the Michigan Wolverines and UCLA Bruins – didn’t crack the top 20 fanbases. While larger media hubs like Los Angeles, Houston and Atlanta didn’t make the list, smaller markets such as Birmingham and Knoxville did because their merchandise sales outpaced TV viewership.

Columbus, home to Michigan’s rival Ohio State, ranked 17th on the list. While Columbus had lower overall TV viewership, it ranked No. 1 in apparel purchases, according to Nielsen. On the flip side, Des Moines/Ames leads in social media, radio listening and streaming but lags in apparel sales.

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Publish date : 2026-11-03 18:45:00

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