NCAA Football 09 Wii cover mascot prediction
by
With the announcement of the winning mascot for the cover of NCAA Football 09 on the Wii coming Tuesday the 18th I thought it would be interesting to look at one element of the push behind the mascots and how it has proven to be an indicator of success. There has been a great level of passion from supporters who have used forums, facebook groups, and the media to spread the word.
The last published top 10 list had Washington State in the lead, with Michigan State, Central Florida, Auburn, Nebraska, Kansas, Alabama, Iowa State, Missouri, and Penn State rounding out the list. It is conceivable that the voting was close and any of those team’s mascots could’ve jumped ahead late in the process and stolen it.
It should be no surprise that the schools with the largest facebook groups in support of their mascot are in the top 10. Kansas may be the sleeper to come from behind and take the win as their facebook contingent of 9,101 is the largest. Missouri is next with 6341 followed closely by Michigan State with 6268. Penn State with 5141 and Washington State with 3280 round out the top five. Auburn, Nebraska, Iowa State, and Alabama all have over 2000 as well.
UCF has a very small group but somehow ranked third going into the final week of voting. The one with the most members that isn’t in the top 10 is Rutgers with 5094 and Ohio State also missed out despite having 2857.
My prediction is that Sparty from Michigan State will be the winner. The campaigning and vote drive in support of him has been widespread, strong, and consistent. I’m not sure where the UCF votes have been coming from so it’s difficult to gauge the level of dedication there. Washington State does seem to have history of some sort of mascot pride as Butch T. Cougar won the 2006 Capital One Mascot Challenge. Kansas and Missouri may be the dark horses in the race. With the knowledge of how Sparty has been rallied around I’d put my money on him to come out on top.
Check back here on Tuesday for the announcement and analysis.