Tweet Madness: East, Round 2

Last Updated on June 5, 2014

Matchup 1: 1 Virginia vs. 16 Coastal Carolina

	Virginia (@UVAMensHoops)	Coastal Carolina (@CCUHoops)
# of Followers	10.3K	625
# of Tweets	3,210	381
Klout Score	68	47
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#50,722	#48,200
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	N/A	N/A
Social Authority Score	67	14

As was the case with the South, the number 1 seed easily beats the 16 seed in this Twitter matchup. One way for Coastal Carolina to improve its Twitter influence is to start tweeting more organic tweets, as opposed to just retweeting other Twitter users, which it seems to do very often. Perhaps Coastal Carolina relies heavily on its main athletic Twitter (@GoCCUsports); however, if the Men’s Basketball team is going to gain exposure on its own, the team’s handle does need to tweet more original content and tweet much more often than it has.

Matchup 2: 8 Memphis vs. 9 George Washington

	Memphis (@UofMTigersHoops)	GWU (@GW_MBB)
# of Followers	35.8K	3,106
# of Tweets	1,300	4,619
Klout Score	63	64
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#4,430	N/A
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	#1,611	N/A
Social Authority Score	59	50

Even though Memphis has spent on 1,700 days on Twitter, meaning that it Tweets less than once per day, its 30,000+ more followers are extremely significant. GWU has spent 593 days on Twitter, averaging 7.8 tweets/day. This can surely help it increase its Twitter presence in the near future. Additionally, Memphis increased its position in the Basketball Peergroup by 210 places in the last month. In comparison, the only Peergroup @GW_MBB is even recognized in is “Politics” – guess that’s what happens when you play in the Nation’s capital.

Winner: Memphis

Matchup 3: 5 Cincinnati vs. 12 Harvard

	Cincinnati (@GoBEARCATS)	Harvard (@hoopsatharvard)
# of Followers	33.8K	3,190
# of Tweets	24.7K	1,031
Klout Score	86	56
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#6,724	#35,097
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	N/A	N/A
Social Authority Score	76	42

These two teams are hard to compare because Cincinnati does not have its own handle dedicated to the Men’s Basketball team: players, coaches, and athletic department staff members dealing with basketball all have their own, and the Women’s Basketball team has its own, but the Men’s Basketball team does not. Thus, at first glance, it seems as if Cincinnati beats Harvard in every category, but we are not exactly comparing apples-to-apples here. As a result, just like in the First Four Matchup of Cal Poly vs. Texas Southern, I am going to have to give the win to the team that actually has a handle dedicated solely to the Men’s Basketball team.

Winner: Harvard

Matchup 4: 4 Michigan State vs. 13 Delaware

	Michigan State (@MSU_Basketball)	Delaware (@UDelBasketball)
# of Followers	64.4K	333
# of Tweets	6,684	503
Klout Score	72	50
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#2,542	#54,100
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	#1,353	N/A
Social Authority Score	73	22

Delaware is again one of those schools that relies more heavily on its main athletic handle (@UDBlueHens) than on its own basketball Twitter handle. Regardless of this, the handle dedicated to solely Basketball is lacking in all regards, and Michigan State overwhelmingly wins.

Winner: Michigan State

Matchup 5: 6 North Carolina vs. 11 Providence

	North Carolina (@UNC_Basketball)	Providence (@PCAthletics)
# of Followers	156K	9,551
# of Tweets	10.7K	9,184
Klout Score	73	64
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#1,054	#15,836
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	#869	N/A
Social Authority Score	75	60

The Providence Men’s Basketball team does not have its own Twitter handle, although it has its own Facebook page with 7,402 likes. Additionally, the Head Coach of the Friars has his own handle (@CoachCooleyPC) with 4,009 followers and 129 tweets. Despite this, it is obvious that UNC wins this matchup.

Winner: North Carolina

Matchup 6: 3 Iowa State vs. 14 N.C. Central

	Iowa State (@CycloneMBB)	N.C. Central (@NCCUBasketball)
# of Followers	29.4K	977
# of Tweets	10.2K	2,155
Klout Score	69	57
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#15,256	#39,700
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	#2,557	N/A
Social Authority Score	63	22

North Carolina Central poses very little threat to Iowa State’s Twitter presence – Iowa State easily wins in every category.

Winner: Iowa State

Matchup 7: 7 Connecticut vs. 10 Saint Joseph’s

	UConn (@UConnMBB)	Saint Joseph’s (@SJUHawks_MBB)
# of Followers	11.3K	2,827
# of Tweets	3,039	1,201
Klout Score	65	61
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#4,500	N/A
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	N/A	N/A
Social Authority Score	70	36

For two teams from the Northeast, these teams are diametrically opposed in Twitter presence. This is the fourth landslide victory in a row in the East. However, one must give credit where credit is due, and I really enjoy the amount of pictures that Saint Joseph’s tweets!

Winner: UConn

Matchup 3: 2 Villanova vs. 15 Milwaukee

	Villanova (@NovaMBB)	Milwaukee (@MKEPanthers)
# of Followers	4,192	4,061
# of Tweets	1,763	3,447
Klout Score	63	63
Peerreach Score (Sports)	#16,500	#13,500
Peerreach Score (Basketball)	N/A	N/A
Social Authority Score	50	49

Just like Cincinnati, Milwaukee Men’s Basketball coaches have Twitter presences, as well as the Women’s Basketball team, but the Men’s Basketball team itself does not. Yet, even when you compare Villanova’s Men’s Basketball handle to Milwaukee’s handle for all of its sports, Villanova still has more followers, a higher Social Authority score, and the same Klout score.

Winner: Villanova

Round 3 Matchups

Matchup 1: 1 Virginia vs. 8 Memphis

Matchup 2: 12 Harvard vs. 4 Michigan State

Matchup 3: 6 North Carolina vs. 3 Iowa State

Matchup 4: 7 UConn vs. 2 Villanova

CincinnatiCoastal CarolinaDelawareGeorge WashingtonHarvardIowa StateMarch MadnessMemphisMen's BasketballMichigan StateN.C. CentralNCAAProvidenceSaint Joseph'sUCONNUNCVirginia