Ever wondered exactly what proportion of North Carolinians fall on each side of the great Duke-North Carolina rivalry?
According to Public Policy Posting, an oft-cited political polling blog, 37 percent of the state will be pulling for the Tarheels on Wednesday night, while just 22 percent will find themselves wearing a darker shade of blue. Lost in the shuffle is the 41 percent of the population that just doesn't care.
The numbers reflect very little change from last year, when the split was 35-21 in favor of North Carolina.
Some of the other results aren't surprising. For instance, every demographic subgroup polled (gender, ideology, race, political party, etc.) favored the Tar Heels. Also, both Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams should be supremely confident of their job security—only 14 percent had a negative opinion of Krzyzewski compared to just 10 perfect for Williams.
But some of the numbers defy expectations. 45 percent of self-described "hardcore" North Carolina fans have a favorable opinion of Krzyzewski, while 38 percent view him negatively—a subgroup with which the post's author, Tom Jensen, identifies. In fact, Duke fans are way harder on Williams, who has earned the disapproval of just over half—51 percent, to be exact—of hardcore Blue Devil supporters.
And while much has been made of Williams' clashes with fans both inside the Dean Dome and on his radio show, only 3% of Tarheel fans claim to have an unfavorable opinion of him. In fact, of the hardcore North Carolina fans, just one respondent expressed disapproval.
It certainly appears that each team's fan base runs deeper than the result of one game—even after winning a national championship the Blue Devils were unable to gain more than one percentage point of support—but the numbers show, as expected, that North Carolina is still the Tar Heel's state.
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