The THE HARRIS POLL 1996 #3 For Release: Monday, January 22, 1996 CHICAGO BULLS KEEP PLACE AS MOST POPULAR PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM, FOLLOWED BY HOUSTON ROCKETS AND BOSTON CELTICS Kentucky tops list of favorite college basketball teams with Duke and North Carolina in second and third place. by Humphrey Taylor The Chicago Bulls are still the nation's favorite professional basketball team and Kentucky is the most popular college team. The Bulls' popularity can be attributed to the exploits of Michael Jordan, America's most popular athlete. Also, the Bulls have the best record in pro basketball this year. Kentucky, which has a long tradition of producing strong college basketball teams, is thought by many experts to have one of the best (if not the best) teams this year. The Wildcats are currently number two in the Associated Press' mens college basketball poll. These are the results of a Harris Poll of 1,004 adults surveyed between November 30 and December 3, 1995. The Houst~nRockets edged out the Boston Celtics for second place among professional teams. Two years ago, the Rockets were in tenth place; their rapid rise in popularity is due in large part to their victories in the last two NBA championships. Another professional team which has moved up sharply since December 1993 is the Indiana Pacers to eighth place; they were not in the top fifteen two years ago. The Phoenix Suns have maintained their fifth place spot and the New York Knicks keep the fourth place. Louis Harris & Associates, Inc. 111 Fifth Avenue NYC (212) 539-9600 1 When it comes to college basketball, Kentucky, in fifth place in 1993, is now the i nation's favorite team, followed by Duke who was the favorite team two years ago. d North Carolina (UNC) slips from second to third place followed by Indiana, UCLA and Arkansas. The biggest change is in the college list. Kentucky rose to the number one position, and UCLA moved from thirteenth to fifth place (the Bruins won the NCAA championship in 1995). Michigan slipped from fourth to eighth place. The NBA, NCAA, and the television networks may be disturbed by some of the results from this Harris Poll. The number of people who say that they follow basketball have fallen over the last two years. Professional basketball fans are down from 35% to 29% of all adults and fans of college basketball have dropped from 28% to 24%. While more people follow professional than college basketball, among those who follow both, a substantial 57%-40% majority prefer watching college basketball. Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman and CEO of Louis Harris and Associates, Inc. TABLE 1 WHO FOLLOWS PROFESSIONAL AND COLLEGE BASKETBALL "Do you follow professional basketball, or not?" "Do you follow college basketball, or not?" Follow Professional Follow College Basketball Basketball % Yo December 1992 December 1993 December 1995 TABLE 2 FAVORITE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM (Base: Follow College Basketball) "Which is your FAVORITE college basketball team?" (Rank in Dec. 1993) Kentucky Duke North Carolina (UNC) Indiana UCLA Arkansas Georgetown Michigan Ohio State Arizona Massachusetts Notre Dame Missouri Illinois North Carolina State * = Not in top 15 in December 1993. Teams which were in top 15 in 1993 but are not in December 1995 top 15: Georgia Tech (#7 in 1993), Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) (#IO), Iowa (#I I), West Virginia (#14) and St. John's (#I5) TABLE 3 FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM (Base: Follow professional basketball) d "Which is your FAVORITE professional NBA team?" (Rank in Dec. 1993) Chicago Bulls Houston Rockets Boston Celtics New York Knicks Phoenix Suns Orlando Magic Los Angeles Lakers Indiana Pacers Detroit Pistons Golden State Warriors Seattle Supersonics Charlotte Hornets Philadelphia 76ers Dallas Mavericks San Antonio Spurs = Not in top 15 in December 1993. Teams which were in top 15 in 1993 and but not in December 1995 top 15: Atlanta Hawks (#8 in 1993), Cleveland Cavaliers (#13) TABLE 4 PREFER PROFESSIONAL OR COLLEGE BASKETBALL (Base: Follow both professional and college basketball) "Which do enjoy watching more, professional basketball or college basketball?" Prefer professionals Prefer college Same (vol.) Not sure This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between November 30 and December 3, among a nationwide cross section of 1,004 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education and number of adults in household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what *they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This statement conforms to the principles of disclosure of National Council on Public Polls. Contact Louis Harris and Associates, Inc., Information Services, 11 1 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10003, (212) 539-9697, for complete demographic details for the questions in this release. Compuserve address: 76702,2063 Other E-mail: [email protected] COPYRIGHT 1996 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ISSN 0895-7983 .