The most exciting team in college football this past season played its home games in the state of Alabama.
Source: uabsports.com
UAB Blazers Football
But it wasn’t the BCS National Champion Auburn Tigers. It’s actually the University of Alabama-Birmingham, which finished the season with a 4-8 record. Auburn, which won all 14 of its games actually finished second, according to Thuuz.com, a company that sends alerts to fans in real time based on how exciting a game is.
The company averaged the excitement rankings from the games of 92 of the 120 FBS schools and came up with some pretty interesting findings. The excitement meter ranges from 0-100 and doesn’t take into account the records or the fan following.
That’s why UAB, even with a losing record, came in first place. The team played in two double overtime games and two games that were decided by one point. Two more games they lost by five points. Auburn won a remarkable four games by three points, including the BCS National Championship game against Oregon, and one game (against archrival Alabama) by one point.
Georgia Tech was third followed by Michigan, East Carolina. Northwestern, UNC, Rutgers, Georgia and Iowa rounding out the top 10.
“With these teams, whether they won or loss, fans definitely felt the heartburn,” said venture capitalist Warren Packard, who co-founded the site and serves as its CEO.
With three teams in the top 10, the Big Ten was named by Thuuz to be the most exciting conference based on the intensity of the games alone, while the SEC, who has won the last five national titles, was the fifth most exciting conference, according to Thuuz.
Thuuz found that TCU and Boise State, the two schools from non-BCS conferences that made the best run to get into the National Championship game, were among the most boring teams to watch this year.
TCU finished 88 out of 92 teams, even including its narrow two-point victory over Wisconsin the Rose Bowl. And Boise State, who beat teams by an average of 35 points this year, finished in 90th place.
Ironically, the most exciting football team last year, according to Thuuz analysis was Florida State, who disappointed at 7-6 but played in four games decided by four points or less.
Thuuz allows fans to tell the company what games they want to know about and at what level of excitement they want to receive the alert. Packard said the company is branching out into Premier League soccer and cricket and are adjusting their excitement algorithm to include a greater excitement metric for users who say they are a fan of a particular team. Packard also said that the excitement factor will also be influenced by who is announcing the game. Hello, Gus Johnson!
Most Exciting College Football Teams
1. UAB Blazers
2. Auburn Tigers
3. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
4. Michigan Wolverines
5. East Carolina Pirates
6. Northwestern Wildcats
7. UNC Tar Heels
8. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
9. Georgia Bulldogs
10. Iowa Hawkeyes
11. Arizona State Sun Devils
12. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
13. North Carolina State Wolfpack
14. South Florida Bulls
15. Kansas State Wildcats
16. San Diego State Aztecs
17. Indiana Hoosiers
18. USC Trojans
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. Louisville Cardinals
Most Exciting College Football Conferences
1. Big Ten
2. Big East
3. Conference USA
4. ACC
5. SEC
6. Pac-10
7. Big 12
8. Mountain West
9. WAC
Questions? Comments? SportsBiz@cnbc.com
