analysis

This year’s Sweet 16 looks like this:

1. Louisville, Adidas
2. Oregon, Nike
3. Michigan St., Nike
4. Duke, Nike
5. Wichita St., Nike
6. La Salle, Under Armour
7. Arizona, Nike
8. Ohio St., Nike
9. Kansas, Adidas
10. Michigan, Adidas
11. Florida, Nike
12. Florida Gulf Coast, Nike
13. Indiana, Adidas
14. Syracuse, Nike
15. Marquette, Nike
16. Miami (FL), Nike

And the kicksy math comes out to 25% to Adidas, 6% to Under Armour, and therefore, 69% to Nike. This somewhat mirrors the original distribution of 20% to Adidas, 5% to Under Armour, and 75% to Nike.

Nike doesn’t seem to be making a large advertisement push for the tournament. Adidas has their All In for March motto along with their camo uniforms which I’m digging.

The West and the South Regionals have the most tumultuous results with many underdog pulling off upsets. Must be the presence of Under Armour kicks? Or maybe not.

Not much I can discern from these regional sponsorships other than I may have to change out this kicks analysis next year.

Even though three quarters of the teams in the tournament are wearing Nike’s swoosh, the top seeds in each region show a different trend. Three of the four top seeds wear Adidas. Now that’s representing the three stripes of Adidas, Louisville, Kansas, and Indiana! Gonzaga was the sole Swoosher at Number 1, and the Bulldogs have already been eliminated. So if one of the other top seeds prevail then Adidas can add another championship to their brand.

In 2013, Nike has a lock of 5 seeds – #2, #3, #12, #15, and #16. Adidas nor Under Armour have any locks this year. In 2012, Nike also had five locks, and Adidas had one at #4.

Okay, with all the changes to the conferences over time, I can’t recall who’s where anymore, and more changes are coming. But year after year, the Big East and the Big Ten continue to be the perennial powerhouse conferences with 8 and 7 teams respectively in 2013. Is it true that the Pac-12 only had one team in 2012 but five this year? Granted the Pac-12 teams aren’t highly seeded, but UCLA (#6 South), Arizona (#6 West), Colorado (#10 East), Oregon (#12 Midwest), and California (#12 East) have the third highest conference representation, tied with the Atlantic-10 and Big 12.

Without a clearly dominant team in this year’s tournament, it’s an open field for anyone’s taking. But the shoes. The shoes tell a different story. For 2013, Nike is still well represented with 75% of the field of 64. There are 13 lucky teams dancing in Adidas, and Under Armour holds at 3 teams (Temple, La Salle, and South Dakota).

Even with Nike’s strong overall showing, the top seeds show a reversal in the trend (more in a future post). The breakdown for 2013 isn’t much different from last year.