Another arbitrary look at the shoe sponsorships of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2012. This view is by the Regions (South, West, East, and Midwest).
What can you ascertain from this analysis? Probably nothing but getting this breakdown using Excel’s Pivot Tables is easy. 🙂
Here’s a quick look at the shoe sponsorships for this year’s Tournament seeding.
Nike has the top seeds of each regional locked up. Of no significance but interestingly enough, Adidas provides the footwear for Indiana, Louisville, Michigan, and Wisconsin, all the #4 seeds.
The selection of teams from the various NCAA conferences has a typical feel year to year.  The Big East has its share of teams (9) and represents all three sneaker sponsorships in the tournament (Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour).  The “biggest” gainer seems to be the West Coast Conference, up from one team in 2011 to three in 2012 (BYU, Gonzaga, and Saint Mary’s).
Although Murray State’s journey is done, you gotta love Ed Daniel’s hair. Normally 6-7, the EdFro takes Ed to 6-11.
College basketball championships are won or lost by the shoes the team wears. Well, that’s my kicks-slanted theory anyways. And to kick off March Madness 2012, here is the analysis of kicks for the Round of 64.
No surprise that Nike leads the shoe sponsorships claiming 76% of those still dancing in the NCAAs. That 76% equates to 49 teams donning the swoosh. Adidas is represented by a dozen, and newcomer Under Armour has South Florida, Temple, and Loyola (MD) to thank.
Year to year, how has the shoe sponsorships varied? It’s been a Nike-dominated tourney, and yeah, I took a break from analyzing kicks in 2010.
Are you ready for March Madness? How can you not get up for this annual spectacle, especially when teams and their coaches show this much enthusiasm.
Let’s roll it back to 1999. Who was the NCAA Men’s Basketball champion that year? Yep, the UConn Huskies wearing Nikes. How’s the kicks champions looked since then?
Busting out the old calculator, Nike has 11 of the past 13 victories for a 84% win rate. Michigan State’s Reeboks account for 8% along with Kansas’ Adidas for the remaining 8%. So when picking your brackets, play the odds and pick a Nike team as the last one standing. Just do it.
From the kicks point of view, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was over at the Final Four. Nike was guaranteed another Championship with all FF participants donning the swoosh. Still though, there was one last game to be played between the Bulldogs of Butler and the Huskies of Connecticut. Despite an ugly Finals, the Huskies prevailed wearing their team Nike Air Max Fly By (and an occasional Air Jordan). As a back story, it was great that both teams played tournaments in Hawaii earlier this year.
Congratulations to UConn for the win, Butler for its run, and Nike for its Air Max Fly By.
What a remarkable and unbelievable Final Four this is. No #1 or #2 seed is playing for a National Championship. That is a historical first. We have #11 VCU, #8 Butler, #4 Kentucky, and #3 Connecticut, and all of them belong to Team Nike.
Which Nike Air Max Fly By do you like the best?
Back in 2008 when all #1 seeds met in the Final Four, Adidas was represented by three teams, UCLA Bruins, Memphis Tigers, and Kansas Jayhawks.
The 2011 field for the Elite 8 isn’t good for Adidas at all. Only Kansas, albeit the #1 seed in the Southwest, is sponsored by Adidas. The other competitors, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arizona, Connecticut, VCU, Butler, and Florida, all wear Nikes.
In 2008, there was an equal split, and a 5-3 nod to Nike in 2007.
What’s the link of the successful teams in this year’s March Madness? It’s the Nike Air Max Fly By.
How’s this lineup? Kentucky, Arizona, Florida, Connecticut, Butler, and Cinderella VCU all Fly Byes.
The Sweet 16 is not looking good for Adidas. Of the teams still playing, fourteen of them are wearing Nikes, and Adidas has Kansas and Wisconsin. Here’s how it looks.
