ExternalTangents

It was the college football subreddit. Everyone there watches college football. Most people don't like Alabama. Since the survey was "Who is your favorite team in Alabama?" and not "Who is the most popular team in Alabama?", the people from the other 49 states who actively dislike Bama easily outweighed the Alabama fans. Don't think of it as a poll of each state's residents' favorite team. Think of it as a poll of the nation's most liked team within that state.

Everyone here--from the author to the commenters--is misunderstanding the point of this survey. It wasn't a vote of who was the most popular among the residents of that state. It was a poll of which team in that state was most popular among college football fans from around the country. It's not incompatible that Alabama would be the most popular team among people who live in Alabama, but not the most popular team in Alabama among people from the across the whole country. People outside of Alabama don't like Alabama. They also don't like Auburn. UAB gets a lot of sympathy because of what many people think was an unjustified shutdown. The sentiments from the other 49 states easily outweigh the Bama homerism from within the state.