the buzz log
Crazy For College Football
Due to the unpredictable nature of the college football season, fan discretion is advised. Your favorite squad sits near the top of the rankings, only to get bounced from the BCS after an untimely loss. With shocking upsets becoming commonplace, interest in the Bowl Championship Series and its machinations have sacked the Search box.
This past weekend, it was Ohio State's turn to tumble. The resulting scramble sent searches on "bcs standings" up 85% for the week. Related searches on "bcs bowl games" (+110%), "bcs ranking" (+95%), and "bcs poll" (+84%) are storming the field as fans attempt to make sense of the shifting standings.
Some fans still have questions about the BCS and how it works. Right now the most popular inquiry in Search is "when do the bcs standings come out." Well, it's Sunday afternoon when Fox is good and ready to release the information. But others are quizzical about "what does bcs stand for" and "how does the bcs work." For those folks, we recommend a remedial class with nutty professor Lou Holtz.
Where are the BCS searches coming from? No surprise that Baton Rouge (LSU), Oklahoma City (Univ. of Oklahoma), and Columbus (Ohio State) lead the way. But we see a metro not known for its gridiron prowess creeping up on the rail. Lovely Honolulu is home to the undefeated Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii and places fourth in BCS interest. Can the underdog team from the islands crack a big bowl? In this crazy college season, anything is possible...
Filed under: Sports, Football, College Football
BCS Begins to Buzz
The much-maligned BCS released its first rankings this week and college football fans are buzzing. After the initial BCS standings were announced, searches on the formula for seeding the best amateur squads in the land soared over 1,300%.
The 2007 season is teetering on the brink of insanity and the rankings have an extra significance this year. Past debate about sub-par bowl game matchups chosen by the Bowl Championship Series could be eclipsed this year if a few quality teams all wind up with a single loss. With the controversy ready to swirl, related queries on "bcs poll," "bcs rankings," and "2007 bcs standings" all sacked the Search box.
Where are the BCS searches coming from? Well, Oklahoma City and passionate Oklahoma Sooner fans lead the way in regional BCS buzz. Second and third place go to a couple of other college football hotbeds—Baton Rouge, LA (home of LSU) and Columbus, OH (home of Ohio State).
The University of South Florida is this season's surprise squad and the Bulls are kicking up dirt in Buzz. Lookups on "south florida," "south florida football," and "south florida bulls" all doubled after it was revealed that the relatively unknown team from Tampa scored the #2 spot in the BCS. Will the unheralded underdogs make it to the championship game in 2008? In this buzzworthy college football season, anything is possible.
Filed under: Sports, Football, College Football
Clash of the College Football Titans
With college football heading into its fourth week, it's an appropriate time to look at the two top-ranked programs in the nation. Pigskin pundits are hoping to see USC and LSU run the table and face off in New Orleans in early 2008 for the BCS Championship.
There's still plenty of season left to play, but we're already curious how the two squads match up in Buzz...
| Clash of the College Football Titans | |||
| USC | LSU | The winner is... | |
| Overall search activity? | The Trojans continue to march through the Buzz. Searches on the team are up 23% over the past week. | The Tigers are roaring after rolling over their first three foes. Searches on the squad eked out a modest 4% gain. | USC by a couple of yards. |
| Hottest related search? | USC Football Schedule | LSU Football Schedule | College football doesn't have ties anymore, but this one's a draw. |
| 2,4,6,8? | USC's cheerleading squad leads the nation in Search interest. | LSU's cheerleaders managed to shake their pom-poms into the top 5 college squads in Search. | USC cheerleaders kick all competitors to the curb. |
| What about coach? | Pete Carroll has proven his buzz-worthiness over the past seven seasons. | Les Miles is drawing speculative interest about his possible next move. We've seen search spikes on "les miles michigan." | Carroll has the titles, but the rumors surrounding Miles make him more popular in Search right now. |
| Oddest search? | USC Baby Clothes | LSU Dog Collar | This one goes to the dogs—LSU fans have the bigger bite. |
| The quarterback quandary? | John David Booty plays in the bright lights of L.A. | Matt Flynn is boss in Baton Rouge. | Booty shakes loose about three times the searches of Flynn. |
| How about the haters? | Only a handful of lookups on "I hate USC." A few straggling searches on "usc hate t-shirts." | A paltry amount of queries on "lsu tiger haters." | Whatever happened to hatred? Fans are going to have to do better (or worse?) if these two teams wind up meeting for the national title. |
Filed under: Sports, Football, College Football
Upset Special in Search
Little-known Appalachian State pulled off the biggest upset in college football history with their road win at Michigan. The lower-division upstarts from North Carolina spurred a wild wave of searches in the days after their stunning win. Here are the top 16 Appalachian terms right now...
Michigan's Big Ten conference foes are responsible for the run on Appalachian State searches. Relishing the chance to remind fans of the Maize and Blue about the team's blunder, Michigan haters are snapping up Mountaineers merchandise.
As for Wolverines backers, searchers are looking for Lloyd. Lloyd Carr, that is. The embattled head coach of the legendary program is now the top Lloyd in Buzz. Related queries on "fire lloyd carr," "sack lloyd carr," "lloyd carr sucks," "lloyd carr must go" and "fire lloyd carr shirt" all marched through the Search box.
Filed under: Sports, Football, College Football
College Football's Top Teams
In the preseason college football polls, the USC Trojans are runaway favorites. Southern Cal is expected to smash all foes and end up in New Orleans playing for the National Championship in January 2008. However, the men of Troy are only second best when it comes to Search. Notre Dame's national following propel the Irish into our top spot. The Buzz preseason top 20 isn't based on on-field talent—we simply rank the top college squads based on your searches...
Filed under: Football, College Football
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.