STORRS, CT – MARCH 22: The UConn Huskies logo on the court before the game as the Buffalo Bulls take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on March 22, 2019 at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by Williams Paul/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
For sure, the pursuit of NCAA basketball championships has got UConn nation all excited.
Yet, the size of its fan base might be a bit overstated, at least according to one measure - social media followers.
It turns out UConn teams have some of the highest percentages of fake followers in the country on the popular social media site Instagram.
That’s according to a study by Flashpicks, a college basketball website that has news, game picks and betting tips.
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It analyzed the Instagram profiles and followers of 105 U.S. college men’s and women’s basketball teams, and men’s football teams using Star-ngage, a fake follower checker.
| Rank | College | Total Instagram Followers | Estimated Fake Followers | Percentage of Fake Followers |
| 1 | Duke Blue Devils | 1,653,000 | 426,400 | 25.8% |
| 2 | Oklahoma Sooners | 677,700 | 108,200 | 15.97% |
| 3 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 1,342,700 | 192,800 | 14.36% |
| 4 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 1,485,400 | 122,400 | 8.24% |
| 5 | Georgia Bulldogs | 1,087,800 | 82,100 | 7.55% |
| 6 | Clemson Tigers | 858,500 | 63,100 | 7.35% |
| 7 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 859,900 | 62,600 | 7.28% |
| 8 | UConn Huskies | 463,800 | 31,200 | 6.73% |
| 9 | Kentucky Wildcats | 805,900 | 51,700 | 6.42% |
| 10 | Oregon Ducks | 834,900 | 53,100 | 6.36% |
| 10 | Tennessee Volunteers | 882,000 | 53,500 | 6.07% |
Fake followers include:
- Automated accounts known as bots
- Inactive accounts that are abandoned or rarely used
- Purchased followers
Fake followers can be a serious issue for organizations that have a large social media presence because it can skew engagement rates.
Local
UConn, according to this study, has roughly 464,000 Instagram followers, yet around 31,000, or just under 7%, are fake. That’s the eighth most fake followers of any school team.
The schools ahead of UConn include the Alabama crimson tide - the UConn men's’ Final Four opponent.
Number one on the fake follower’s list? The Duke Blue Devils, with almost 26% Instagram followers considered fake, followed by the Oklahoma Sooners at 16% and the Ohio State Buckeyes at 15%.
We reached out to UConn for comment on this, but have not yet heard back.
