BYU is in the final round of the NCAA’s 6th fan contest, with hopes of winning the $100,000 grand prize. The contest, which started on January 7, tests each school’s fan base to see who has the most loyal fans across the country.
Every NCAA school was eligible to win in the beginning of the competition. After the first month, the NCAA awarded the top 16 schools with $10,000 to the general scholarship fund, and took the competition to a playoff.
BYU was seeded No. 8, and knocked off Eastern Carolina, North Dakota State, and Texas-Pan American; and now faces Western Illiniois in the championship.
BYU’s sports marketing student assistant Preston Darger said the competition has been heated.
“Those that know, are fully invested,” Darger said. “These last couple of weeks, BYU fans have cast millions and millions of votes.”
In the last round, which ended Sunday at midnight eastern, BYU recorded 1.1 million votes, beating UTPA by a total of around 200,000. The operation has largely been spearheaded by BYU’s fan message board, CougarBoard.com, and the ROC.
This round, the Cougars are looking to the student body to make an impact. Using the NCAA approved script written by cougar fans, anybody can vote online once ever couple of seconds, by entering in a captcha. The average person is able to cast over 1000 votes every hour.
BYU’s marketing department and The ROC are offering incentives to voters, including an all-expense paid trip to any 2014 football game, Nike swag, a tailgate and free food.
“This competition means a lot to BYU,” said David Almodova, Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing. “We’ve always believed BYU has the best fans in the nation, and this contest is a chance to prove it.”
No doubt, $100,000 is also a pretty nice reward.
Darger is calling out the students to help win this competition.
“We need everyone’s help,” he said. “If every student just voted a couple hundred times, we’d pull this thing off. The student body just needs to know how easy it is to vote.”
For the easiest way to vote, go here and follow the instructions.
