College Football National Championship: Clemson Rolls Past Alabama

It’s been a national championship matchup we’re all too familiar with: Alabama Crimson Tide versus Clemson Tigers. It’s happened three out of the past four years to be exact. And, on Monday night, the Tigers prevailed against Alabama 44-16. In the process of the Clemson beat down of ‘Bama, Nick Saban was handed his worst-ever loss during his Alabama collegiate coaching career. Ouch.

While Clemson was the winner on the gridiron, we were curious to see how the teams fared on social media. We looked at social engagement numbers for both teams to determine how playing in a National Championship (and winning or losing) can affect social performance, follower growth, and engagement numbers.

Over the course of their seasons (September 1, 2018 – January 7, 2019), both Alabama and Clemson earned approximately 1.13 million engagements on Twitter. Diving in a little deeper, the SEC and ACC teams saw a significant uptick in engagements driven on game days. Again, Clemson edged out Alabama with 41% of their total Twitter engagements coming on game days, while Alabama lagged slightly behind at 37%.

Playing in a national championship game is a prestigious honor for both programs, winning the game, however, lands the team and its players in the national spotlight — and social media plays a driving force in the exposure.

Clemson and Alabama posted 84 and 23 times on Twitter on Monday. Clemson averaged 1,300 engagements per post, a full 500 more engagements per post than the Crimson Tide, who averaged 800 engagements per post. But, wait, there’s more. The Clemson Tigers earned more than 107,000 engagements on Twitter – a whopping 9.5% of their total Twitter engagements throughout the 2018-2019 season. Alabama on the other hand, drove just over 19,000 engagements, totaling 1.7% of their total Twitter engagements for the season.

Winning on the national stage earns teams more than trophies – it earns them valuable exposure on the social stage for their program, players, and sponsors.