Also, that NYT map that tracks Facebook likes by zip codes is not kind to Cyclones fandom in the state. Don’t get me wrong, that map is incredibly flawed, and here are just a few examples…
1) There are not more Wisconsin fans in MINNEAPOLIS than Gophers fans, let alone significantly more, lol. You can use hyperbole about a lack of Minny support in the Twin Cities, but the student population alone makes this impossible, even if only like 35% are fans (which is unfairly low).
2) There aren’t more UNC fans than Duke fans in Durham or than Wake Forest fans in Winston-Salem, period! I’m sure it’s embarrassingly close, but they’re not outnumbered.
3) I live in Chicago, and there are zero zip codes with more OSU fans than Illinois or Notre Dame, lol, and in general Illini support is understated. It’s pretty much (very low % plurality for each, BTW) Illinois most places except for Notre Dame south and SW of the Loop, plus any suburbs that are particularly Irish/Catholic, Northwestern in Evanston and maybe 1-2 suburbs in each direction, Wisconsin in the extreme north suburbs and then possibly another Big Ten school (Iowa/Michigan/MSU/etc.) in transplant heavy areas like Lincoln Park or Wrigleyville.
Back to my point, the map tends to obviously skew toward fans likely to have Facebook, and it overcounts “bandwagon likes” from random kids who think Texas or Florida are cool, while undercounting “local teams” who aren’t very good at the moment.
I think a good rule of thumb for Iowa on the map is to add 5-6% for ISU in every Central Iowa zip code and see what it gets you. It’s still only going to extend “Cyclone Territory” in a small radius around Story County (probably extending farther north and west than it goes east or south), and there will be a falloff toward the Hawkeyes as you go south of Ankeny (which should be ISU territory). And that would jive with my personal experience. There are CERTAINLY more Iowa fans than ISU fans in Western IA, from my experiences…