“THE FLUTIE EFFECT?”By: Joey Meredith and Drew Miller

BACKGROUND• The original study is based off of former Boston College quarterback, Doug Flutie. He

successfully completed a hail mary pass in the 1984 football game against the University of Miami which won the game as time expired (McCluskey 2011). Following the game, it was determined Boston College had an increase in applications by 30% in just two years.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

• This study explores the success of relatively small and unknown university basketball teams in the NCAA tournament and the effects that success has on applications, donations, and merchandise sales. Currently, the “Flutie Effect” has been researched several times, however not specifically with the NCAA tournament.

HYPOTHESIS

• H1: Those teams seeded 10-16 that reach the Sweet 16 in the NCAA

tournament will see substantial gains in all three researched categories i.e. applications, donations, and merchandise sales.

• H2: The further a team goes in the NCAA tournament,

the larger the gains in applications, donations,

and merchandise sales.

SIGNIFICANCE AND LIMITATIONS

• Mid-Major universities may reconsider how much emphasis and money they invest in their athletic programs.

• An increase in enrollment is not always do to athletic success.

• Another limitation is there are other sports teams that could also influence enrollment.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

• “Flutie Effect” or “Flutie Factor” – This is a reference to Boston College’s Doug Flutie, whose miraculous pass in a 1984 football game contributed to a dramatic victory over the University of Miami. This play led to a large increase in applicants to Boston College the following year.

• Hail Mary – a long forward pass in football, especially as a last-ditch attempt at the end of a game, where completion is considered unlikely.

• NCAA Tournament – the largest, most elaborate championship tournament in American sports consisting of 68 teams

• Seeds 10-16 – in the NCAA tournament teams are given seeds earned from regular season records while 1 is the highest and 16 is the lowest

• Sweet 16 – when only 16 teams remain in the NCAA tournament

• Mid-major - is a term used in American Division I college sports, especially men's basketball, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the major six conferences. 

RESEARCH DESIGN

• We used a Mixed-Methods Design.

• Admissions data-quantitative method

• Distribution and collection of surveys-quantitative and qualitative methods

POPULATION AND SAMPLING METHOD

• Target population :

250 freshman at mid-major universities

• Requirements:

Have to be a freshman

School had to have a successful run in the NCAA tournament (Sweet 16)

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

• Received approval from IRB to conduct this research

• Contacted office of admissions (number of applications before successful athletic year and number after)

• Received permission from SGA for student email addresses

• Issued surveys through email

• Collect and organize survey data

• Analyze and compare number of applications to survey responses to create and answer to our hypothesis regarding the “Flutie Effect”