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Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

These are the most distracting fans in college basketball

Congratulations, Arizona State!

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
NYT Free Throw Distaction Chart

Sports fans get made fun of for the way they talk about their teams. “We really struggled this year.” “We’ve gotta start running more fast-break plays.“ ”Who designed our new uniforms?” It’s always “we,” even though we’re not on the team.

But thanks to the New York Times, fans can finally feel justified including themselves in stories of success and failure. NYT analysts have poured over five seasons of college basketball data to figure out where visiting teams had the lowest free throw percentage.

The researchers concluded that a focused attempt by student sections to distract an opposing player at the free throw line is surprisingly effective, but some schools are more effective than others. They assembled this chart that ranks the most fearsome crowds in college hoops.

If you’re an Arizona State fan, there’s good news! Since you were helping your team, you can now spin that drunk and disorderly citation you got last month as an athletic activity at your next job interview.

For more of the researchers’ conclusions and a full breakdown of their process, check out the full New York Times article.

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