The Ipsos
Weekly College Football
Fan First Poll
(WEEK 9)

Washington, DC - A new Ipsos poll of college football fans shows the first sign of a divided nation. The Texas Longhorns remained the number one ranked college football team in America after defeating Oklahoma State. However, with a win over top 10 Ohio State in Columbus, Penn State received the top ranking by fans in the Midwest and Northeast regions.

Despite a convincing win over Tennessee, Alabama slipped to third in the Ipsos Fan First Poll. This varies from the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings, in which Penn State is third behind Texas and Alabama.

The Ipsos Fan First Poll will be published every Thursday until the end of the college football season and then once in January after the bowl games.

Contrary to the standard Coaches' poll or Writers' poll, this is the first representative poll of college football fans--their unfiltered voice.

Fans in this poll are selected in a rigorous multi-stage process. First, a representative sample of US adults is selected from the Ipsos online panel. Of this sample, approximately 65% percent are college football fans (here defined as watching at least 1 college football game in a year). Ipsos, then, selects "avid football fans", representing approximately 32% of all football fans (or 21% of the adult population). The definition of "Avid Football fans" is based on an index of how often the fan watches college football games on television, listens to games on the radio, attends games in person, as well as reads newspapers and magazine articles related to college football.

For this survey, a national representative sample of 1,006 respondents from Ipsos' U.S. online panel were interviewed online (658 college fans and 213 avid college fans). Weighting then was employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the U.S. adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls because they are based on samples drawn from opt-in online panels, not on random samples that mirror the population within a statistical probability ratio. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

The Ipsos Fan First Poll (THROUGH WEEK 9)

TEAMS THAT DROPPED OUT OF THE FAN FIRST POLL (all lost in week 9):

Pittsburgh (5-2)

Northwestern (6-2)

Boston College (5-2)

South Florida (6-2)

RANKING BY REGION

For more information on this news release, please contact: John McMurray Senior Research Manager Ipsos Public Affairs (425) 586-5553 [email protected]

or Clifford Young, PhD Senior Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs (312) 375-3328 [email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals that helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world. Member companies assess market potential and interpret market trends to develop and test emergent or existing products or services, and build brands. They also test advertising and study audience responses to various media, and measure public opinion around the globe.

They help clients create long-term relationships with their customers, stakeholders or other constituencies. Ipsos member companies offer expertise in advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling, and consulting and offers a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies. The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999. In 2007, Ipsos generated global revenues of e927.2 million ($1.27 billion U.S.).

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos offerings and capabilities.