Is SLO the worst city for college basketball fans? Here’s where it ranked in new study
Remember the year 2014?
The Disney film “Frozen” led the box office, and the so-called “Ice Bucket Challenge” was a pop culture craze.
2014 is also the last time the Cal Poly men’s basketball team qualified for the NCAA Tournament. It’s been nearly that long since the team made it into its own conference tournament — a streak this year’s Mustang team ended by securing a berth on the last day of the season.
All of that makes it tough to be a college basketball fan in San Luis Obispo.
So it’s no wonder that, when personal finance website WalletHub released its list of the Best Cities for College Basketball Fans in the United States in 2025 ahead of March Madness, San Luis Obispo ranked among the worst cities in the country for college basketball fans.
To find the top spots for NCAA hoops, WalletHub said it “crunched the numbers” on more than 290 U.S. cities using several key metrics, including the number of Division I teams per city, stadium capacity and social media engagement.
“The best cities for college basketball have high-performing teams, affordable and accessible games and strong fan engagement,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo wrote in a March 5 article.
Why is SLO one of the worst cities for college basketball fans?
San Luis Obispo ranked 278th out of 296 cities in terms of entertainment value for college basketball fans, the WalletHub study found, with a total score of 19.06 out of 100.
The city was No. 154 among 161 small cities, according to WalletHub.
When it comes to college basketball teams’ performance, San Luis Obispo ranked 293rd.
The Cal Poly men’s basketball team, which belongs to the Big West Conference, had not recorded a winning record since 2013 when it finished 18-14 and was selected to compete in the College Insider Tournament.
The Mustangs completed the 2024-25 regular season 14-18 overall and 8-12 in league play, in the process snapping a conference losing streak that reached 46 games over three seasons.
Fans finally had something to cheer about, as the Mustangs secured a Big West Tournament berth for the first time since 2015 with a March 8 victory over Long Beach State.
The team was set to open play Wednesday night in an 8:30 p.m. game against UC Davis at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.
On the women’s side, Cal Poly is 11-15 overall and 6-10 in the Big West for the season. The Mustangs edged out UCSB 56-54 in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
How did other California cities rank?
A total of 15 California cities landed on WalletHub’s list of the best cities for college basketball fans, with Los Angeles landing at No. 1.
The Southern California city, which scored 58.55 out of 100, is home to four Division 1 NCAA teams: the UCLA Bruins, Cal State Northridge Matadors, Loyola Marymount Lions and USC Trojans.
“These teams stand out even in a city that’s already known for its professional-level basketball,” WalletHub said.
The Bruins have the highest number of NCAA championship wins since 1938, with 11 total. Plus, Los Angeles is home to four Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coaches, the most of any city in the nation, WalletHub said.
Other California cities ranked lower on WalletHub’s list, with Long Beach landing at No. 39 and San Diego coming in at No. 63. San Francisco was No. 71.
Sacramento ranked among the worst U.S. cities for college basketball fans at No. 289.
What are the best US cities for college basketball fans?
These were the top 10 cities for college basketball fans in the United States, according to the latest WalletHub study:
- Los Angeles
- Philadelphia
- Storrs, Connecticut
- Durham, North Carolina
- Lexington, Kentucky
- Lawrence, Kansas
- East Lansing, Michigan
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Washington, D.C.
- Boston
Where are the 10 worst cities for NCAA hoops?
According to WalletHub, these were the worst U.S. cities for college basketball fans:
Dover, Delaware
Daytona Beach, Florida
Pocatello, Idaho
Huntsville, Alabama
Austin, Texas
Stockton
Edinburg, Texas
Sacramento
Wichita, Kansas
Hampton, Virginia
How did WalletHub come up with its rankings?
WalletHub compared 296 U.S. cities with a Division 1 basketball team using nine metrics, all of which were weighted differently and averaged on a 100-point scale.
These metrics included:
- Number of Division I teams
- Performance level of teams
- Number of championships
- Number of Hall of Fame coaches
- Minimum season ticket price
- Number of coaches in the past 10 seasons
Cities were also ranked by population size.
WalletHub defined small cities as those with a population of less than 100,000 people, midsize cities as those with a population between 100,000 and 300,000 and large cities as cities with more than 300,000 residents.