I'm curious as to how the North Carolina foursome play out politically. Obviously Duke is stereotyped as the preppy Yankee Republican school, but I'm not sure if that continues to this day...I know a few of liberal, young Asians who either go there or are at least part of the national fan base. Maybe that's just personal bias and/or these people will be more conservative later on (since most youngs lean liberal anyway).
NC State was mocked as a "farmer's school" (if you consider that mocking), so I'd imagine that's somewhat right-wing as well.
UNC has to be the most liberal of the four. I'd be shocked any other way, but I don't think it's quite as liberal as you'd expect from an elite state school. (More conservative than UVA and Austin, I'm guessing?)
That leaves Wake, which I have absolutely no clue on. Religious roots, out in the mountains. Would lead you to think more GOP than at least UNC, but I'm not sure how it stacks up to the other two in the rivalry. Any locals have a thought?
As for football in PA, Penn State is highly GOP-leaning obviously being in the middle of nowhere. Pitt has far more Democrats (though overall, Penn State has massive advantages with both groups).
N.C. State (my alma mater) is conservative for a state school, but the liberal presence increased while I was there (1998-2004), though easily to the right of UNC or Duke.
In the UNC-Duke rivalry (I've lived in Chapel Hill most of my life), Northerners are disproportionately Duke fans, which is interesting since Republicans are also disproportionately Duke fans. Comparing Chapel Hill to Charlottesville is interesting since while Charlottesville is bigger, Chapel Hill is near Durham, Raleigh, and RTP, while Charlottesville is not near much, which influences the voting results.
Wake isn't really in the mountains, it's in Winston-Salem, though it is closer to the mountains than the Triangle is.
