These internet fan polls are anything but scientific. That said, some stats from one The Cincinnati Enquirer did are very interesting.

One of the questions was to rank the region’s sports teams — football and hoops squads from Cincinnati, Ohio State, Kentucky, Xavier, Miami (OH), the Bengals, Reds, even the Kentucky Speedway — in order of confidence they’ll put out a good product consistently. Over 530,000 fans responded, and while number one isn’t shocking, some of the others are:

1 - Ohio State football

2 - Xavier basketball

3 - University of Cincinnati football

4 - Ohio State basketball

5 - Kentucky basketball

6 - University of Cincinnati basketball

7 - Reds

9 - Kentucky football

11 - Bengals

My, oh my how times have changed: Local fans now have more confidence in Xavier putting out a good product than Kentucky, Ohio State or Cincinnati hoops. Heck, fans have more faith in Cincinnati football than those there squads!

Another surprise: Despite missing the playoffs 12 straight years, fans believe in the Reds more than the Bengals (who, despite their off-field problems and train wreck of a 2007 season, did win the AFC North in 2005 and only missed the ‘06 playoffs because of a Pittsburgh upset the last day of the season). Annoyance with the Bengals reached such a high pollsters thought the Kentucky Speedway could consistently put out a better product than said Bengals.

Yes, the Speedway. The one that’s highlight is hosting a NASCAR Busch Series race.

Some of this may be due to Bengals fatigue: The Enquirer also asked for a complete survey of the state of local squads, and Cincinnati-area fans filled out three times as many Bengals surveys as Reds. And those Bengals fans are PISSED: Questioned how satisfied they are on a scale of 1-10 (one being the worst, 10 the best), 27 % gave the Bengals a one, and over 80% gave the team a score between one and five. Asked their faith in head coach Marvin Lewis on the same scale, 17% gave him a one, and near 60% scored him between one and five. And asked about current management (read: Incompetent Owner Mike Brown) and it’s ability to support the franchise? A whopping 40% gave it a one, with over 84% voting the team between a one and five.

And you thought the Bengals only had trouble keeping players out of jail.