Jeremy Lin led the New York Knicks to their 7th straight win last night since his debut with the team. Lin, who now has the top selling NBA jersey, has generated unprecedented levels of buzz in just two weeks. With comparisons to NFL star Tim Tebow, we decided to use Social Radar to analyze and compare buzz online.

Linsanity vs. Tebow buzz

Tebow buzz increased each week of the NFL season, peaking in January 2012 with the Broncos playoff run. Jeremy Lin buzz has nearly equaled Tebow buzz at its highest point after just two weeks. How many more games can the Knicks win in a row while Linsanity continues?

New Yorkers like an underdog, and Knicks player Jeremy Lin has taken an improbable route to sporting stardom. After graduating from Harvard and not getting drafted into the NBA, Lin was signed by two different teams but never had significant playing time. The Knicks picked up Lin in December, and thanks to recent injuries to star players Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudamire, Lin was given his chance last week. On February 4, Lin came off the bench to score 25 points, grab five rebounds and dish seven assists. Coach Mike D’Antoni started Lin the next game, and he lead the team in scoring (28 points) and assists (eight). On February 8th he returned to the starting lineup, and posted 23 points and a career-high ten assists in a third consecutive Knicks victory. Then, Friday night, Lin capped off the week with a 38-point outing to lead the New York Knicks over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the space of five days, Lin went from a little-known curiosity to the toast of the town. He amassed 70,000 Twitter followers and 130,000 Facebook likes. He has been the subject of profiles in the New York Times, ESPN and The Economist. The Twitter hashtag #Linsanity contributed to the viral outbreak.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Jeremy Lin vs. Kobe vs. LeBron buzz

Jeremy Lin went from obscurity to stardom literally overnight. Lin is currently being mentioned 4X more often than the NBA’s two biggest stars, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

Content distribution

Within the last week, 95% of Jeremy Lin mentions came via Twitter.

Can Jeremy Lin continue his improbable run for the rest of the season?

Eli Manning and the New York Giants defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Sunday night’s Super Bowl 21-17. The game was seen by an average of 111.3 million people, the biggest audience in U.S. television history. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Super Bowl buzz

Super Bowl mentions more than doubled mentions in 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Super Bowl sentiment

Conversations around the Super Bowl were 77% positive. The game generated more chatter than the commercials — ‘Giants’ appeared in 12% of conversations, halftime performer ‘Madonna’ appeared in 7% of conversations, and upcoming movie ‘Avengers’ appeared in 3% of all Super Bowl conversations.

Content analysis

Approximately 99% of Super Bowl mentions yesterday and today came via Twitter. The event generated more real-time conversation than blog content. An average of 58% of Super Bowl mentions came via males. Ads such as the H&M commercial featuring David Beckham effectively engaged women in the Super Bowl conversation.

Brand Bowl

With advertising selling for record prices, which brands generated the most buzz for their buck? Doritos generated the biggest spike in conversation and the most mentions among advertisers. The Doritos ‘Sling Baby’ ad was rated highest by users on a USA Today poll.

Many advertisements featured Twitter hashtags this year. Which campaign do you think was most effective?

Los Angeles Clippers’ star Blake Griffin threw down what many are calling the dunk of the year in last night’s NBA game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Social media sites and blogs exploded with chatter last night and today. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Blake Griffin buzz

Blake Griffin mentions online reached their highest point since February 2011, when Griffen won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over a Kia.

Blake Griffin vs. Kobe vs. LeBron

We measured conversation around Griffin compared to the NBA’s two biggest stars: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Griffin is generating more conversations online than both today.

At least for today, Blake Griffin is the most popular player in the NBA.

In early December, we posted that Tim Tebow was generating more buzz than Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo and Drew Brees thanks to the Denver Broncos winning streak and the Tebowing craze.

Sunday, Tebow wrote the most magical chapter in his early career with his overtime upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the NFL Playoffs.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Tebow online.

Tim Tebow buzz

Tebow mentions are currently nearly double their highest level in December.

Broncos buzz

Broncos mentions reached their highest point of the season on Sunday.

NFL playoff team buzz

The New Orleans Saints were the most talked about team on Wild Card weekend. The chart above displays the top six most discussed teams over the weekend.

We will continue to monitor NFL buzz on the road to the Super Bowl.

The NBA drama continues, as the Los Angeles Clippers completed a major trade, landing one of the League’s best point guards, Chris Paul.

After commissioner David Stern blocked the Los Angeles Lakers from acquiring Paul, did the Clippers just become the top attraction in LA for the first time ever?

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Clippers buzz

We analyzed conversations back to December 2008. Clippers buzz is currently at its highest point, after mentions online skyrocketed more than 1000% following the Chris Paul acquisition.

Clippers conversations

Conversations around the Clippers are currently 62% positive. Chris Paul is being mentioned in more than 30% of all Clippers conversations.

Did the NBA make the right move allowing Paul to be traded to the Clippers but not the Lakers?

On December 8, the Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a three-team trade for one of the NBA’s best point guards, Chris Paul. But NBA fans may never know what Chris Paul looks like in a Lakers jersey because commissioner David Stern blocked the trade. Sportswriter Bill Simmons says the NBA has lost its way, and the blocked trade was the worst moment in commissioner Stern’s era. We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around the NBA online.

NBA conversation topic cloud

Just when the NBA lockout ended and buzz seemed to be trending positively, NBA buzz is now nearly 50% negative. The Chris Paul trade is the biggest topic of NBA conversations online, and conversations around the trade are 76% negative.

Do you think the NBA brand is tarnished in light of recent events?

Tim Tebow, quarterback of the Denver Broncos, continues to confound critics and delight fans as he guides the Denver Broncos to win after win, moving them ever closer to a playoff spot. Despite having terrible stats (he ranks 30 out of 34 quarterbacks this season), Tebow’s Broncos have found ways to win games since he became the starting quarterback .

And if that’s not enough, “Tebow” is a verb now, too. To Tebow is “to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different” according to Tebowing.com.

How does Tebow’s buzz compare to other leading NFL quarterbacks? We used Social Radar to analyze conversations online.

Quarterback buzz

Tim Tebow has thrust his name into the spotlight over the last six months, surpassing Mark Sanchez, Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady in mentions online.

Tim Tebow sentiment

After increasing negative buzz through mid-September, conversations around Tebow have been positive the last two months. Tebow has the Broncos leading the AFC West at 7-5 and currently ranked 10th in ESPN’s NFL Power Rankings.

NBA owners and players have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout and begin a shortened 66-game season on Christmas Day. The 149-day lockout cost the League approximately a half-billion dollars in losses. How quickly will recession-beaten and disenchanted spectators return to the game? Despite an average of $48 a ticket and a wave of bad press about both sides during the bargaining, the comeback is expected to be swift.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around the NBA online.

NBA mentions online

Buzz around the NBA reached its highest point of the year last week after the agreement ended the lockout, surpassing the buzz during the NBA Finals in June when the Dallas Mavericks defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

NBA sentiment

Negative buzz was steadily increasing through October and November as the NBA cancelled games due to the lockout, but conversations spiked to 74% positive following the agreement.

NBA conversation topic cloud

Currently every major topic of conversation around the NBA is positive. The Christmas day opening game is currently being mention in 20% of all NBA conversations.

NBA fans tell us: will you watch the Christmas day games? Will you buy tickets to games this year?

Boxing was back last weekend as Manny Pacquiao won a thrilling 12 round decision over Juan Manuel Marquez at MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas.

We used Social Radar to analyze conversations around Pacquiao online.

Pacquiao buzz

Following the fight Saturday night, Pacquiao was being mentioned more online than football, Obama and even Bieber.

Will a Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight help put boxing back in the national spotlight?