Memphis Grizzlies searched as often as Wizards, Stars

According to Google search frequency, the Memphis Grizzliess rank just ahead of the Washington Wizards and the NHL's Dallas Stars in prevalence.

This is on a worldwide scale of the "big five" North American sports and is in thanks to Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com.

The Grizzlies show up at  #120 on the list and outrank three other NBA teams, the Wizards, Hawks and Bucks. Five other NBA teams occupy the #112-116 spots with very similar search rates, the Timberwolves, Bobcats, Kings, Jazz and Pelicans.

Memphis also outranks 10 NHL teams, the CFL lot of teams and a throng of soccer franchises.

It's nice to see that we're not at the bottom of the NBA; I don't have any past numbers but I'm guessing we were probably dead last just a few years ago.

The Grizzlies would probably rank a few slots higher if this season hadn't been so unkind, but these results go hand-in-hand with the branding approach that the Griz' ownership has adopted since purchasing the team from longtime owner Michael Heisley in 2012.

Disclaimer: If the Grizzlies miss the playoffs we can probably expect to drop a few positions. If that's the case, the FO needs to prioritize bringing back some excitement and hype to the team in the offseason.