According to a survey released earlier this week from the Public Religion Research Institute, 27 percent of Americans think that God plays some role in the outcome of sporting events. Minority Christians and White Evangelical protestants believe this a bit more strongly (nearly 4 in 10 do), while Catholics (29 percent), white Mainline protestants (19 percent), and the unaffiliated (12 percent) are more skeptical of that notion. Southerners are also more likely to believe that God plays favorites with sports teams.