The Popular Crowd: No. 2 Katherine Webb

Rebecca Shore | Jan 1, 2014

To celebrate the waning days of this year (I know, I know, more like waned—but thanks to some technical issues I'm a little behind) we are presenting you with the most Googled models from the 2013 Swimsuit Issue, as determined by some very high level analytics I slaved over through the holiday (thank you, Google Trends).

In at the No. 2 spot is . . .

Troy Robertson

. . . A.K.A. the-future-Mrs. AJ McCarron A.K.A. the-former-Miss AlabamaA.K.A. Mrs. Musburger (in one person's dreams) A.K.A. Katherine Webb. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Her traffic for early 2013 is of Himalayan proportions, and though it naturally dropped going into Alabama's offseason, the surge was epic enough to send her straight to No. 2 on our list.

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As you know, it all started here with a complete lack of self-discretion from Brent Musburger, and Katherine's reasonably flummoxed expression.

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The media, of course, had a field day . . .

(Katherine at 2:47.)

. . . save for ESPN, naturally.

Have been asked on focus on @_KatherineWebb in BCS: We always try to capture interesting storylines and the relationship between an Auburn grad who is Miss Alabama and the current Alabama quarterback certainly met that test. However, we apologize that the commentary in this instance went too far and Brent understands that.— Mike Soltys (@espnmikes)

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Though no one seemed to have consulted Brent about whether or not he "understood that."

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The incident even elicited an "ehh" from noted ogler Howard Stern. 

Impressive, to say the least.

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But Katherine, ever the diplomatic beauty queen, seemed to be fine with the attention. Perhaps the sudden 8600% jump in Twitter followers had something to do with it?

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A month later the world forgave Brent for his lapse when Katherine was recruited for this last minute Swimsuit shoot with Troy Robertson A.K.A. Troyzan. (He's the one in the last slide, reveling in his good fortune.) The shoot made light of Katherine's identity crisis as an Auburn grad who's dating—and rooting for—Bama's QB, even if not everyone finds it quite so forgivable.

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Alyssa Conroy

Troy Robertson

Troy Robertson

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Acknowledging the selling power of Katherine in a bikini, ABC execs cleared a spot for her on the reality diving competition Splash. Though one of the most oddly-premised reality shows of our age, Katherine showed that she's not just beautiful, she's fearless. (Not to mention gracious—she dedicated her first dive to Brent Musburger.)

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Sadly an injury sidelined her for the season, and she subsequently retired from diving, but before that happened she gifted the world with this photo of Katherine and—ostensibly—fellow contestant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Instagram.com

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The "why" of the photo would become clear later that day.

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She gained admission to the exclusive coterie of sexy burger-eaters when Carl's Jr./Hardees hired her for this commercial:

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. . . which gave Auburn fans a brief glimmer of hope after AJ told the reporters that the ad made him hungry for Hardees, prompting fantasies of this . . .

Al Tielemans/SI via PhotoFunia.com

. . . but that never materialized.

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She got to be one of those people who wears Alexander McQueen on the red carpet.

Alexander McQueen @WorldMcqueen

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She sent some "are-they-aren't-they" mixed messages to her Instagram followers.

@_katherinewebb: Ice ice baby Ladies, this is what 9cts looks like...LAWD

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@_katherinewebb: Boom @alweddingsmag @make_up_melissa Thank you guys!! Love you always

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@_katherinewebb: My 2 favorite pieces of jewelry in my collection- Gmas heirloom ring and my gold crown ring :)

relax

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She even managed to get New Yorkers to give a damn about her!

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She scored some VIP camera-friendly seating at the ESPYs.

@_katherinewebb: Looking forward to presenting at the ESPY awards #ESPYS

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And she apparently did a mud run, though this picture is dubious evidence. I assume it's a "before," but you never know with the always primped Katherine.

@_katherinewebb: @nataliepack #misscaliforniausa #missalabamausa #teamstark at That Dam Mud Run

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She made that paper. Oh yes she did.

@_katherinewebb

: I would say we have had a successful shopping trip...don't you think?

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This is the kind of thing that only happens to card-carrying famouses, and it happened to Katherine, which is hilarious:

@_katherinewebb: So I downloaded the Face-in-Hole app on my phone and found myself randomly..kinda cool! Lol

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This picture is effing fantastic and I wish I were in it. That's all.

Instagram/Georginia Vaughan Photography

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If you have any doubt as to Katherine's staying power, here's something to think about. She is nice to all her fans, as evidenced by this Instagram shout-out to one particularly gross one.

@_katherinewebb: Bahahahaaaaa! Had to share...

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2013′s POPULAR CROWD: 

No. 5 Chrissy Teigen

No. 4 Nina Agdal

No. 3 Irina Shayk