# Which college football teams are you a legitimate fan of -- and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 14, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486 "2014-09-14T17:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/21 "2014-09-15T20:17:17Z")
Northwestern (alum.) And I hate Notre Dame (because I grew up with Notre Dame fans.) Otherwise, I generally root for any Big Ten team, minus Ohio State. I can’t really say I “follow” any teams beyond my alma mater, though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/22 "2014-09-15T20:51:21Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Notre Dame (Alum & subway alum) > Kent State (Alum) > Ohio State (local area big school team) Similar 🙂 Kent State (alumna) Ohio State (born a Buckeye) Georgia (business partner is born and raised and lives in Athens) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/23 "2014-09-15T21:18:22Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > As far as that goes, I’m basically an SEC fan, Same here. My rooting order is Alabama, Miss St, Ole Miss, LSU, then any SEC team over any non-SEC team, then whoever is playing Notre Dame, and then, I guess, for the sake of marital harmony, Ohio State over any non-SEC opponent, especially Michigan, whom my wife and other Buckeye fans seems to think actually matter, despite not even playing in the SEC. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/24 "2014-09-15T21:29:24Z")
Northwestern (alum) Michigan (family ties) I would root for my undergrad institution’s football team, but they are Division III so I never hear about the games. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/25 "2014-09-15T21:38:33Z")
Just my Alma Mater, Wisconsin, but I’m just a lukewarm fan these days. College football never was an even playing field, but it’s worse now. I’m not just talking about admissions standards, but that is a big part of it. The big strong sons of farmers and factory workers and coal miners in the Midwest and Pennsylvania used to go to Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State, but those jobs went away in the 80’s and 90’s. Now the blue collar jobs are in the South (mostly) but also the west. It’s hard to recruit out of state kids to Wisconsin to play in winter when Alabama and Texas and Florida are also calling. I think the Big Ten is on the wrong side of a demographic trend and what we’re seeing from them this year is going to happen more in the future. Wisconsin can find a place to hide a few guys who don’t belong in college, but not 40 or 50 of them that some schools seem to do. Florida touted Tim Tebow as a great Academic All-American, but do you know what his major was? Something called “Family, Youth, and Community Sciences.” I wonder how many parents who are writing $20,000 checks to send their kids to Florida are letting them major in that? Hell, my kids go to Colorado and they don’t have fluff majors - you have to major in a regular academic subject. Lots of sociology and communications majors, but no “Sports Management” and the like. Hell, if Tebow decided he wanted to transfer to Colorado back then, they wouldn’t accept him and his 3.7 GPA because the credits wouldn’t transfer. I’ve read that Johnny Manziel didn’t actually go to class at A&M - he took all online courses. I expect to hear more and more stories like the one at North Carolina in the future. (I’m not implying that Manziel cheated - just that online learning if rife with cheating.) I’ve actually quit a job in the industry after 6 months due to a guilty conscience. Add in all the injuries and concussions and players demanding protection and their fair share of revenues, and I see football at the start of a long, slow, but inevitable decline. I don’t think I’ll miss it much. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/26 "2014-09-15T23:13:51Z")
UofI, Northwester, Notre Dame. Geography. Don’t ever remember reasoning it out; just seemed natural to like the teams near me. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/27 "2014-09-15T23:34:40Z")
Nebraska: Dad’s family is from there, and my undergrad alum. The first one formed my football fandom well before I went there. Northwestern: Grad alum, but not followed as much as Nebraska. I do get tickled when NW beats Nebraska, as their academic/football focuses are opposites. Hawaii: because I live here and do sideline photography with them ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/28 "2014-09-16T00:42:52Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Florida touted Tim Tebow as a great Academic All-American, but do you know what his major was? Something called “Family, Youth, and Community Sciences.” I wonder how many parents who are writing $20,000 checks to send their kids to Florida are letting them major in that? Do you know anything about this major, or did you just hear a sound bite and thought it sounded clever? My sister is currently getting her Masters at Florida’s FYCS program, and my understanding is that it’s more or less applied sociology. She’s preparing for a career spearheading nonprofit community organizations who deal with serious issues. [By the way: here is a link to the University of Colorado Boulder’s sports management program.](http://www.uccs.edu/business/academics/bachelors-degrees/sport-management.html) UC Denver has one too. Shall I link it? So yeah, find another reason to shit on UF. To answer the OP: I’m a third generation Florida grad. Don’t really care much about any other schools, though I have the same vague sense that it’s nice when the SEC pulls in titles. Except for Alabama. Screw those guys. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/29 "2014-09-16T00:55:29Z")
That CU-Colorado Springs. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/30 "2014-09-16T00:57:20Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > That CU-Colorado Springs. [Happy to oblige. What else you got?](http://www.uccs.edu/business/academics/bachelors-degrees/sport-management.html) ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/31 "2014-09-16T01:01:09Z")
Wisconsin - attended Purdue - graduated I can’t stand Notre Dame, so I’m a fan of the team they’re playing against. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/32 "2014-09-16T01:01:17Z")
Oregon Stanford Alabama ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/33 "2014-09-16T01:03:29Z")
FSU (alum\* and lifelong fan) Furman (wife’s alma mater) Gators (simply because I want it to _hurt_ when we beat them at the end of the year) ACC schools over others (especially SEC schools) - Sort of, didn’t graduate but attended ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/34 "2014-09-16T01:04:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > [Happy to oblige. What else you got?](http://www.uccs.edu/business/academics/bachelors-degrees/sport-management.html) I don’t think your links go to UC Boulder, though. They both go to Colorado Springs. Out of the two schools I cheer for, Purdue has a degree in sports management, but Wisconsin doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/35 "2014-09-16T01:07:16Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Wisconsin - attended > Purdue - graduated > > I can’t stand Notre Dame, so I’m a fan of the team they’re playing against. I really have to wonder how many other people (my Daddy was the first I knew of) pull for “whoever’s playing Notre Dame” as their second choice of the weekend. Of course, in his case, it was third on the list, with “whoever’s playing Alabama” second. How far back must that anti-Notre Dame thing go, you reckon? ETA: It just occurred to me that that might explain NBC’s carrying ND games! ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/36 "2014-09-16T01:25:51Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Out of the two schools I cheer for, Purdue has a degree in sports management, but Wisconsin doesn’t. Wisconsin has Agricultural Journalism (or whatever they changed it’s name to.) It’s a legitimate course of study in an Ag School, I suppose, but it’s definitely the “athlete track” for UW. You see tons of huge guys from the city who have probably never seen a farm animal up close in their lives coming and going from Ag Hall. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/37 "2014-09-16T01:33:52Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I don’t think your links go to UC Boulder, though. They both go to Colorado Springs. You’re right. [http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/business/degrees/bachelor/Pages/Sports-Management.aspx](http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/business/degrees/bachelor/Pages/Sports-Management.aspx) There’s UC Denver’s sports management program. It looks like UC Boulder doesn’t have one, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s one college with three main campuses. Two of them have it, one doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/38 "2014-09-16T01:45:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > You’re right. > > [http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/business/degrees/bachelor/Pages/Sports-Management.aspx](http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/business/degrees/bachelor/Pages/Sports-Management.aspx) > > There’s UC Denver’s sports management program. > > It looks like UC Boulder doesn’t have one, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s one college with three main campuses. Two of them have it, one doesn’t. That’s ridiculous. They’re three separate colleges. One is the flagship University of the state with a football program and the others are commuter colleges with no football. If you get a degree from CU-Denver, the diploma says University of Colorado-Denver. That’s like saying University of Wisconsin-Parkside is the same as UW-Madison. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/39 "2014-09-16T01:48:50Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > That’s ridiculous. This is fun. Go here. > **[University of Colorado](https://www.cu.edu/)** > > The University of Colorado (CU) is a premier public research university with four campuses: Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver, and the Anschutz Medical Campus. Scroll down. See those big words near the bottom? What do they say? “Four Campuses, One University.” So I guess I was wrong about the number of campuses. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486/40 "2014-09-16T02:13:00Z")
You’re not doing yourself any favors by displaying that you you don’t know how University Systems work. Is the University of California-Berkeley the same school as UCLA? UC-Davis? Don’t tell the people in Berkeley that. And don’t brag to UCLA students about all the basketball titles “The University of California” has won. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-college-football-teams-are-you-a-legitimate-fan-of-and-why/698486.md?page=3)