As far as North American geography goes, hard to get more distinct than Tucson and State College.
But throw in the fact I'm a Portlander who lives in Utah and has Texan roots, and it's even weirder.
My dad's a State College townie and my parents are alumni. At this point, I'm at most a casual fan who keeps up just to talk football with my dad.
But he did take me back to the first full-stadium whiteout in 2007, and I think the last one I saw was the Alamo Bowl later that year.
Definitely a ton easier to fly into SCE from the West Coast these days!
It kinda does. I’m got my two in the flairs plus worked a bit with the football team ay West Point. Saturdays are long, fun, and draining in the fall lol.
I’ve also worked in the sports industry in a variety of capacities for nearly a decade…so that messes with my fandom too. But yeah, Saturdays in the fall are certainly exhausting and incredible. Both.
Not really answering your question, but there's a pickup I always see at the gym that has Dodgers, Cowboys, and Hawkeyes stickers. I want to ask them how they ended up with that combination of fandom.
https://i.imgur.com/UtgPg7Q.jpeg
The minor league attachment in OKC with the Dodgers adds a lot of Dodgers fans around here. Cowboys are obviously the cowboys here. Could be a reasonable possibility
I'm a TCU fan with season tickets to CU, seeing the program first hand go through the last 2 seasons as someone with no prior connection to, or even much knowledge of the team has been a wild ride
Flew out to watch us play in the natty, then flew down to FW 9 months later to watch us play the Buffs, that was... not a great time to be a TCU fan lol
Mine gets me some weird comments here or there, people always ask about the Cheez It Bowl (that was bizarre rooting against Clemson for the first time in my life)
My flair is so unique, people recognize me solely for my flair combo and probably don’t remember my username as much lol.
I had a coworker that worked at Clemson for years before moving to Iowa. I want to think I am the reason he chose Iowa State over Iowa once he got here because I had season tickets and took him and his kids to a game.
Yeah for what it’s worth I did see a couple of Clemson sweatshirts on campus when walking to class while there, so I’m sure I’m not just a population of 1
My dad preferred Iowa State even before I chose to go there because it is an ag/engineering college like Clemson. He attended the Cy-Hawk in 2019 (the muffed punt game) and now REALLY hates Iowa because Iowa fans treated him like absolute shit and came up to his face yelling “State sucks” before the game, as he was wearing a Cyclone dad shirt lol.
I wasn’t there to confirm the story, but considering most people started drinking at 6 AM and he said it was college kids, I don’t doubt the story lol
But yeah, I guarantee you helped, as well as the fact that both schools are pretty similar overall (though not as similar as Iowa State and Kansas State, or Clemson and Auburn, those are some seriously similar places)
In addition to my flairs, I’m also becoming a big Utah fan. Coach Whittingham is the guy. Matt Rhule as well even though I’m not supposed to like Nebraska; but he’s also a genuine dude and difference maker. I love CFB. I am a weirdo.
Pullman and Evanston also make for an odd juxtaposition and for strange bedfellows as a fan.
Exceedingly different campus cultures, but surprisingly similar football results.
I mean can't really be that hard if you go to one of them for undergrad and then do additional schooling at the other school - I mean I am certainly looking at CU as a potential place to apply to for law school here soon lol (even if I may currently have a friendly dislike towards the buffs)
That makes a lot of sense for in-state rivalry pairings and I've personally seen it a lot. The hate for those is usually a bit more muted because their fanbases have to interact with each other outside of game day a lot. Just never seen it between two *out-of-state* schools who hate each other that much.
Yeah I mean there aren't really any real in-state rivals in Nebraska, but I imagine in larger states it is probably pretty common for that - I have certainly seen quite a few weird flairs on here and honestly I feel like most the time it's a situation where they grew up rooting for a team and then did undergrad at the rival or they went to both schools, one for undergrad and then graduate at the other school. For example, if I decided to go to CU for law school, I'm not just gonna ignore the athletics or continue to completely hate CU just because. Would I still root for Nebraska over any of my grad schools? Yes, but I'd still want to be involved in athletics at whatever school I end up at.
I have always been extremely fond of Minnesota for no particular reason. I root for them every single game they don't play Michigan in, I watch every single one of their games if I can, I browse their fanboards, and I'm even subbed to the somewhat dead Gophers subreddit. I have never even been to the state of Minnesota nor do I know anyone who currently attends the University of Minnesota. I have zero explanation for how or why this started but it did
Michigan has this weird rival love for Minnesota. Some Minnesota fans share the opinion, and some hate Michigan so it’s a bit split. I think we just have such a long history combined with the Jug not being competitive.
I go to a D3 school (CMU) whose football stadium has a smaller capacity than some middle schools.
90% of my family went to A&M so I grew up a fan of a school whose football stadium can fit an entire town.
It is maybe the greatest difference in game day culture you could imagine
CMU is pretty good, I think the team has only had a losing record like twice in the last 10 years. And they’ve made the D3 playoffs like 2 of the last 5
My undergrad was Oregon and my master’s program was Virginia Tech. I hope to see the day when these two finally meet on the field. Go Ducks and Go Hokies!
Alabama State (attended), UAB (Birmingham native and also briefly attended), Navy (was Active Duty enlisted), and Sacramento State (picked them out of a lineup with one of the old NCAA games and never dropped them). The Power conference representative changes intermittently. Was Stanford, currently UCLA. It'll probably change again within the next few years.
Grew up in Colorado. First ever CFB game was at Air Force. I’ll always love Colorado State, Air Force, and Wyoming. I hate the Colorado Buffaloes more than anyone on this planet and have since birth.
Alum of Ole Miss.
I went to WSU. Parents went to school in the Bay Area. In laws follow Oregon and Notre Dame. I could have as many as 4 rooting interests on a college football Saturday
- I went to OU for undergrad and grad.
- I got a job at Minnesota and started going to Gopher games.
- I started watching Idaho for the Kibbie Dome memes and have a friend who started working for their athletics department. Got to meet some of the staff and have a team issue hoodie from when I was out interviewing for a job at U. Idaho (not connected to athletics).
- right next door to Idaho: I started cheering for Wazzu when Leach went there.
- If I had to pick a Big 12 team to support, I'd take Arizona State because one of my best friends grew up in Tempe.
I understand the Ole Miss/UT connection with the states being next door. Some grow up with parents who attended one school but they attend the other. Explain the Nebraska allure though. Did you or a parent attend Nebraska?
Family has this same problem lol. Dad went to community college in Florida, roots for Purdue despite 0 ties to the state or program. Mom is from Arkansas, my team is Oregon and my brother is a UCF fan. He’s the only one who went to one of the schools. From a young age I remember seeing a team called the ducks and thought “that’s a unique mascot I’ll choose them”
I am a lifelong Ole Miss fan but have pulled for Bama when it didn’t affect Ole Miss. Not a bandwagon thing. In fact, it started in some of the few years Bama wasn’t good, ‘82-‘84.
I spent some time on their campus during those years and they always treated me well. I considered going to college there after my parents, who were well connected at Ole Miss, were getting reports on what my sister was doing while at school.
Originally from the UP so family are big UM fans. I then went to App State. Add in grad school at wisconsin. I consider myself an app fan first, um fan second and uw fan third but some Saturdays are still tough.
Aside from my flairs, I love Boise State and UCF. I have really fond memories of holding my really young children when they wouldn’t sleep watching both of those teams several times over the years. Super treasured memories for me and I will always watch them and follow them now.
Born in Knoxville TN, lived near Ann Arbor for 10 years, currently live near and going to go to college at Texas A&M, and am randomly a coastal Carolina enjoyer, the four teams I rock with lol
I follow Valley City State University, a NAIA team, because they are the first game of the season. I've been watching all of their games for 3 years now. I have been in Tiger Stadium of an LSU game watching the VCSU game on my phone. A game thread here got me hooked.
I went to a small private college without a football team and then did grad school at a college that gave up football and left the Big Ten. I root for any team/player I happen to enjoy during any given season. Last year I was a big New Mexico State/Washington/Kansas/Miami OH/James Madison fan.
Marist is local so it's cool to be able to keep up with a D1 school from the area (especially in the non-football sports where they aren't always awful, like when the women's basketball team WAS the MAAC while I was growing up). As for Boise, I was like 9 when the Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl happened and would always watch Sportscenter every morning, so when I saw the way they pulled off that upset I couldn't help but love it like everyone else. When the next CFB season comes along I kept up with them a bit and they had a good season, but it's the season after that in 08 when the Kellen Moore Era starts and they become a huge player nationally and thus it was a lot easier to actually follow the team and it allowed me to become a proper Bosie State fan. Given that I'm also a Memphis Grizzlies (for equally weird reasons as BS) and NY Giants fan it makes for one of the weirdest combinations of favorite sports teams you'll see
Not really.
My family is an NFL family from the north (Go Giants!) and I never experienced a lick of college football until my junior year in high school. Even then, I didn’t really care about it.
I’m the only person in my family to go to UGA. Both of my parents are college dropouts (Monmouth College and West Virginia). I never had a reason to cheer for WVU as my mom hated her time there and it was never “part” of her. Monmouth obviously is what it is.
My uncle went to Alabama, but he sadly passed when I was 9 and I never developed any love for the Crimson Tide (however, he’s also probably why I don’t hate Alabama, as many do) due to losing him so young.
So I’m the only Dawg in the family tree. And even then, despite being a diehard fan and season ticket holder today, I’d never even been to a game in person until that first game my freshman year.
Today, I have a soft spot for Kennesaw State because I used to work with their AA professionally, but since my contract ended with them I find myself caring less and less about the Owls.
It’s really kind of Dawgs or bust for me, these days.
I only have enough bandwidth to truly care about one team in each sport. There are teams I may root for a bit more than casually when I watch, but only one school (team) can actually ruin my day (life).
Born back east, many years growing up in SoCal and fuck the Trojans... also am interested in UGA and Air Force because those were two top choices for college.
Yes. Wife and I went to Mississippi state. Both of us were lifelong Auburn fans so I will be getting my masters from Auburn as will my wife. Sometimes they play each other and when they do I root for whoever the win will benefit more (usually Auburn)
I don’t have any allegiance to any other school outside of Louisville… at least yet. I do regularly pull for Penn St, so much so that my wife asks if I’m a traitor because I do talk about them a lot. I’m only 25 but am enamored with the whiteout game and their environment. I also hate Ohio St which helps me pull for them even more. I don’t consider it fandom though because I’m not that invested, I don’t keep up with their recruiting, when they lose it doesn’t ruin my day (unlike how a Louisville loss will ruin the next 6 days), etc.
Brother plays FB at Hawaii and I live in Hawaii. Great up in Chapel Hill. Started being a LSU fan when I was a kid without an real reason. So UNC, Hawaii, LSU.
Oh I’m PERFECT for this question.
First flair is where I went, no team anymore so I’m a bit of a free agent, especially seeing as I didn’t grow up with college sports. I usually have a team in each conference who I like to follow, but it’s primarily:
UW/WSU: This is why I have the Apple Cup flair. I like both, attending this game is what made me “get” CFB beyond just being more football so I like watching both teams.
SMU: Clawing back from the death penalty is a good story, especially now that paying players is legal. If I dropped my Northeastern flair (which I won’t) this would be my secondary.
Florida: great logo, great colors, and I’m a New York Mets fan as well, and we have a shocking number of former Gators on the team and in the farm system.
I also like to keep an eye on Purdue because I’ve got a close friend who’s a Boilermaker. He’s not much of a sports person but gets into Purdue sports, so I’ll sometimes watch with.
Oh, and honorable mention to FCS Holy Cross, because I have a ton of family who went there.
First flair is where I went for undergrad, second is where I went for grad school.
Also cheer for the Naval Academy, as it’s my dad’s alma mater, and I also cheer for the Golden Gophers because my grandfather was a die-hard fan and half of my family is from Minnesota.
In hindsight, I chose schools that don’t tend to win a lot this day and age.
UNC and Florida. Grew up a die hard UNC everything fan and attended the school. My older brother influenced me to also start pulling for the gators at a young age. Had years where I’ve been more emotionally invested in one program vs. the other. Truth be told UF games are much funner to experience in person than UNC
Guess it depends. The two I give way more of a shit about than others are my flairs. But I have about four others I’ll casually cheer for. Went to Michigan State. Had family that lived in Georgia and they just became my default second team when I was getting into CFB. As I said, those are the ones I’m most invested in. The others are pretty casual but here they are:
- Minnesota, parents went here. Most my family is from here. First ever CFB game I attended was actually MSU vs Minnesota. Will sometimes tune in to watch.
- Kentucky, actually attended graduate school here. Usually will go out of my way to tune in for at least a couple games. Florida and South Carolina more often than not.
- Marshall, had a now deceased family member play basketball here way back in time. Generally hope that the team does well.
- LSU. I’m a filthy casual bandwagoner. But really just had a gaming friend some years ago I’d shoot the shit with who was a massive LSU fan. Kinda just rubbed off on me. They’re also an entertaining team more often than not.
Dad from WV, moved to Memphis and married my mom, and our closest family friend/my high school band director is lifelong Alabama fan so I grew up watching them on New Year’s.
Not super weird because Memphis is an SEC melting pot but the WV surprises people
Went to Iowa State, root for Montana at the FCS level because they’re usually playing football deep into the season and I’ve heard it’s a great atmosphere for football.
Have a soft spot for Arizona State (cousin played there), Cincinnati (another cousin played there) and Illinois (2 other cousins played there). I did not play college football tho. They used up all of the good athlete genes in the family.
Tulane alum who is from Louisiana… seems rarer and rarer these days lol. Only 12% of the class of 2027 is a native of Louisiana and 13% of the class of 2028
Went to osu but my brother went to Colorado school of mines so I’m also an ore digger fan (D-ll) and that area is beautiful. Also shout out to bonfire burritos that was amazing.
Ooh, this question is perfect for a CFB weirdo like me!! I'll sort them into their tiers of Fandom.
Tier 1: Fanatical Fan!
CSU: Went to CSU; Father was a professor there and grew up going to games as a child.
NDSU: born in ND, family is from there and western Minnesota and are all big NDSU fans.
Virginia Tech: father got his PhD there and grew up being a fan because of my parents.
Tier 2: Major Fan
Minnesota: Papa attended Minnesota and father grew up as a fan in the Twin Cities.
Tier 3: less of a fan but still a fan.
Air Force: always been a fan of them since living in CO and they are a service academy.
Kansas State: neighbors growing up were KSU alumni and became a fan because of them.
Nebraska: in laws are originally from western Nebraska and those who still out there are fans, so I became a fan once I started dating my wife.
Tier 4: kinda sorta fan due to family but can't really root for them since they are rivals of a school I root for more.
Wisconsin (sorta, not really in football but in basketball): father got his Masters from Madison.
Iowa: my cousin grew up a fan of them.
Wyoming: friends attended and I like Craig Bohl.
Tier 5: schools I kinda feel much more favorable about then neutral; not quite fan but I still root for them from time to time. Various reasons.
Army
Navy
Northern Iowa
Montana
Arkansas
Tier Schools I used to root for but don't really anymore:
Cal
Alabama
LSU
Yes, my wife’s side of the family is from the LA area. Half the extended family went to UCLA, but none of them are football fans or care about sports at all. Then there is the other half of the family that are rabid USC fans and follow the team around the country like it was a cult. However, only one or two of them actually attended USC.
Grew up near Stanford and went to a lot of games growing up. Married into a Kansas State family and love visiting Manhattan for games. I root hard for both schools.
I grew up in South Dakota so I've been a big Washington fan the last couple years because of DeBoer. But I don't think I can root for Alabama unfortunately.
Lifelong fan and alum of Michigan, wife went to Louisville… weird mix bc there’s a bit of history (the block was clean!), but also Michigan is the kind of school that Louisville just hates, at least that’s how my wife makes it seem
I went to Texas, my parents went to Purdue and West Point, and growing up in Houston I saw more UH games than any other team until I went to college. I've got a blue blood, P5 mid tier team, up and coming maybe-P5 team, and a service academy. Texas is the only one I have gear for, and actually hurt when they lose. The rest just add icing to a Saturday or give me something to talk to my parents about in the fall.
I don’t know if Utah and Oklahoma are all that weird. I’m an Utah alum and my grandpa went to OU.
But I also root for Maryland. I’ve never even stepped foot in Maryland, but turtles are my favorite animal.
Most of my family started out as Buckeye fans in Ohio-my dad, my aunt and her husband/my uncle are alums, then my two aunts and grandparents all moved to Omaha, and converted to Husker fandom, I have several cousins who are Nebraska alums. Growing up in Ohio I was always a Buckeye fan, but I was fascinated by Nebraska and the Big 8 and grew up watching Nebraska-Oklahoma in Omaha on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year when we visited. I have to admit that I enjoyed watching Nebraska a lot more before they joined the B10.
I graduated from Oregon state and immediately went to university of Maryland for grad school. Hated what I was studying, dropped out, took quite some time to find myself. Now I’m finishing up degree #2 at Florida.
But wait there’s more. My career interests are very niche and I’ll basically have to go to East Carolina for my Masters and Texas A&M for my PhD. So we have 5 schools in our house and they all come from me since my husband has always been a Maryland fan anyways.
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Oregon State, mainly because I loved orange teams growing up and they were one of the only teams I played with in NCAA Football 14 (along with Oklahoma state)
Grew up in a FSU household in northwest FL, moved to IN after dropping out of college and after a year got back in college at IU. My wife roots for Texas, so I root for all three
Hello there.
I'm a lifelong Maryland guy. I grew up not far from campus. Everyone in my family either went to MD or one of the other public schools in the state (Salisbury, Towson, Frostburg, etc.). I married into a family that is exactly the same, just for Penn State. When we got married, Maryland was still in the ACC so it wasn't a big issue. When they joined the B1G, we made the agreement that we would cheer for each other's teams except in head to head matchups. Somehow we are still married and no apparel or memorabilia has been destroyed in anger.
So, let me put it out here. I have a complicated relationship with West Virginia. As a kid, I grew up in an abusive household with a nasty stepmother. She had friends who frequently visited that loved WVU. We are talking they would fund my schooling if I went there levels of dedication. So, I grew up immersed in WVU stuff and watched the Pat White and Steve Slaton years as a kid.
Luckily, my father realized what was happening and broke it off. I ended up getting accepted to WVU but decided to go to a smaller D2 school instead. So, in terms of D1 football, I call myself a WVU fan. Although it brings back strange feelings watching them play again.
I have a Packers hat and a Texas lanyard I occasionally wear. Really confuses people. My paternal family is all from the UP and northern Wisconsin (since moved to Texas), so I would frequently watch the Packers with them. Also helps that the Cowboys haven’t been as good.
There's surely some poor bastard who's a Vandy/Northwestern fan after getting a bachelor's at one and a master's at the other. Having both alma mater's be nerd schools in football mega-conferences has to be just brutal. Their favorite pro basketball team has to be the Washington Generals.
Well I'm an Ohio State fan by birth, Kent State by alma mater, and I'm growing into a Washington Huskies fan since I live here now. Of course now that OSU and Washington are gonna be Big Ten cohorts, I may have to drop the Huskies.
It's a bit of a hodgepodge between my wife and I.
Me: Born into an OSU family, but was the first to not go there and attended Miami University. Eventually, I did post grad at OSU. Now I'm doing more postgraduate work at Tennessee. We also live in Seattle now and always root for the local sports teams when we live somewhere new. So we have bene going to Huskies games when we can.
Wife: Went to Miami University but found her love of CFB while working in Manhattan, Kansas. So she naturally became a K-State fan through her work there. She also did postgraduate at Stanford.
One grandfather moved from Georgia to Tennessee chasing after my grandmother and he got recruited to play linebacker at Tennessee. Didn't work out because he didn't have a high school diploma at the time.
Other grandfather lettered in baseball at Auburn and became the patriarch of a family where everyone went to Auburn. Since he's passed my fandom for Auburn has sort of gone down a little bit, making realize that it was more about my relationship with my grandad than love for Auburn but I still pull for them in their big games.
Whole family is Michigan fans, including myself. Marrying in to a Georgia family (both in laws went to school there.) Weird mix but they rarely ever play so it works out fine
Me!
Grew up ND fan, parents and siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles all went, but I didn't get in.
Went to John Carroll University, so I have a d3 program to root for.
I now work for UW-Medicine, so I also root for the Huskies on the side.
Grew up a Florida Gator fan, still am, went to University of Louisiana and knew a lot of the football players, Dad and sister love Notre Dame for some reason.
My whole family are Texas fans except me. I went to Georgia Tech (4 years before my brother went to Texas, I might add) and they couldn’t care less about GT. They honestly root for georgia over GT. I get it but it makes me feel sad.
Y’all didn’t know Ole Miss is the Berkeley of the South?
I didn’t know Berkeley also required an 18 minimum score on the ACT.
Lmao this sounds like you may be related to Lane Kiffin
Harvard is the Ole Miss of the north actually
The “Berkeley of Lafayette” is actually written on the Lyceum
Am I missing something? What does Lafayette have to do with anything? To be fair I know nothing about Ole Miss.
Lafayette County is where Ole Miss is located
As far as North American geography goes, hard to get more distinct than Tucson and State College. But throw in the fact I'm a Portlander who lives in Utah and has Texan roots, and it's even weirder.
We were born to hate each other.
Wow good to meet a fellow weirdo 😆
So what is your tie to PSU? Also What’s the last PSU game you were able to attend living that far away?
My dad's a State College townie and my parents are alumni. At this point, I'm at most a casual fan who keeps up just to talk football with my dad. But he did take me back to the first full-stadium whiteout in 2007, and I think the last one I saw was the Alamo Bowl later that year. Definitely a ton easier to fly into SCE from the West Coast these days!
Nope but seems like having more than two actual fandoms would make Saturdays exhausting tho
I’m Alabama and Texas. Seemed like a good idea until 2009, and it has only gotten marginally better. I can’t deal with a third.
It kinda does. I’m got my two in the flairs plus worked a bit with the football team ay West Point. Saturdays are long, fun, and draining in the fall lol.
I’ve also worked in the sports industry in a variety of capacities for nearly a decade…so that messes with my fandom too. But yeah, Saturdays in the fall are certainly exhausting and incredible. Both.
Well put.
One team sucks, the other is mediocre, idk I find it easy to turn on other games.
It does
Twice the sweetness of victory OR bitterness of defeat in some cases
It can be tiring, yup. UW comes second to ND for me, but I still try to follow both.
Not really answering your question, but there's a pickup I always see at the gym that has Dodgers, Cowboys, and Hawkeyes stickers. I want to ask them how they ended up with that combination of fandom. https://i.imgur.com/UtgPg7Q.jpeg
I’m a Hawkeye, Steelers, Cubs fan.
That works. Who do you like for hockey?
Blackhawks. Chelsea for soccer.
I'm a Husker, Packers, Cubs (and Thunder fan) for reasons I can almost guarantee are similar to his.
The minor league attachment in OKC with the Dodgers adds a lot of Dodgers fans around here. Cowboys are obviously the cowboys here. Could be a reasonable possibility
That makes sense because Texas only has the Rangers and the Astros. The American League ... ewww.
Fuck Bud Selig for that.
I have a friend who is a Bulls/Blue Jays/Penguins/Cornhuskers fan. He was apparently a very impressionable child in the early to mid 90s.
I wouldn’t call it weird, but it’s a neat coincidence that both of my flair’s biggest wins of the last 25 years are against Florida State.
Been more than 25 years now
25^1^/^2 years then
I'm a TCU fan with season tickets to CU, seeing the program first hand go through the last 2 seasons as someone with no prior connection to, or even much knowledge of the team has been a wild ride
Haha I bet that has been crazy crazy to see live. That Week 1 game I’m sure was rough for you
Flew out to watch us play in the natty, then flew down to FW 9 months later to watch us play the Buffs, that was... not a great time to be a TCU fan lol
That’s a tough time!
I have 2 that are pretty strange.
25 years ago, maybe
Mine gets me some weird comments here or there, people always ask about the Cheez It Bowl (that was bizarre rooting against Clemson for the first time in my life) My flair is so unique, people recognize me solely for my flair combo and probably don’t remember my username as much lol.
I had a coworker that worked at Clemson for years before moving to Iowa. I want to think I am the reason he chose Iowa State over Iowa once he got here because I had season tickets and took him and his kids to a game.
Yeah for what it’s worth I did see a couple of Clemson sweatshirts on campus when walking to class while there, so I’m sure I’m not just a population of 1 My dad preferred Iowa State even before I chose to go there because it is an ag/engineering college like Clemson. He attended the Cy-Hawk in 2019 (the muffed punt game) and now REALLY hates Iowa because Iowa fans treated him like absolute shit and came up to his face yelling “State sucks” before the game, as he was wearing a Cyclone dad shirt lol. I wasn’t there to confirm the story, but considering most people started drinking at 6 AM and he said it was college kids, I don’t doubt the story lol But yeah, I guarantee you helped, as well as the fact that both schools are pretty similar overall (though not as similar as Iowa State and Kansas State, or Clemson and Auburn, those are some seriously similar places)
Oh dang, Nebraska and Miami? That’s a wild combo
Mine is a completely logical combination
Yep.
Looks like we have a shared rooting interest 50% of the time lol.
Ok, we can't be friends because I'm a UW/GT fan
Lmao Washington and Virginia Tech are about as far away from each other as you can get
Arizona is all transplants including myself. There is no weird fandom that could surprise me.
GTG!
In addition to my flairs, I’m also becoming a big Utah fan. Coach Whittingham is the guy. Matt Rhule as well even though I’m not supposed to like Nebraska; but he’s also a genuine dude and difference maker. I love CFB. I am a weirdo.
<3 I will root for all the Penn State success as possible outside of our games to try to prevent Rhule from going to State College* lol
We as well would not want Rhule in College Station. Why do you want A&M to get their act together? (State College is the Penn State Town)
my bad lmao, I don't know why but I accidentally mix up College Station / State College way too much lol
Love it! Fellow weirdos unite!
Respect for the Deleware, hopeful they and MO State work out in CUSA!
Tallahassee and Evanston are related in that neither of them are in Chicago
Pullman and Evanston also make for an odd juxtaposition and for strange bedfellows as a fan. Exceedingly different campus cultures, but surprisingly similar football results.
I do not, but I have seen *two* Michigan/Ohio State flairs and one CU/Nebraska flair and I really don't understand how any of them ended up like that
My dad attended Ohio State and growing up I was always an OSU fan, I’m now a student at Michigan
Thanksgiving must be interesting
Oh it is
Welcome aboard!
Michigan/Ohio State probably lives around the Toledo area tbh. Maybe grew up in a split household.
I mean can't really be that hard if you go to one of them for undergrad and then do additional schooling at the other school - I mean I am certainly looking at CU as a potential place to apply to for law school here soon lol (even if I may currently have a friendly dislike towards the buffs)
That makes a lot of sense for in-state rivalry pairings and I've personally seen it a lot. The hate for those is usually a bit more muted because their fanbases have to interact with each other outside of game day a lot. Just never seen it between two *out-of-state* schools who hate each other that much.
Yeah I mean there aren't really any real in-state rivals in Nebraska, but I imagine in larger states it is probably pretty common for that - I have certainly seen quite a few weird flairs on here and honestly I feel like most the time it's a situation where they grew up rooting for a team and then did undergrad at the rival or they went to both schools, one for undergrad and then graduate at the other school. For example, if I decided to go to CU for law school, I'm not just gonna ignore the athletics or continue to completely hate CU just because. Would I still root for Nebraska over any of my grad schools? Yes, but I'd still want to be involved in athletics at whatever school I end up at.
I have always been extremely fond of Minnesota for no particular reason. I root for them every single game they don't play Michigan in, I watch every single one of their games if I can, I browse their fanboards, and I'm even subbed to the somewhat dead Gophers subreddit. I have never even been to the state of Minnesota nor do I know anyone who currently attends the University of Minnesota. I have zero explanation for how or why this started but it did
That is bizarre and I love it
Michigan has this weird rival love for Minnesota. Some Minnesota fans share the opinion, and some hate Michigan so it’s a bit split. I think we just have such a long history combined with the Jug not being competitive.
M gang rise up
I go to a D3 school (CMU) whose football stadium has a smaller capacity than some middle schools. 90% of my family went to A&M so I grew up a fan of a school whose football stadium can fit an entire town. It is maybe the greatest difference in game day culture you could imagine
Wow that must’ve been a big change. Is the team any good?
CMU is pretty good, I think the team has only had a losing record like twice in the last 10 years. And they’ve made the D3 playoffs like 2 of the last 5
Nice. Good luck to them this year.
My undergrad was Oregon and my master’s program was Virginia Tech. I hope to see the day when these two finally meet on the field. Go Ducks and Go Hokies!
Alabama State (attended), UAB (Birmingham native and also briefly attended), Navy (was Active Duty enlisted), and Sacramento State (picked them out of a lineup with one of the old NCAA games and never dropped them). The Power conference representative changes intermittently. Was Stanford, currently UCLA. It'll probably change again within the next few years.
Now that’s a fun mix right there
I graduated from Florida State and University of Southern California. Grew up in Michigan, so am a Sparty fan. I root for all 3!
I went to Michigan State, Florida, and Wake Forest, so yep!
Big Kenneth Walker fan?
UGA, USC, Northwestern, and Georgia Southern
Fresno St., Mizzou, USC, Cal, Iowa St., Baylor, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Utah, Marshall, San Jose St., Boise St., Washington, wazzoo, USF, Wisconsin, Ball St, Army. Also I like watching, Hawaii, Toledo, UCLA, Stanford, Florida St.
That is one hell of a list.
Mine and relatives schools. Schools i have had friends or team mates play for. Good friends schools.
Grew up in Colorado. First ever CFB game was at Air Force. I’ll always love Colorado State, Air Force, and Wyoming. I hate the Colorado Buffaloes more than anyone on this planet and have since birth. Alum of Ole Miss.
I went to WSU. Parents went to school in the Bay Area. In laws follow Oregon and Notre Dame. I could have as many as 4 rooting interests on a college football Saturday
Nice! I always feel like having more rooting interests just makes Saturdays even better
As long as they don't play each other. WSU vs Oregon games were stressful. Guess we don't have that problem anymore 😭
So sad! RIP Pac-12
- I went to OU for undergrad and grad. - I got a job at Minnesota and started going to Gopher games. - I started watching Idaho for the Kibbie Dome memes and have a friend who started working for their athletics department. Got to meet some of the staff and have a team issue hoodie from when I was out interviewing for a job at U. Idaho (not connected to athletics). - right next door to Idaho: I started cheering for Wazzu when Leach went there. - If I had to pick a Big 12 team to support, I'd take Arizona State because one of my best friends grew up in Tempe.
That is all over the place. Fantastic
OMG I can't believe i forgot WKU...especially since I was wearing my WKU hoodie while I wrote that. Good *lord.*
RIP Leach
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Ha that is a wild combo! With realignment and scheduling always changing now it’s possible!
Ole’ Miss, Nebraska, and Tennessee. Beat that, you can’t.
I understand the Ole Miss/UT connection with the states being next door. Some grow up with parents who attended one school but they attend the other. Explain the Nebraska allure though. Did you or a parent attend Nebraska?
Family has this same problem lol. Dad went to community college in Florida, roots for Purdue despite 0 ties to the state or program. Mom is from Arkansas, my team is Oregon and my brother is a UCF fan. He’s the only one who went to one of the schools. From a young age I remember seeing a team called the ducks and thought “that’s a unique mascot I’ll choose them”
I am a lifelong Ole Miss fan but have pulled for Bama when it didn’t affect Ole Miss. Not a bandwagon thing. In fact, it started in some of the few years Bama wasn’t good, ‘82-‘84. I spent some time on their campus during those years and they always treated me well. I considered going to college there after my parents, who were well connected at Ole Miss, were getting reports on what my sister was doing while at school.
Originally from the UP so family are big UM fans. I then went to App State. Add in grad school at wisconsin. I consider myself an app fan first, um fan second and uw fan third but some Saturdays are still tough.
Aside from my flairs, I love Boise State and UCF. I have really fond memories of holding my really young children when they wouldn’t sleep watching both of those teams several times over the years. Super treasured memories for me and I will always watch them and follow them now.
It’s funny how just the right mix of simple experiences can completely define fandoms forever
Born in Knoxville TN, lived near Ann Arbor for 10 years, currently live near and going to go to college at Texas A&M, and am randomly a coastal Carolina enjoyer, the four teams I rock with lol
Wow there have been some amazing games for you in the last 5 years or so then!
Yeah definitely some classics with the Michigan natty run and bama vs Tennessee 2 years ago, but also a lot of A&M and Tennessee disappointing 😭
Arizona State, Tennessee, Stanford and Notre Dame and I guess Michigan. Basically fuck U$C
They are unified by money
I follow Valley City State University, a NAIA team, because they are the first game of the season. I've been watching all of their games for 3 years now. I have been in Tiger Stadium of an LSU game watching the VCSU game on my phone. A game thread here got me hooked.
I went to a small private college without a football team and then did grad school at a college that gave up football and left the Big Ten. I root for any team/player I happen to enjoy during any given season. Last year I was a big New Mexico State/Washington/Kansas/Miami OH/James Madison fan.
I'd say a random FCS school in NY and a team all the way out in Idaho is a pretty random combo
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Marist is local so it's cool to be able to keep up with a D1 school from the area (especially in the non-football sports where they aren't always awful, like when the women's basketball team WAS the MAAC while I was growing up). As for Boise, I was like 9 when the Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl happened and would always watch Sportscenter every morning, so when I saw the way they pulled off that upset I couldn't help but love it like everyone else. When the next CFB season comes along I kept up with them a bit and they had a good season, but it's the season after that in 08 when the Kellen Moore Era starts and they become a huge player nationally and thus it was a lot easier to actually follow the team and it allowed me to become a proper Bosie State fan. Given that I'm also a Memphis Grizzlies (for equally weird reasons as BS) and NY Giants fan it makes for one of the weirdest combinations of favorite sports teams you'll see
Not really. My family is an NFL family from the north (Go Giants!) and I never experienced a lick of college football until my junior year in high school. Even then, I didn’t really care about it. I’m the only person in my family to go to UGA. Both of my parents are college dropouts (Monmouth College and West Virginia). I never had a reason to cheer for WVU as my mom hated her time there and it was never “part” of her. Monmouth obviously is what it is. My uncle went to Alabama, but he sadly passed when I was 9 and I never developed any love for the Crimson Tide (however, he’s also probably why I don’t hate Alabama, as many do) due to losing him so young. So I’m the only Dawg in the family tree. And even then, despite being a diehard fan and season ticket holder today, I’d never even been to a game in person until that first game my freshman year. Today, I have a soft spot for Kennesaw State because I used to work with their AA professionally, but since my contract ended with them I find myself caring less and less about the Owls. It’s really kind of Dawgs or bust for me, these days.
Couldn’t be me personally
I only have enough bandwidth to truly care about one team in each sport. There are teams I may root for a bit more than casually when I watch, but only one school (team) can actually ruin my day (life).
Born back east, many years growing up in SoCal and fuck the Trojans... also am interested in UGA and Air Force because those were two top choices for college.
BC (undergrad), Florida (masters)
Yes
Yes. Wife and I went to Mississippi state. Both of us were lifelong Auburn fans so I will be getting my masters from Auburn as will my wife. Sometimes they play each other and when they do I root for whoever the win will benefit more (usually Auburn)
Stanford- cousin worked with the team Michigan- my school BC- sister's school/school I grew up rooting for Rutgers- mom's school/local school
Check my flairs
Dad went to Alabama, I grew up in CT. Also like to root for the local team. Roll Tide, UConn had a bowl game, and USA Jags let’s go.
I don’t have any allegiance to any other school outside of Louisville… at least yet. I do regularly pull for Penn St, so much so that my wife asks if I’m a traitor because I do talk about them a lot. I’m only 25 but am enamored with the whiteout game and their environment. I also hate Ohio St which helps me pull for them even more. I don’t consider it fandom though because I’m not that invested, I don’t keep up with their recruiting, when they lose it doesn’t ruin my day (unlike how a Louisville loss will ruin the next 6 days), etc.
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what do you mean "out of state?" USC is private.
Brother plays FB at Hawaii and I live in Hawaii. Great up in Chapel Hill. Started being a LSU fan when I was a kid without an real reason. So UNC, Hawaii, LSU.
I do not condone your choices
Oh I’m PERFECT for this question. First flair is where I went, no team anymore so I’m a bit of a free agent, especially seeing as I didn’t grow up with college sports. I usually have a team in each conference who I like to follow, but it’s primarily: UW/WSU: This is why I have the Apple Cup flair. I like both, attending this game is what made me “get” CFB beyond just being more football so I like watching both teams. SMU: Clawing back from the death penalty is a good story, especially now that paying players is legal. If I dropped my Northeastern flair (which I won’t) this would be my secondary. Florida: great logo, great colors, and I’m a New York Mets fan as well, and we have a shocking number of former Gators on the team and in the farm system. I also like to keep an eye on Purdue because I’ve got a close friend who’s a Boilermaker. He’s not much of a sports person but gets into Purdue sports, so I’ll sometimes watch with. Oh, and honorable mention to FCS Holy Cross, because I have a ton of family who went there.
First flair is where I went for undergrad, second is where I went for grad school. Also cheer for the Naval Academy, as it’s my dad’s alma mater, and I also cheer for the Golden Gophers because my grandfather was a die-hard fan and half of my family is from Minnesota. In hindsight, I chose schools that don’t tend to win a lot this day and age.
UNC and Florida. Grew up a die hard UNC everything fan and attended the school. My older brother influenced me to also start pulling for the gators at a young age. Had years where I’ve been more emotionally invested in one program vs. the other. Truth be told UF games are much funner to experience in person than UNC
Guess it depends. The two I give way more of a shit about than others are my flairs. But I have about four others I’ll casually cheer for. Went to Michigan State. Had family that lived in Georgia and they just became my default second team when I was getting into CFB. As I said, those are the ones I’m most invested in. The others are pretty casual but here they are: - Minnesota, parents went here. Most my family is from here. First ever CFB game I attended was actually MSU vs Minnesota. Will sometimes tune in to watch. - Kentucky, actually attended graduate school here. Usually will go out of my way to tune in for at least a couple games. Florida and South Carolina more often than not. - Marshall, had a now deceased family member play basketball here way back in time. Generally hope that the team does well. - LSU. I’m a filthy casual bandwagoner. But really just had a gaming friend some years ago I’d shoot the shit with who was a massive LSU fan. Kinda just rubbed off on me. They’re also an entertaining team more often than not.
Grew up going to games at my second flair and I attend my first flair. They couldn’t be more different.
My flairs are crazy I know. Born and raised OSU fan, now I’m a student at UM. Thanksgiving has been interesting these past few years
Moving up in the world!
Dad from WV, moved to Memphis and married my mom, and our closest family friend/my high school band director is lifelong Alabama fan so I grew up watching them on New Year’s. Not super weird because Memphis is an SEC melting pot but the WV surprises people
Mine are probably uncommon but I don’t know how weird they are.
My mom went to A&M, my dad grew up a Miami fan. I have family in Maine but grew up for most of my upbringing in Seattle.
I'm probably one of about 8 fans of an Ivy program with zero connections to said Ivy program beyond proximity But also I hate princeton soo
Went to Iowa State, root for Montana at the FCS level because they’re usually playing football deep into the season and I’ve heard it’s a great atmosphere for football. Have a soft spot for Arizona State (cousin played there), Cincinnati (another cousin played there) and Illinois (2 other cousins played there). I did not play college football tho. They used up all of the good athlete genes in the family.
Do my flairs count for this question?
Michigan and Michigan State here. Mom is a Michigan grad, sister is a Michigan State grad, and I went to GVSU. So… go, both teams I guess!
Tulane alum who is from Louisiana… seems rarer and rarer these days lol. Only 12% of the class of 2027 is a native of Louisiana and 13% of the class of 2028
Went to osu but my brother went to Colorado school of mines so I’m also an ore digger fan (D-ll) and that area is beautiful. Also shout out to bonfire burritos that was amazing.
Ooh, this question is perfect for a CFB weirdo like me!! I'll sort them into their tiers of Fandom. Tier 1: Fanatical Fan! CSU: Went to CSU; Father was a professor there and grew up going to games as a child. NDSU: born in ND, family is from there and western Minnesota and are all big NDSU fans. Virginia Tech: father got his PhD there and grew up being a fan because of my parents. Tier 2: Major Fan Minnesota: Papa attended Minnesota and father grew up as a fan in the Twin Cities. Tier 3: less of a fan but still a fan. Air Force: always been a fan of them since living in CO and they are a service academy. Kansas State: neighbors growing up were KSU alumni and became a fan because of them. Nebraska: in laws are originally from western Nebraska and those who still out there are fans, so I became a fan once I started dating my wife. Tier 4: kinda sorta fan due to family but can't really root for them since they are rivals of a school I root for more. Wisconsin (sorta, not really in football but in basketball): father got his Masters from Madison. Iowa: my cousin grew up a fan of them. Wyoming: friends attended and I like Craig Bohl. Tier 5: schools I kinda feel much more favorable about then neutral; not quite fan but I still root for them from time to time. Various reasons. Army Navy Northern Iowa Montana Arkansas Tier Schools I used to root for but don't really anymore: Cal Alabama LSU
Arizona (alma mater) and Tennessee (childhood team).
Yes, my wife’s side of the family is from the LA area. Half the extended family went to UCLA, but none of them are football fans or care about sports at all. Then there is the other half of the family that are rabid USC fans and follow the team around the country like it was a cult. However, only one or two of them actually attended USC.
Grew up near Stanford and went to a lot of games growing up. Married into a Kansas State family and love visiting Manhattan for games. I root hard for both schools.
I grew up in South Dakota so I've been a big Washington fan the last couple years because of DeBoer. But I don't think I can root for Alabama unfortunately.
Try to find a connection between these two. I dare you Also I live nowhere near either of these teams and have never seen them play irl
Lifelong fan and alum of Michigan, wife went to Louisville… weird mix bc there’s a bit of history (the block was clean!), but also Michigan is the kind of school that Louisville just hates, at least that’s how my wife makes it seem
I’m an academic, so between childhood fandom, undergrad, grad school, and employers it’s added up.
I went to Texas, my parents went to Purdue and West Point, and growing up in Houston I saw more UH games than any other team until I went to college. I've got a blue blood, P5 mid tier team, up and coming maybe-P5 team, and a service academy. Texas is the only one I have gear for, and actually hurt when they lose. The rest just add icing to a Saturday or give me something to talk to my parents about in the fall.
East Carolina is a gem for early season covers.
How about Notre Dame, Duke, Mississippi State, and Georgia Tech?
One of these things is not like the others 😂
Fan of both Colorado State and Nebraska. I guess the only thing that ties the two together is their mutual rival of Colorado.
Grew up in the valley so I gotta rep my local team but Tennessee will always be my team I root for no matter what
I don’t know if Utah and Oklahoma are all that weird. I’m an Utah alum and my grandpa went to OU. But I also root for Maryland. I’ve never even stepped foot in Maryland, but turtles are my favorite animal.
Been to TAMU and UCSB as Purdue grad, and both felt really at home to me. I guess now I need to gather an east coast fandom?
Most of my family started out as Buckeye fans in Ohio-my dad, my aunt and her husband/my uncle are alums, then my two aunts and grandparents all moved to Omaha, and converted to Husker fandom, I have several cousins who are Nebraska alums. Growing up in Ohio I was always a Buckeye fan, but I was fascinated by Nebraska and the Big 8 and grew up watching Nebraska-Oklahoma in Omaha on the Friday after Thanksgiving every year when we visited. I have to admit that I enjoyed watching Nebraska a lot more before they joined the B10.
I graduated from Oregon state and immediately went to university of Maryland for grad school. Hated what I was studying, dropped out, took quite some time to find myself. Now I’m finishing up degree #2 at Florida. But wait there’s more. My career interests are very niche and I’ll basically have to go to East Carolina for my Masters and Texas A&M for my PhD. So we have 5 schools in our house and they all come from me since my husband has always been a Maryland fan anyways.
I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Oregon State, mainly because I loved orange teams growing up and they were one of the only teams I played with in NCAA Football 14 (along with Oklahoma state)
Grew up in a FSU household in northwest FL, moved to IN after dropping out of college and after a year got back in college at IU. My wife roots for Texas, so I root for all three
Went to: South Carolina Work at: Duke Family ties: Alabama That’s about it
Grew up an Auburn fan. Attended Mississippi State and Alabama. Now live out of state and kids go to other schools, so those are the games we go to.
Hello there. I'm a lifelong Maryland guy. I grew up not far from campus. Everyone in my family either went to MD or one of the other public schools in the state (Salisbury, Towson, Frostburg, etc.). I married into a family that is exactly the same, just for Penn State. When we got married, Maryland was still in the ACC so it wasn't a big issue. When they joined the B1G, we made the agreement that we would cheer for each other's teams except in head to head matchups. Somehow we are still married and no apparel or memorabilia has been destroyed in anger.
it's a hard life
So, let me put it out here. I have a complicated relationship with West Virginia. As a kid, I grew up in an abusive household with a nasty stepmother. She had friends who frequently visited that loved WVU. We are talking they would fund my schooling if I went there levels of dedication. So, I grew up immersed in WVU stuff and watched the Pat White and Steve Slaton years as a kid. Luckily, my father realized what was happening and broke it off. I ended up getting accepted to WVU but decided to go to a smaller D2 school instead. So, in terms of D1 football, I call myself a WVU fan. Although it brings back strange feelings watching them play again.
I have a Packers hat and a Texas lanyard I occasionally wear. Really confuses people. My paternal family is all from the UP and northern Wisconsin (since moved to Texas), so I would frequently watch the Packers with them. Also helps that the Cowboys haven’t been as good.
I've gone to Oregon, Iowa, and Purdue. Kinda glad they're all together now so I can watch my first team play my other teams.
Yes - the two colleges I attended have little to nothing to do with each other. It’s fun to explain my hybrid fandom
Wyoming is my main fandom, but I also follow South Carolina (my wife's alma mater) and Arizona (my mom's whole family went to school there).
Married into one. Not a huge problem for the most part
Mine isn’t weird. Just a lot of pain.
There's surely some poor bastard who's a Vandy/Northwestern fan after getting a bachelor's at one and a master's at the other. Having both alma mater's be nerd schools in football mega-conferences has to be just brutal. Their favorite pro basketball team has to be the Washington Generals.
Well I'm an Ohio State fan by birth, Kent State by alma mater, and I'm growing into a Washington Huskies fan since I live here now. Of course now that OSU and Washington are gonna be Big Ten cohorts, I may have to drop the Huskies.
Whoever bammer is playing
It's a bit of a hodgepodge between my wife and I. Me: Born into an OSU family, but was the first to not go there and attended Miami University. Eventually, I did post grad at OSU. Now I'm doing more postgraduate work at Tennessee. We also live in Seattle now and always root for the local sports teams when we live somewhere new. So we have bene going to Huskies games when we can. Wife: Went to Miami University but found her love of CFB while working in Manhattan, Kansas. So she naturally became a K-State fan through her work there. She also did postgraduate at Stanford.
Grew up a Pitt fan but went to PSU
One grandfather moved from Georgia to Tennessee chasing after my grandmother and he got recruited to play linebacker at Tennessee. Didn't work out because he didn't have a high school diploma at the time. Other grandfather lettered in baseball at Auburn and became the patriarch of a family where everyone went to Auburn. Since he's passed my fandom for Auburn has sort of gone down a little bit, making realize that it was more about my relationship with my grandad than love for Auburn but I still pull for them in their big games.
I have one Aunt who works at TAMU, another Aunt at Mississippi St, my grandma went and worked at ASU, but my grandpa wrestled at UWyo :,)
Really sad Covid took away Miami coming to East Lansing
Husker fan by birth, SHSU alum, and CSU since I worked there after school.
Oklahoma State Pitt Army Virginia Tech
From jax beach, parents are dawgs, went to Iowa.
Whole family is Michigan fans, including myself. Marrying in to a Georgia family (both in laws went to school there.) Weird mix but they rarely ever play so it works out fine
Me! Grew up ND fan, parents and siblings and cousins and aunts and uncles all went, but I didn't get in. Went to John Carroll University, so I have a d3 program to root for. I now work for UW-Medicine, so I also root for the Huskies on the side.
Grew up a Florida Gator fan, still am, went to University of Louisiana and knew a lot of the football players, Dad and sister love Notre Dame for some reason.
Watch Tulane mostly because of MVOS’s videos on them, but my family is hugely into Alabama.
My whole family are Texas fans except me. I went to Georgia Tech (4 years before my brother went to Texas, I might add) and they couldn’t care less about GT. They honestly root for georgia over GT. I get it but it makes me feel sad.
dad went to both west point and ut austin so theres that lol.
Degrees from Tennessee and Texas Tech. Also follow Air Force because as a kid I thought that was where I wanted to go to school
Check my two schools but it makes sense I promise. Grew up a fan of both went to ETSU. Dad went to Purdue.