The 10 Best College Football Fanbases Outside the SEC

It seems like any number of top 10 or top 25 rankings of college football programs are consistently top-heavy with teams from the SEC.

Indeed, everything from recruiting rankings, total defense, BCS championships all the way to the AP/USA Today Top 25 itself are stacked (especially at the top) with SEC members.

And that is why it’s no surprise that if we were going to compile a list of the greatest college football fanbases in the nation, it would be saturated with SEC teams.

But what of the great groups of enthusiastic, passionate supporters from outside the SEC? Surely the 106 FBS teams that are not SEC members also have their share of wildly zealous fan throngs.

The following slideshow pinpoints the 10 best college football fanbases that are not SEC affiliates.

And though they don’t play ball in the football-obsessed South, these programs have devotees whose combined craze is as great as those anywhere.

Now all that’s left to ponder is whether these programs are consistently successful because of their fanbases or instead are their fanbases fervent because their team keeps winning football games?

Perhaps the truest test of fanbase greatness is that devotees keep showing up and cheering even when the on field success dips to almost painful levels.

As a note, stadium capacity statistics in this piece have been sourced at the very excellent www.fbsschedules.com.

 

Michigan

The Wolverines lead the nation in attendance most every single year and hold a myriad of all-time attendance records.

It doesn’t hurt that Michigan Stadium now holds 109,901 screaming fans, but it’s important to qualify this by remembering that this is a program that, according to the official NCAA attendance records, averaged 111,825 folks to each of their seven home games in 2010.

And that’s the year they went 7-6 with the No. 110 ranked defense in the country.

The truth is yes, Michigan’s stadium holds a bunch of people which makes it easy for them to set the total attendance record each year. But the other side of the story is that Wolverine fans sell out games regularly, and this is true regardless of what the on field product looks like.

Some will call them arrogant and obnoxious, but these folks show up and make a bunch of noise…and they brave the cold to do it, something that the SEC fan can’t touch.

Texas

Longhorn fans, like Michigan enthusiasts, might be labeled as snobbish, condescending or perhaps obnoxious, but there is no doubt that Longhorn fans, not unlike their brethren in the Wolverine State, are great football fans.

Yes, Texas’ dominance and resulting attitude is what keeps programs like Texas A&M (who has actually fled the state because of the perceived injustice), Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU clawing and scratching for gridiron respect.

In terms of sheer numbers, Texas drew an average of 100,654 fans to home contests in 2010, giving them the No. 5 spot nationally.

This statistic is even more important when you realize that 2010 was the year the Longhorns suffered a painful 5-7 finish and the fact that Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium holds 100,119 fans.

Ohio State

Another Midwestern citadel of football fervor, Columbus, Ohio serves as the headquarters for one of the most zealous fanbases in the country.

Yes, SEC or no SEC, Buckeye fans are seriously passionate, a viral infatuation amped up by the fact that Ohio State is the only BCS program in the state.

Oh yeah…except for Cincinnati which sadly is treated somewhat as an “other” or “supplementary” program garnering mostly regional support.

Ohio State held the No. 2 total attendance rank in 2010 per the NCAA and averaged 105,278 nut necklace wearers per game in a Horseshoe with a capacity of 102,329.

It’s a toss-up whether Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State or perhaps Wisconsin has the most fervent fanbase in the Big Ten, but it’s a sure thing that the Big Ten is No. 2 in attendance by conference to the No. 1 ranked SEC.

Per the NCAA total average attendance at home games by conference in 2010 were as follows: SEC  76,719; Big Ten 72,106; Big 12 62,975; Pac-10 53,819; ACC 51,493; Big East 45,028; MWC 34,464; C-USA 28,454; WAC 23,393; Sun Belt 17,969; and MAC 15,609.

This means that the SEC only outdrew the Big Ten by a mere 4,613 fans per home game.

Penn State

Regardless of what happens in Happy Valley now that the Joe Paterno era has dramatically come to a surreal end, it’s hard to deny that Penn State has one of the best fanbases in the nation.

Yes, if you’ve ever witnessed a “white out” in Beaver Stadium on a crisp Saturday afternoon in the fall, then you’ve been a spectator of fandemonium greatness.

Per the NCAA stats on attendance in 2010, Penn State averaged 104,234 fans to a home field that seats 107,282 earning the Nittany Lions the No. 3 slot nationally in average attendance.

Though it was a tragic and perhaps questionable way to prove football passion, the support Penn Staters have consistently shown over the events of the last five months illustrate how Nittany Lions feel about their football program and their university.

Nebraska

Where else in the world can you find people who will proudly put a foam rubber cob of corn on their head and mean it with all their heart and souls?

Yes, Nebraska fans are the heart of the heartland, and frankly it’s near impossible to think of any set of fans that are truly more passionate about their team than are the Children of THE Corn.

It’s no surprise that Nebraska‘s name is found atop the attendance charts and placed No. 11 in the NCAA’ 2010 average attendance derby with 85,664 in a home field that holds a mere 81,067.

And if you still aren’t convinced, then you should visit Estes Park, Colorado where you can pick up some Nebraska spirit wear at “Big Red of the Rockies”…a shop conveniently located 505 miles from campus.

Now, when you can keep that place in business, you’re talking major league devotion.

Oklahoma

Even the meteoric rise of “little brother” Oklahoma State in 2012 can’t suppress the fact that Oklahoma is officially deemed the “Sooner State.”

Yes, the state proudly features orange and black cowpokes and even forecasts the occasional Golden Hurricane, but this is a football region whose rich foundation was laid with chuck wagons (aka the Sooner Schooner), Boomer Sooner and winning football teams (umm…seven national titles).

Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium has a capacity of 82,112, and in the six home games played there in 2010, a whopping average of 84,738 fans showed up to watch.

That’s the No. 12 average attendance in the land.

If you want to have an SEC encounter in the south central portion of the USA, then head to Norman, Oklahoma where Sooner devotees are gravely serious about one thing: their undying, overwhelming and fanatical allegiance to OU football.

USC

The bastion of football fixation on the West Coast is found in Los Angeles where the men and women of Troy dedicate their sports passion to but one team: the Southern California Trojans.

This is yet another school whose opponent’s might label as “snobbish,” “pompous” and “condescending,” but it’s hard to refute their long winning record that spans since they won the first of their 10 national championships all the way back in 1928.

With a national media that is by and large based on the East Coast, it’s easy to forget how zealous the USC fan is and how dedicated he/she is in their own, uniquely, So Cal way.

Yes, this may not be Georgia or Alabama, but this is serious business, and the weather is seriously better.

Though the Trojans may not always fill the 93,607 seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the gills, it’s important to remember that USC’s enrollment of 17,380 (per U.S. News and World Report) is considerably less than the other big state schools on our list.

A good illustration of the fanaticism of the USC enthusiast can be found by reading Pigskin Warriors: 140 Years of College Football’s Greatest Traditions, Games, and Stars by Steven Travers.

In this highly informative and interesting read Travers, a Trojan fan, can barely contain his unbridled mirth regarding USC football, which he puts on full display in his 49-page love story that is Chapter One of this tour de force on college football.

Wisconsin

To fully appreciate the commitment level that Badger fans have for their college football team, it’s important to turn to the Weather Channel for some critical data.

The average temperature in Madison, Wisconsin in November is a high of 46 and a low of 28, and in December you’ve got a balmy high of 32 and a low of 15.

Which means that the game-time temperature is somewhere between the two, and for night games (when the Badger fans cheer and celebrate with wild abandonment), it’s even colder.

Wisconsin packed an average of 79,862 fans into Camp Randall in 2010 which gave them the No. 16 slot nationally and means that, on average, they filled the stands to 99.4 percent of capacity.

Clemson

It should be no surprise to see Clemson on our prestigious, over-zealous listing as the Tigers play ball in the Deep South, but instead of the SEC, they call the ACC home.

Clemson offers a true Southern college football experience that’s got everything except the SEC logo and Nick Saban or Les Miles visiting annually or biannually.

The Tigers averaged 77,469 fans per home game in 2010 to a Memorial Stadium that boasts a full capacity of 80,301.

And remember that in 2010 Clemson went 6-7.

And if you want passion to go along with jam-packed stands, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, quite like game day in Clemson…it’s ridiculously serious, in a great way.

Other contenders in the ACC are Florida State who boasts passionate fans but doesn’t always pack the bleachers (they averaged 71,270 fans in 2010 to Doak Campbell that holds 84,300), and Virginia Tech who fills the seats to capacity and could easily make an argument to be listed here alongside Clemson.

Boise State

And now we get to our wild card pick…Boise State.

Yes, I can hear it now…what, no Virginia Tech, no Oklahoma State, no Iowa, no West Virginia, no Michigan State, no Oregon, no Texas A&M (oh wait, they are in the SEC now…)?

But seriously, you’re going to leave all those off and include…Boise State?

Indeed, Boise State who plays at blue laced Bronco Stadium with a capacity of only 32,000 and who has only been lacing up in the FBS ranks since 1996.

Bronco fans averaged 33,269 fans to their six home contests in 2010, which means that they overfilled the seats to the tune of 104 percent.

And, in case you missed the kick-off game with Georgia last season and all their BCS appearances (along with a bunch of other big road games), this little fanbase travels en masse and dons the blue and orange proudly.

With an enrollment of less than 20,000 (as per the Idaho Statesman) in a town with a population of just over 200,000 in a state with only 1.5 million total residents (both per the US Census Bureau), Bronco fans literally swarm their home field on football Saturday’s (or recently, Thursday or Friday nights).

Yes, this isn’t a big school oozing with years of championships, tradition and a favorable location in a media market, but this is what is becoming a great fanbase.

As Boise State football continues to evolve into one of the biggest “exception to the rule” stories in modern college football, it’s important to recognize the contributions that their fans have made to this gridiron phenomenon.