College Football 2011: Power Ranking the Best Fanbases in the Big 12

Every time I do a piece on the "Best Fanbases" or "Loudest Stadiums," I expect to hear from said fans in droves.

As well it should be.

If you're a passionate fan, you stick up for your team (even if it's a bit biased).

The fans are one of the reasons college football is so exciting. When you have alumni painting letters on their chests and standing out in 100-degree weather risking severe sunburn, you know you've come to the right place for a party.

Which is what a lot of stands can resemble on game days.

Fans are meant to be screaming with passion, chugging "water bottles" and simply making asses of themselves and opposing fans.

It's what the college football experience is all about.

Here are my power rankings of the best fans in Big 12 football as of now.

On my quest to find the best fans, I encountered numerous hilarious stories along the way.

Let the debate begin, passionate college football fans.

10. Baylor University

Not only are Baylor fans rarely mentioned among the top fans in college football, or the Big 12 for that matter, they also are way too polite to join the ranks of best in the Big 12.

According to a 2009 survey conducted by SI.com that spanned all of college football and over 33,000 fans, Baylor fans were deemed the most polite by almost 18 percent of Big 12 fans, second to only Nebraska at the time.

When Big 12 fans were asked who had the rudest fans, only 0.3 percent said Baylor.

C'mon, where's the passion, Baylor fans? (Attack me here.)

9. Iowa State

Iowa State is also not a school that's regularly associated with a rabid fanbase.

In the SI survey, 7.8 percent of Big 12 fans said Iowa State fans were the most polite (third-best in the conference).

Only 0.2 percent (probably fans with hidden agendas) said Iowa State fans were the rudest.

Note: Some of you may not like the basis of the survey or my article, but I love it and I'm sticking to it.

8. Kansas State

Michael Pinto of B/R gave some pretty nice props to Kansas State's stadium, the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium, ranking the Wildcats' stadium in his top 50.

But he also said the venue "can rock some pretty good noise for a Big 12 game, especially if it's the Kansas Jayhawks that are coming to town."

That, in my mind, means Kansas fans amp up the volume when they come into the stadium, not the other way around.

Plus, in the SI survey, people simply didn't care about Kansas State fans, rarely mentioning them.

Only 1.9 percent said Kansas State had the rudest fans, as opposed to 2.8 percent saying they had the most polite fans.

7. Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State fans make the bottom half of these rankings because:

A) OK State fans are rarely mentioned as some of the most rambunctious fans in the nation.

B) Big 12 fans were simply indifferent regarding them, not responding in high numbers to them being the most polite (2.4 percent) or rude (3.4 percent).

But you make it ahead of Kansas State because you were still deemed more rude than polite.

Plus, this picture is highly inappropriate.

6. Kansas

Kansas fans also didn't rouse a strong response from Big 12 fans in the SI survey, with 5.2 percent of Big 12 fans deeming them the most polite while 4.3 percent deemed them the rudest.

But they still got a little hate from the collective Big 12.

They've also been heard a bit more and have been developing a small reputation in college football.

When the visiting Kansas State Wildcats came to Memorial Stadium in October, a stadium-record 51,821 fans attended the melee.

5. Missouri

This is where the fanbases of the Big 12 start getting screechy, where their yells start piercing your ears and making babies cry.

Missouri fans are some of the most underrated fans in football.

Not only are they loud, they've recently found new means of expressing their passion: on Twitter.

Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert had over 7,000 followers on his Twitter account to start the 2010-2011 season.

But it took just one loss for Tigers fans to explode (after the season, I'm guessing they just ran around in circles all the time).

One person on Gabbert's Twitter feed said if he saw him on campus he'd call him an offensive name.

This could be seen as wavering support of one's team, but I just think it's great.

4. Texas Tech

Not only were Texas Tech fans considered the rudest in the SI survey, with 23.7 percent of Big 12 fans apparently hating them, they were also considered the least polite, just 1.1 percent of Big 12 fans deeming them the most polite of the bunch.

That screams Texas Tech fans being the most rage-provoking and one of the most passionate fanbases in the Big 12.

Not only that, only 0.3 percent of those surveyed considered Texas Tech their biggest rival, so you can throw the "biased" argument out the window.

3. Oklahoma

In the SI survey, 13.4 percent of Big 12 fans called Oklahoma fans the rudest in the conference.

In addition, 42.8 percent considered the Sooners to be their biggest rivals, by far the biggest percentage.

I understand that every school has its own rival, but when pretty much the entire conference wants to beat you badly, that's when you know it transcends just the team.

Not only that, Oklahoma's stadium, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, is known throughout the land as one of the toughest places to play.

Fans also seem to know when to jump up the volume at precisely the right time, so props for knowing how to rattle opposing quarterbacks.

2. Texas

Texas was right behind Texas A&M in terms of having the rudest fans, according to Big 12 fans in the SI survey.

But not even that does the fans justice.

The Longhorns' stadium holds 100,000 people, and nearly every one of those fans makes it to the venue on game day.

That's dedication, and it makes for a deafening atmosphere for opponents.

I mean, look at the passion this kid is displaying.

1. Texas A&M

Texas A&M fans didn't measure that high on the rudest fans in the Big 12, but there is no denying the passion these fans exhibit on weekly basis.

In fact, Texas A&M fans are so loud their stadium, Kyle Stadium, has been dubbed "The Home of the 12th Man."

As the New Orleans Saints will tell you, any time you go into an environment dubbed "The 12th Man" you are in for a rude awakening.

Despite the capacity of Kyle Stadium being 83,000, the stadium regularly sees as many as 88,000 fans cram into the stands.

How 5,000 more fans can cram into a stadium beats me. But I'm pretty sure it takes quite a bit of dedication.

To cap it all off, 40,000 tickets are allotted to Texas A&M's fans before every home game, which result in 40,000 fans showing up at midnight before every game for "Yell Practice."

Yes, you heard me right: "Yell Practice."

"Practice? Practice? You talking 'bout practice."

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Did I mention Texas A&M's fans never sit down once the game starts?