In my time reading this site I've noticed quite frequently we've got negative things to say about other schools' fan bases. Notably, *ichigan, penn state, Wisconsin come to mind. My question is what school do you guys think has a very knowledgeable and reasonable fan base? I'd love to hear stories if you've got em.
Ive heard good things about Nebraska and Texas fans but haven't seen it first hand (maybe its a big 12 thing?)
No voting for Ohio State, we all know we're the most reasonable, besides, it's hard to be humble when you're the best
Nebraska, and most of the B1G are pretty knowledgeable. Texas, Oklahoma too.
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
I'm not sure if there is such thing as a reasonable fan base. We're all crazy.
I was going to say something along these lines. Typically, reasonability seems to be inversely proportional to success. The exceptions are in the SEC, where reasonability is at zero for all parties.
Well thats just because the SEC is one big team and by being in it you are a success no matter what your record is.
Except Kentucky, they don't really have football fans
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Mount Union
y no more upvotes for this comment?
8 consecutive Stagg Bowl appearance 15 total and 10 national Championships the fan base gots some edumacation...thanks for the props
The first thing that popped into my head was "Not us!!" LOL
All fanbases have reasonable and unreasonable fans. Unfortunately, the unreasonable fans are the majority at most programs, including Ohio State. That's what makes this site so great.
I really like Nebraska's fans. I had a great time at the game last year when we played over there. Besides the lost that is.
I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault.
JACK TATUM
BAUSERBOMBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
i bet they were, unless you were a scum fan, any hatred you had toward osu HAD to be trumped by sorrow for us having to bear that
A reasonable college fan base does not exist, including OSU.
In my time in So Cal, I've found USC fans to be reasonable. The only exception is when the topic of NCAA sanctions and Reggie Bush come up. Other than that they are pretty fair.
Home games and bowl games as a kid with my Dad, so 99.9% OSU. SC fans at the Rose Bowl were super conceited and smug, but not bad overall.
Started going to Cal games at 18 and some years visitors outnumbered home crowd.
Arizona fans were brainless; Oregon fans were drunk losers; UCLA fans boring; Stanford fans were bored; U of W fans were the best: most knowledgable and reasonable (plus, they knew they were going to walk out with a W).
what is in the water in seattle/washington state? they have the seahawks, the huskies and the sounders fc and they are all well known for being raucous, u gotta love it, especially the marshawn lynch td that registered on the richter scale
Indoor stadium + too many starbucks
I'd say Texas. Met a bunch of them in 2006. Great fans, nicest I've ever met, & knowledgeable. Always hearing good things about Nebraska fans as well...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
As much as I don't like the gators, I think FL is very reasonable and USF. USF because they aren't good enough to care. I went to the South Carolina and UF game three years ago with my bro-in-law and they were fantastic. My brother-in-law acted a bit like a drunk asshole, but the fans were cool with it.
You are the only person I've ever heard say Florida fans are reasonable.
God they're the worst...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
Florida fans are beyond obnoxious my wife is one of them. We go to games every year most of the fans all biased and clueless. I live in South Carolina and there fans are very loyal but not the most reasonable .Texas fans are reasonable thats why Mack Brown has survived the last few years. Amazingly enough Ive found that LSU fans are very reasonable but not the most knowledgeable.
I keep hearing Nebraska but after how they handled the Frank Solich situation I have my doubts.
I'm a friend of thunder is it any wonder lightning strikes me
Kentucky fans are reasonable. They know they suck and don't care about their football team enough to support them during games. They even invoked the ire of their players back when they had Woodson at QB and were relatively successful in the SEC that year.
Football yes. Basketball no.
They are the most obnoxious basketball fans I've ever come across which automatically cancels out any pleasantries they may exchange regarding football
Agree, but I want to add that they are on par with Louisville basketball fans. Only difference is the one fanbase wears blue, the other red.
I lived in the middle of the UofL UK rivalry for many years and in my opinion the Louisville fans, while passionate, didn't have the abrasive arrogance that UK fans tended to have which in my opinion made the Cardinals much more tolerable
The Louisville roundball fans are disgustingly obnoxious.
Arkansas fans are the only SEC fans I have actually been able to carry a conversation with. Met quite a few at the tOSU vs Arkansas Sugar Bowl and had a great time with them, before, during, and after the game. The pig call was a little annoying.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Agreed. Hogs fans flat out told me they were just in New Orleans to party and they figured they'd lose because Ohio St. was the better team.
Nebraska fans though are the best I've encountered.
southern schools have the dumbest chants, i want to ecu game once and was so pissed that these drunk fools were singing these songs that for some reason encouraged everyone to attempt to sing1-2 octaves higher than their voice would go
Texas and Braska top two. UGA isn't awful
Yeah I know a couple Georgia fans that seem reasonable but I've never been anywhere near Athens so it's tough it tell
Reasonable fans/fan-bases I've run into: Texas, Nebraska, UGA, NC State, and Georgia Tech.
Least reasonable: UNC, UF, Auburn, and Alabama.
Totally agree here. I have both Wolfpack and Tarheels at my workplace and the NC State guys are pretty cool. The Carolina fans are the most d-baggiest people I have ever been around. I'm loving how bad their basketball season has gone so far. Haven't heard a peep out of them!
A person is smart. People are stupid.
I'd bet you can find a reasonable anything fan but as a whole, groups of fans are always going to be crazy, paranoid, and biased beyond reason.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
To some extent I would say Michigan State and Nebraska. Leaning msu though.
Nebraska.
In Northern Virginia, where I live, I've found most Virginia Tech fans to be pretty reasonable. They root for their team hard core and expect to win the ACC every year, but usually seem to feel they're a notch below the true powers. Which of course they are.
You must be around a good crowd of VT fans. All VT fans where I'm from are deluded particularly when Ohio state is in the question, thinking that every yeAr (this year particularly) they would mop the floor with the bucks. UVA fans are reasonable as long as academics and dress codes aren't a part of the conversation
/Duff'd It
Nebraska fans are awesome. In my experience, though I have to say I don't live around a bunch of them, Texas fans were always pretty good folks too. Texas is a big enough state with enough whackjobs though that I'm sure they have plenty of horrendous fans too.
I found msu's fans to be reasonable when I was sitting with them during the big ten championship game
Texas fans were the most pleasant, hospitable, and passionate fans I came across. I enjoyed my time in Austin. Even in defeat they were gracious hosts. I've had a lot of negative things to say about PSU fans on these types of posts and people probably think I just like to bitch about other fans...but my visit to Austin and the great time I had there made me want to offer that kind of experience to visiting fans coming into Columbus every week.
I moved to Austin a few months after we lost the Fiesta bowl to them and have lived here all throughout the Jim Tressell/Terrelle Pryor/Tatoo-thing scandal. They had a lot of respect for Tress so their reactions tended to be on the mild side. As often as not, they were just as concerned about the overwhelming media onslaught as they were the actual transgressions that got Ohio State in trouble. The most I have had to deal with was a little mild mannered Smack talk for the Fiesta bowl but even that was done in good fun.
Of course, it helps that the North side of Austin is basically a refugee center for displaced Midwesterners. There are about 30 people in my workgroup and out of those 30 the following Big Ten schools are represented:
Ohio State
Purdue
Michigan
Illinois
Michigan State
Oddly enough two of my most fervant college football fans were a Northwestern and a Vandy fan. Both extremely knowledgable and passionate, with realistic expecations for their teams. And both are very excited for their progams future.
On the internet? Almost none. For me it's always been easier to talk to fans when it's face to face.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
very good point. 11w is a notable exception, but typically the worst of the fanbase spends the most time commenting on internet articles. the people on espn are just the worst
The best fans in my experiences are the ones from teams that go 6-6, 7-5, 8-4 almost ever year. they have a greater number of close exciting games, they know they are solid but not world beaters and the years when they go beyond expectations are the best for them because they know they're enjoying a short but very fun ride, just my 2 cents
Toledo fans
Worst fans I've ever been around were WVU fans, mostly because I'm related to a bunch of them. They still harp on us about Katzenmoyer's grades fron 1998. First I tell them to get over it, that was 15 freaking years ago and we would've destroyed them without him. Then I politely remind them that WVU's program once got dumped by Rich Rodriguez. You know you have a crappy program when you get spurned by that guy.
UK fans, as a whole, are usually pretty arrogant (all those basketball titles will do that), which irks me greatly when they talk down on Ohio State fans. I was raised by "Dumb Kentuckian" jokes so I never had much respect for anyone actually from there, even family LOL. I grew up on the Ohio River where you were either an OSU fan, UK fan or were a Marshall fan. You can cross over into Ashland, KY and when you ask locals if any stores sell OSU merch they look at you like you're an idiot and when you do find a store that sells OSU stuff the cashier makes a snide comment.
And Marshall fans have quieted down considerably, not surprisingly, because they now suck because they no longer pay off major D1 talent to come to Huntington, WV. Back when they were winning those 1-AA titles they thought they could hang with OSU, FSU, USC and anybody and were just plain awful to deal with. Trying to cover college-aged Randy Moss is one thing but them predicting they'd beat OSU by 3 TDs used to really grind my gears.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Reasonable fanatic - oxymoron!!!!
Nebraska is just like us...I live here and they have their moments. They know their football history very well. Tom Osborne is to Nebraska as Woody Hayes is to tOSU. They have their good and bad fans just like all the rest of the college teams. They have high expectations about winning championships and have had their share of not so good years with different coaches. They have no other sports other than Creighton B-ball and their fans show up to every game. I believe they are well over 300 sell outs for home games now.
So if we are talking about fan loyalty, knowledge about thier history and being reasonable then they are just like us only we have a bigger following.
Va Tech, understand what they have, expectations in check, southern hospitality.
In my experience, I'd have to say, in order - Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, UW (I have family there), & Alabama, with Mt. Union as an honorable mention. The Alabama fans I met were slightly arrogant, but rightly so, but they were also knowledgeable, polite, & southern hospitable.
M*chigan fans have often been knowledgeable, but less than reasonable (11W M*chigan fans are the exception).
Absolute worst - PSU, Wisconsin, Florida.
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx