Five College Football Teams with Fan Bases that Travel Very Well
Five best traveling fan bases
1. Ohio State- Time and time again Buckeye Nation has proven that it deserves to be at the top of the list as far as having fans who are willing to pay up and travel a long ways to see their team. Even in their recent Championship losses the Buckeye fans have traveled extremely well to both Arizona and Louisiana, which are clearly quite a ways from Ohio. During the big ten season it isn't strange to see more Buckeye fans than there are fans for the home team, which is a real asset for the Buckeyes.
2. Texas- Texas is crazy about its football in general and their fans are certainly wild about their Longhorns. Texas has a massive alumni pool all throughout the country which gives them an advantage in being able to get some of their people to games no matter what side of the country they are playing in. Even in years where Texas has disappointed faithful followers, they still follow them with their support.
3. Notre Dame- This is a tricky one because Notre Dame is a school that has a whole lot of fans outside South Bend, Indiana. You could argue that the fact they fill up stadiums a long ways away isn't necessarily because so many fans travel a lot of miles, but nonetheless the fans fill the seats and that is exactly what the bowls are looking for.
4. Alabama- Alabama fans sure do pack up their home stadium and make it rowdy, but they also travel very well. The SEC conference is full of plenty of fan bases that travel well when necessary, but Alabama just might top the list. Expect to see plenty of Crimson in the stands when Alabama hits the road.
5. Oklahoma- The Sooners have a fan base that hasn't given up on them in the last few decades, and they are repaying them with some awesome teams again. Oklahoma sits right in the middle of the country, but its fans follow its team wherever necessary.
As a caveat to this list some teams don't tend to travel as often as others so it is tougher to gauge their traveling power. For example, the SEC teams generally have a bowl game in the southeast and USC typically plays right by home in its bowl game.
Published by Aaron Smith - Featured Contributor in Sports
I am a full-time freelance writer who specializes in writing about the world of sports as well as the financial industry. I write about a little bit of everything. My passion for all of these topics comes ou... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentTo better answer this question, you have to consider a few factors. #1. popularity completely stripped of home town allegiance - -ie. being a USC fan living in Rochester New York because you like the colors but have no ties to the school. - #2. home crowd. - -if you live in Austin, you WILL be a longhorn fan. If you live in Tallahassee. . your team is the Seminoles. Even if you never attened the school. #3. Next, you also need to consider alumni and who attends the school- - and where alumni go after they graduate. Which city and states have the biggest following?
1. Notre Dame - hard to argue with tradition and those gold helmets. Thanks to year of winning, Ronald Reagan, Joe Montana, Rudy, and its ties to the Catholic faith, Notre Dame fans will ARE everywhere. Doesnt matter if its against the Miami Hurricanes or LongBeach State, look for those fighting irish fans to show up.
2. BYU - -ya. thats right. I said BYU. Those crazy Mormons are everywhere. Every state- - Every city. They may not always hop on a plane and visit their team 1,000s of miles away, - who can afford it when you're feeding 6 kids and paying off that minivan, but they dont have to - thousands are already there in whatever city they're playing. To the home team its often surprising. . "We have BYU fans here?" - - yep. Im telling you, they're everywhere.
3. Ohio State - - The big reason for Ohio on this list is because it seems Ohio residents and alumni never stay there. They leave as soon as they can - - so their fan base spreads. They're team are arguably stronger than Notre Dame and definitely BYU the past 10 years, so it helps to win, but they still sit at #3.
4. TEXAS. - All caps. Texas is a big state. and I know the state has many other universities- - A&M, Texas Tech, SMU, Houston, TCU, Baylor-- but the #1 school in Texas is Texas. - Everyone loves those longhorns and those longhorn cheerleaders who are about as recognizable as their pro counterart, Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. - outside of Texas? They get around. They're not as "everywere" as ND and BYU fans- - but they're there
5. - no clear difinitive #5 -- there's a cluster of schools who have fan bases who travel very well. - -Doesnt mean they have fan bases in every state an city as strong as Notre Dame, or BYU, but because they win and have tv exposure, their fan bases are very loyal. - These cats WILL hop on a plane for a bowl game.- - - and may even load the winnebego for a roadgame 1,000s of miles away. - - - Nebraska, OKlahoma, Florida Gators, Georgia, and MIchigan.
until we get real data where loyal fan pockets are, you have to attend games and see for yourself.
This site has already started to compile sports team data. - Help them out if you havnt already http://commoncensus.org/index.php
Im pretty sure nebraska should be number 1. We had more red than green at notre dame in 2000. We also had 30000 at washington last week.
What a crap list. Texas? Notre Dame?
Notre Dame couldn't even fill up their own stadium when Nebraska fans took the thing over a few years ago. Research: that thing that keeps you from looking like an idiot when you write an article.
This list loses all credibility by not having Nebraska on it.
Sorry but this list is bogus without the inclusion of L.S.U they travel further for any game and do so in high style. This is a fact based on the recent UW vs LSU game where the brought 15000+ fans 2500 miles. While I am no fan of the LSU tigers I am a fan of their fans they have easily the most well traveled and devoted not to mention altogether badass base.
Where is Nebraska??? THey travel just as good if not better then any of those fan bases!!!!!!
Ohio State fans will travel all day. I endorse this list!
I'm completely with you on this list, Aaron. I have a friend in Snotsdale (originally from Columbus) - called me in a huff Sunday night. He was never a fan of Buckeye fans! Since he's moved out there, the Bucks have played there 5 times! He whines that he can't even go to his favorite bar without being mobbed by a sea of scarlet and gray! The National Championship year, he had come home for Christmas and flew back on New Year's Eve morning. Poor soul had to listen to chants of "O-H-I-O" from the minute he stepped into CMH until he ran screaming out of Sky Harbor in Phoenix!
Thanks Aaron..I'm surprised Iowa fans aren't listed..lol.