I'd just like to applaud you for going on this journey. In my family, sports teams are passed down like recipes. You root for the team because that's what our family does. That is both special and incredibly limiting. Kind of like coming to the point where you have to make your faith your own, you're setting out on a journey to make a decision for yourself and I think that's so beautiful.
Allow me to submit for your consideration: the Mississippi State Bulldogs. We’re perennial underdogs (the team was ranked #1 for a few weeks in 2015 and we still talk about it frequently). We’ve got an extra layer of underdogness this year because our last coach died between the regular season and the bowl game. He was arguably the biggest character in college sports.
We’ve got a weird tradition: cowbells. The “More Cowbell” SNL skit with Christopher Walken? It’s played on the jumbotron before every home game, and the entire stadium recites the words.
If you become a Bulldog fan, no one—seriously, not a single person ever—will accuse you of joining a bandwagon. MSU isn’t going to be a top four team anytime soon, so the time commitment is minimal. Since the team doesn’t tend to win against anyone they aren’t expected to, you’ll be easily able to manage your own expectations.
As a Kentucky Wildcat living in Texas I would like to submit the Texas Longhorns for your consideration. First, you are a Texan so what better way to represent your home state. Second, they have been down and out for many years by football standards and the comeback is here. Maybe. Allegedly. Third, they are an SEC school (starting next year) which truly matters in the South. Some schools are a little salty about it (read Texas A&M) so you not only get a great rivalry you can get in on State bragging rights. Their coach is kind of cute AND they have a young QB with the last name of Manning who has the family legacy riding on his shoulders. Plus, Matthew McConouhey (bad spelling, but you know) is a die hard fan. If that fails to persuade you, feel free to join us Wildcats. We need fans for football.
It feels like LSU is the logical choice. I can't offer Coach Taylor vibes, but we always have quirky, funny, and sometimes even crazy vibes. When it comes to underdog and sad stories, this year's freshman class was born in 2005, so many of their families would have been impacted in some way by Hurricane Katrina. We're in the SEC, but not Auburn, which will lead to many fun arguments with Jamie. Plus, you already love our baseball team, so there's a bonus: efficiency in team colors! Also, we have the best food and the most fun atmosphere in the country.
I chose the Atlanta show instead of going to Oxford to watch LSU beat Ole Miss with my family. I'll be the one in purple and gold, ready to make my case."
I would like to submit Texas Tech. I don’t know any sad stories but they do have a weird tradition. This happened after I graduated but the current students throw tortillas on the field during the game. I have attended a game when this happened and security scurries around the stands trying to stop it. Anyway this might be a team to follow! Have fun!
I know exactly zero about college football, but I'm surprised that you didn't go to Sophie and Melanie for this question. They seen to know more about college football than any women who are not working in the industry. Walk in freedom and I hope you don't get any flack for your choice.
I should already be working out in my gardens as it is a gorgeous weekend in Minnesota. I'm already missing my hummingbird friends that will be heading south soon and am feeling the pressure of finishing the 28 yard and garden tasks I didn't do after my husband suffered a traumatic brain injury on July 21. He's home now and recovering slowly, but it's been a stressful 2 weeks with his return home + my starting a new job + our 19-year-old starting college. But we'll get there.
My dad is from New Jersey and his grandparents were Catholic, his grandmother Irish, so we were a strictly Notre Dame household. I don't keep up with them much these days but I loved watching the games with my dad when I was in College.
My treasure (and also the opposite of treasure?) is that I'm moving from GA to NC next week. I've never lived anywhere other than North Georgia and I'm a bit overwhelmed at leaving my people. My husband is from NC and has been here for 15 years and his parents will be an hour and a half from our new apartment. I was offered an incredible job opportunity and while I'm sad to leave my current one, I'm excited to try something new (the increase in pay doesn't hurt either).
Congrats on the new job and higher pay! Hope that the move will be smooth as a fresh jar of Skippy, and that you can leverage all the interwebs and apps to stay connected to your besties in GA.
Colorado is the team here. Underdogs (0-11 last year). Quirky coach in Deion Sanders. And they're on a run (currently undefeated). Get some black and gold and get on the Buffalo bandwagon. Plus, the campus is flipping gorgeous. So if you ever need to go root for your team in person you'll be doing it against the backdrop of the flatirons.
I rebelled against the Texas tradition and root for the Oklahoma Sooners. Are you looking for proximity to home? Go with Texas Tech. They are perpetual underdogs in the Big 12. The fans throw tortillas on the field at games, which seems like a waste of a good tortilla, but you do you, boo.
Do you like going the opposite way of what people think a Texan should be doing? Welcome to my Sooner bench. We have a backup QB whose name is General Booty. His NIL deal is underwear because of course it is. Also, we do win games regularly, so that’s fun.
I do like the Arkansas suggestions. I was born there and they were my SEC team until Oklahoma decided to move. Calling the hogs is a sight to see. You’d like it.
Just don’t choose by colors, please. Respect yourself. 😂😘
1. My husband graduated from Permian HS which was a (major) hurdle I had to overcome when deciding if I, an Odessa High Broncho, should marry him.
2. I would suggest rooting for UT (Austin). Fans haven’t been this fired up for season in a long time (personally, since 2006) and if you join the bandwagon now you can scoff at the ones who join only when we’ve won the national championship at the end of the season. Also, you’ll be a fan “til Gabriel blows his horn”!
Oregon State Beavers… one of the last of the Pac 12… they’ve been abandoned!!!!!! They are nicknamed “the Beavs”. Underdog story of the pac 12. Homegrown coach. Little brothers to Oregon ducks. They are gonna show em this year!!!
Oh, Erin. The Arkansas Razorbacks were made for you. It doesn’t get much quirkier than 70,000 people calling the Hogs. Our QB is one of the best in the SEC and no one ever talks about him. Our coach is a giant teddy bear who once drank a beer while sitting on the sidelines when he was playing in college. And you don’t get more underdog than a team who is still recovering from a sad man named Chad Morris. And that’s not even counting our amazing RB named Rocket who has an NIL deal with a diaper company because he’s so devoted to his precious baby. Come home to the Hogs, Erin.
I’m here to submit a college team for you to cheer for: The Arkansas Razorbacks.
Here’s why:
1. When I went to school there a couple years ago, the team was so bad its own fans called them “The Heartbreak Hogs.” But we have a new coach and are 2-0 so far this season! An underdog (or under-hog) making a comeback!
2. Our coach Sam Pittman has big grandpa energy and we love it. I’ve been calling him “the Ted lasso of the SEC” because our team was so bad and now we’re doing okay! Like AFC Richmond!
3. We call the hogs at games! It’s kinda weird but we love it!
10 reasons why you should adopt the Kansas State University Wildcats as your team:
10. Reigning Big 12 Champions
9. Despite recent success, still fly under the radar of every poll and major sports reporting outlet, fueling a strong underdog mentality.
8. The Pride of Wildcat Land marching band has won the Sulder Trophy aka the National Championship for marching bands. Dance squad also won their ‘ship last year.
7. Ironically, no athletic team at K-State has ever won a National Championship. In any sport. Ever. (Maybe this is our year!! 🤞🏼)
6. Our mascot, Willie the Wildcat, is just a guy with a giant Wildcat head. Some call it creepy. We just call it… ok, we think it’s pretty creepy too. (Shhh, no one will actually admit this publicly)
5. Our former head coach, Bill Snyder, is known for orchestrating the greatest turnaround in college football history. Seriously, he took the program from life support to national prominence in the ‘90s.
4. K-State fans are often regarded as some of the nicest fans in all of college football. We are polite when we travel to away games. Conversely, we welcome visitors with open arms. It’s how our good midwestern methodist mamas raised us.
3. The Wabash Cannonball is a VIBE
2. Our team color is purple, the color of royalty. Lavender is a hot new trend we’ve jumped on cause we can football in fashion.
Growing up as a military kid meant that I had a lifestyle closer to that of a nomad. I never lived anywhere long enough to form any serious attachments to who the other kids cheered for on Saturdays. I also never grew up with any kind of familial attachment to a particular team. This meant that just like you, I was afforded the privilege of choosing who I would root for on my own terms. At 17 I decided I wanted to go to college somewhere that sports were a gigantic part of the culture and overall college experience (among other much more sound reasons). This ultimately lead me to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Huskers have some of the most loyal and devoted fans across ALL college athletics, not just football. Our football program is currently leading the nation in consecutive sellouts with 389 straight since 1962, despite a rough past few years. We have a new coach this year who is starting off a bit slower than we would have hoped but we are ultimately optimistic. Game days are electric, full of hot Valentinos pizza and Runzas. Chants of GO BIG RED ring thru the stadium and across campus all weekend. It’s a warm community that is always welcoming outsiders to the fold (I would know being from nowhere). More than anything tho the Huskers are worthy of being your team because cheering for Nebraska is bigger than just cheering for a football team. It’s cheering for University and an athletic department that are constantly trying to find ways to empower and build up its athletes, especially its female ones. Last month Memorial Stadium became the site of the LARGEST attended female sporting event in history. Having 92,003 people show up on a Wednesday to watch two volleyball games, pure magic. Bits of that magic can be found across all of Husker athletics but it’s really something else on a football Saturday in Lincoln. As a a proud alumni and former part of the athletic department in college I can tell you, there really is no place like Nebraska and we would love to have you be apart of it! ❤️🌽🎈
I may or may not have cried real tears when I saw a video about the Huskers volleyball team selling out the football stadium. I have no connections to Nebraska whatsoever.
I'd just like to applaud you for going on this journey. In my family, sports teams are passed down like recipes. You root for the team because that's what our family does. That is both special and incredibly limiting. Kind of like coming to the point where you have to make your faith your own, you're setting out on a journey to make a decision for yourself and I think that's so beautiful.
Allow me to submit for your consideration: the Mississippi State Bulldogs. We’re perennial underdogs (the team was ranked #1 for a few weeks in 2015 and we still talk about it frequently). We’ve got an extra layer of underdogness this year because our last coach died between the regular season and the bowl game. He was arguably the biggest character in college sports.
We’ve got a weird tradition: cowbells. The “More Cowbell” SNL skit with Christopher Walken? It’s played on the jumbotron before every home game, and the entire stadium recites the words.
If you become a Bulldog fan, no one—seriously, not a single person ever—will accuse you of joining a bandwagon. MSU isn’t going to be a top four team anytime soon, so the time commitment is minimal. Since the team doesn’t tend to win against anyone they aren’t expected to, you’ll be easily able to manage your own expectations.
As a Kentucky Wildcat living in Texas I would like to submit the Texas Longhorns for your consideration. First, you are a Texan so what better way to represent your home state. Second, they have been down and out for many years by football standards and the comeback is here. Maybe. Allegedly. Third, they are an SEC school (starting next year) which truly matters in the South. Some schools are a little salty about it (read Texas A&M) so you not only get a great rivalry you can get in on State bragging rights. Their coach is kind of cute AND they have a young QB with the last name of Manning who has the family legacy riding on his shoulders. Plus, Matthew McConouhey (bad spelling, but you know) is a die hard fan. If that fails to persuade you, feel free to join us Wildcats. We need fans for football.
It feels like LSU is the logical choice. I can't offer Coach Taylor vibes, but we always have quirky, funny, and sometimes even crazy vibes. When it comes to underdog and sad stories, this year's freshman class was born in 2005, so many of their families would have been impacted in some way by Hurricane Katrina. We're in the SEC, but not Auburn, which will lead to many fun arguments with Jamie. Plus, you already love our baseball team, so there's a bonus: efficiency in team colors! Also, we have the best food and the most fun atmosphere in the country.
I chose the Atlanta show instead of going to Oxford to watch LSU beat Ole Miss with my family. I'll be the one in purple and gold, ready to make my case."
I would like to submit Texas Tech. I don’t know any sad stories but they do have a weird tradition. This happened after I graduated but the current students throw tortillas on the field during the game. I have attended a game when this happened and security scurries around the stands trying to stop it. Anyway this might be a team to follow! Have fun!
I know exactly zero about college football, but I'm surprised that you didn't go to Sophie and Melanie for this question. They seen to know more about college football than any women who are not working in the industry. Walk in freedom and I hope you don't get any flack for your choice.
I should already be working out in my gardens as it is a gorgeous weekend in Minnesota. I'm already missing my hummingbird friends that will be heading south soon and am feeling the pressure of finishing the 28 yard and garden tasks I didn't do after my husband suffered a traumatic brain injury on July 21. He's home now and recovering slowly, but it's been a stressful 2 weeks with his return home + my starting a new job + our 19-year-old starting college. But we'll get there.
My dad is from New Jersey and his grandparents were Catholic, his grandmother Irish, so we were a strictly Notre Dame household. I don't keep up with them much these days but I loved watching the games with my dad when I was in College.
My treasure (and also the opposite of treasure?) is that I'm moving from GA to NC next week. I've never lived anywhere other than North Georgia and I'm a bit overwhelmed at leaving my people. My husband is from NC and has been here for 15 years and his parents will be an hour and a half from our new apartment. I was offered an incredible job opportunity and while I'm sad to leave my current one, I'm excited to try something new (the increase in pay doesn't hurt either).
Go Irish! 😍
Congrats on the new job and higher pay! Hope that the move will be smooth as a fresh jar of Skippy, and that you can leverage all the interwebs and apps to stay connected to your besties in GA.
Colorado is the team here. Underdogs (0-11 last year). Quirky coach in Deion Sanders. And they're on a run (currently undefeated). Get some black and gold and get on the Buffalo bandwagon. Plus, the campus is flipping gorgeous. So if you ever need to go root for your team in person you'll be doing it against the backdrop of the flatirons.
'Sko Bufs!
I also went to a Permian High School—Go MOJO!
I rebelled against the Texas tradition and root for the Oklahoma Sooners. Are you looking for proximity to home? Go with Texas Tech. They are perpetual underdogs in the Big 12. The fans throw tortillas on the field at games, which seems like a waste of a good tortilla, but you do you, boo.
Do you like going the opposite way of what people think a Texan should be doing? Welcome to my Sooner bench. We have a backup QB whose name is General Booty. His NIL deal is underwear because of course it is. Also, we do win games regularly, so that’s fun.
I do like the Arkansas suggestions. I was born there and they were my SEC team until Oklahoma decided to move. Calling the hogs is a sight to see. You’d like it.
Just don’t choose by colors, please. Respect yourself. 😂😘
1. My husband graduated from Permian HS which was a (major) hurdle I had to overcome when deciding if I, an Odessa High Broncho, should marry him.
2. I would suggest rooting for UT (Austin). Fans haven’t been this fired up for season in a long time (personally, since 2006) and if you join the bandwagon now you can scoff at the ones who join only when we’ve won the national championship at the end of the season. Also, you’ll be a fan “til Gabriel blows his horn”!
Oregon State Beavers… one of the last of the Pac 12… they’ve been abandoned!!!!!! They are nicknamed “the Beavs”. Underdog story of the pac 12. Homegrown coach. Little brothers to Oregon ducks. They are gonna show em this year!!!
Oh, Erin. The Arkansas Razorbacks were made for you. It doesn’t get much quirkier than 70,000 people calling the Hogs. Our QB is one of the best in the SEC and no one ever talks about him. Our coach is a giant teddy bear who once drank a beer while sitting on the sidelines when he was playing in college. And you don’t get more underdog than a team who is still recovering from a sad man named Chad Morris. And that’s not even counting our amazing RB named Rocket who has an NIL deal with a diaper company because he’s so devoted to his precious baby. Come home to the Hogs, Erin.
I second all of this. GO HOGS!
May I suggest the South Carolina Gamecocks?
Quirky QB name: Spencer Rattler
Heartwarming mascot story: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjcq6LR9K2BAxWDnWoFHbd4DBgQtwJ6BAgOEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fvideos%2Fnews%2Fhave-you-seen%2F2023%2F05%2F17%2Fits-cocky-graduation-mascot-dons-special-shoes-graduation%2F11888999002%2F&usg=AOvVaw1iX--N7TP4w5NaHLiaAfrH&opi=89978449
Weird tradition: Half of Willy B stadium chanting “Game” while the other half responds unironically “cocks”.
Is there a coach who more clearly resembles Coach Taylor than Shane Beamer? There is not. The eyes. The jawline.
You are welcome.
I’m here to submit a college team for you to cheer for: The Arkansas Razorbacks.
Here’s why:
1. When I went to school there a couple years ago, the team was so bad its own fans called them “The Heartbreak Hogs.” But we have a new coach and are 2-0 so far this season! An underdog (or under-hog) making a comeback!
2. Our coach Sam Pittman has big grandpa energy and we love it. I’ve been calling him “the Ted lasso of the SEC” because our team was so bad and now we’re doing okay! Like AFC Richmond!
3. We call the hogs at games! It’s kinda weird but we love it!
But that game last night 😭😤 Regardless Erin should cheer for Arkansas though. Go hogs!!!
10 reasons why you should adopt the Kansas State University Wildcats as your team:
10. Reigning Big 12 Champions
9. Despite recent success, still fly under the radar of every poll and major sports reporting outlet, fueling a strong underdog mentality.
8. The Pride of Wildcat Land marching band has won the Sulder Trophy aka the National Championship for marching bands. Dance squad also won their ‘ship last year.
7. Ironically, no athletic team at K-State has ever won a National Championship. In any sport. Ever. (Maybe this is our year!! 🤞🏼)
6. Our mascot, Willie the Wildcat, is just a guy with a giant Wildcat head. Some call it creepy. We just call it… ok, we think it’s pretty creepy too. (Shhh, no one will actually admit this publicly)
5. Our former head coach, Bill Snyder, is known for orchestrating the greatest turnaround in college football history. Seriously, he took the program from life support to national prominence in the ‘90s.
4. K-State fans are often regarded as some of the nicest fans in all of college football. We are polite when we travel to away games. Conversely, we welcome visitors with open arms. It’s how our good midwestern methodist mamas raised us.
3. The Wabash Cannonball is a VIBE
2. Our team color is purple, the color of royalty. Lavender is a hot new trend we’ve jumped on cause we can football in fashion.
1. This touchdown celebration between our starting QB and one of his O-lineman deserves an Oscar: https://x.com/sullyengels/status/1700578200990966045?s=46&t=nAcTBhsVDaXdgqOd0ULKtQ
Growing up as a military kid meant that I had a lifestyle closer to that of a nomad. I never lived anywhere long enough to form any serious attachments to who the other kids cheered for on Saturdays. I also never grew up with any kind of familial attachment to a particular team. This meant that just like you, I was afforded the privilege of choosing who I would root for on my own terms. At 17 I decided I wanted to go to college somewhere that sports were a gigantic part of the culture and overall college experience (among other much more sound reasons). This ultimately lead me to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Huskers have some of the most loyal and devoted fans across ALL college athletics, not just football. Our football program is currently leading the nation in consecutive sellouts with 389 straight since 1962, despite a rough past few years. We have a new coach this year who is starting off a bit slower than we would have hoped but we are ultimately optimistic. Game days are electric, full of hot Valentinos pizza and Runzas. Chants of GO BIG RED ring thru the stadium and across campus all weekend. It’s a warm community that is always welcoming outsiders to the fold (I would know being from nowhere). More than anything tho the Huskers are worthy of being your team because cheering for Nebraska is bigger than just cheering for a football team. It’s cheering for University and an athletic department that are constantly trying to find ways to empower and build up its athletes, especially its female ones. Last month Memorial Stadium became the site of the LARGEST attended female sporting event in history. Having 92,003 people show up on a Wednesday to watch two volleyball games, pure magic. Bits of that magic can be found across all of Husker athletics but it’s really something else on a football Saturday in Lincoln. As a a proud alumni and former part of the athletic department in college I can tell you, there really is no place like Nebraska and we would love to have you be apart of it! ❤️🌽🎈
Go Big Red! First home game today - hope it’s also the first WIN!! ❤️🏈
I may or may not have cried real tears when I saw a video about the Huskers volleyball team selling out the football stadium. I have no connections to Nebraska whatsoever.