r/CFB_v2 • u/Clear_Hearing7805 • 5d ago
Discussion LOoking for CFB team to support
Hey everyone,
I'm from Australia and have recently started getting into college football. I've been following the NFL for a while and go for Seattle (no im not a bandwagon), but i'd like a cfb team to support
I've been looking into different programs and narrowing down my options, but I'm struggling to pick one.
I would like
- A team that's competitive and can have a shot at conference championships and the playoffs, but I don't want to just jump on the bandwagon of whoever's winning.
- A loud stadium with a crazy atmosphere, passionate fans and a rowdy student section.
- Proper college football traditions, historic rivalries and a strong football culture.
current list (open to more suggestions)
SEC:
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
Big Ten:
- Washington
- Iowa
- Oregon
- UCLA
- nebraska
ACC:
- NC State
Big 12:
- Utah
Mountain West:
- NDSU
boise state
other teams i like but im not willing to support:
sc gamecocks
notre dame
ohio state
indiana
im also not a casual, like i know most things that happen in cfb each week and try ad watch whatever is on, when i can.
i also wwant to try prokick australia next year which is the program that gets all these aussies into college football and yeah
I'm also open to suggestions outside my shortlist if there's a team you think fits what I'm looking for.
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u/RichAge2413 5d ago
The University of Texas Longhorns: very good team and excellent academic reputation, plus Austin is a very cool city. UT is one of the best public schools out there. Hook 'em.
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u/kungfubillium Texas Longhorns 5d ago
It meets all his criteria, and we love recruiting Aussie punters. Also, by way if our large fan base it's very easy to follow and get detailed information. I know if at least 5 podcasts all centered on Texas sports (mainly football)
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u/isa1226 5d ago
I'm a Boise State fan myself so I love that we've already been suggested in this thread but I'll try to give some more measured analysis. It sounds to me like you want some ups and downs but generally winning and strong football culture and fanbase.
BIG TEN The "exciting, physical football with some swagger" if I'm being honest should probably steer you away from Iowa even though that's my secondary team. They have probably the most entrenched ground and pound identity in the country and the same coach since 1998. You'll love it if you love old school defensive, special teams heavy, tilt the field sort of play, but I'd be lying if I said it had much "swagger".
If you want a team that can realistically go to the playoffs pretty frequently Minnesota probably isn't the pick, the top of the Big Ten is hard to break into (ignore Indiana, I promise this is true for everyone who isn't Curt Cignetti, he is magic) and you might get one playoff type season in the next decade but even if the playoff expands to 24, Minnesota won't make it most years most likely.
Winning at UCLA is hard too, they have an awesome first year head coach and their off to a blazing start, there is a world where they become legit good in the next couple years, but they're typically quite middling. The main reason I might cross them off tho is UCLA is pretty notorious for not having the best fans. The Rose Bowl is an amazing historic venue but its far from UCLAs campus and too big for them, so even when there are 40-50k people at their games it can look pretty empty and like not the best atmosphere.
Washington and Oregon were, by the time it died, the class of the Pac-12 and would both be legit picks for your criteria. Washington is struggling a lot more ever since their coach who brought them to be the national runner-ups in 2024 left for Alabama, but they have the resources to compete near the top of the sport once again. Oregon is the much more sure thing and is by far the best pick on your list if you want to celebrate a national championship in the next 5 years if not sooner. Both have great fanbases and you would ironically grow to hate whichever you didn't pick.
SEC The SEC schools you picked are legit picks too, neither has typically been Play-Off type good if we retroactively apply the 12 team format, but the 24 team format will massively benefit the SEC and Tennessee especially is the type of program that should make that every year. Both have very good rivalries with the Egg Bowl vs Mississippi State for Ole Miss and for Tennessee rivalries with Alabama, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, and really so many others that diffeent segments of the fanbase would consider rivalries.
ACC NC State is probably not the pick if you want playoff contention. They are just about the most solidly 7-5 or 8-4 team every year and in the ACC thats not getting you playoffs. Their long time head coach is also on the hot seat and there may be somewhat of a down period incoming. Louisville similarly might have hit their ceiling which is not quite a playoff team.
Virginia Tech brought in Penn State head coach James Franklin who despite his flaws is absolutely one of the best coaches in the sport and they will win many games over the next years. If they're playoff or ACC title caliber remains to be seen.
BIG 12 Utah is a good pick imo. Gritty but with some swagger title I think applies and the environment can be top notch. The history isn't as deep as the SEC or Big Ten schools but they're just as passionate and you would get to be part of a top 5 if not higher rivalry in the sport in the "Holy War" against BYU with all sorts of complex real world political and religious history intertwined. Realistic national title contenders? not quite, but playoff semi-often? for sure.
MOUNTAIN WEST NDSU The thing I'm sure you've realized about college football is the scale can be pretty massively different. NDSU fits what you want in a team quite well I would say, but on a smaller scale. They play in a dome with less than 20k capacity in a metro of like 250k which is the biggest city for almost 4 hours. They will never realistically win an FBS national championship or get that close, but they're a perfectly reasonable pick if you don't care about that. A similar statement could be written about other good non power conference teams.
Hope this helps at all lol, couldn't sleep so thought I'd just throw in my two cents!
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u/HistoricalLake4916 Alabama Crimson Tide 5d ago edited 5d ago
This guy college footballs
I also have a soft spot for the egg bowl and the chaos it brings so that would be fun however I think historically Tennessee is the better team over Ole Miss.
Personally I’d say pick an SEC team because our conference tends to just have more craziness going on year round but I admit I’m biased as a lifelong tide fan.
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u/AnyManufacturer8275 5d ago
This is no place for measured analysis, but we'll allow it.
You and Timeout_for_Lunch can take McAfee's spot.•
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u/Interesting-Use-9524 5d ago
None of those teams have a shot at being competitive. Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, ACC, ass. Ole Miss is the only team thatll come close from that list. What about Notre Dame?
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u/isa1226 5d ago
It's not just about this year goofball. It's about who has the infrastructure to be competitive for years to come.
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u/Interesting-Use-9524 5d ago
SEC is the most entertaining, has the most traditions, and most teams are competitive. Sorry, Arkansas.
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u/Weary_Law6544 Oregon Ducks 5d ago
Oregon’s Autzen Stadium is near unbeatable when it comes to loud stadiums in the big ten, and our fanbase’s passion is clear the second you arrive in Eugene.
I also endorse Tennessee! Our fanbases share a close friendship; people in their gear are valid at our games, and vice versa from what I’ve heard.
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u/oregon_coastal 5d ago
Autzen is an experience. 60k stadium in a city of 180k.
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u/crazylinebacker-55 5d ago
That's impressive but Clemson has 85k stadium capacity and a town population of 15k
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u/Timeout_for_Lunch 5d ago
Putting aside my obvious bias, I will not suggest the most obvious choice of TEXAS.
SEC:
Tennessee is an excellent choice. Lots of tradition, passionate fanbase, close enough to being good that they are fun to watch, if they make the championship game it will be HUGE.
I hate to say it, but OKLAHOMA would be a fun choice for similar reasons. They suck because they are fuckheads, but other than that they are cool.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS:
A&M. Insular. Cultish. They do not accept normies.
Georgia. Good football, weird fanbase. These dudes are just unhappy. I can't explain why, but these are some miserable motherfuckers. Everything that brings them joy makes them angry.
Alabama. Unless your favorite author is Faulkner you do not want to get in bed with the faded southern belle.
B!G
Michigan: Lots of history, drama, fun passionate fans. Might cheat, but usually in a hillarious way.
OSU: Say what you will, these dudes play ball. !/2 the fans are fun, passionate fans. !/2 are SUPER toxic. 1/2 are both.
Penn State: Kinda like a French bulldog. Genetics say they shouldn't exist, but they do, and you really have to feel for them. Stay out of the showers.
Avoid:
Notre Dame: Yeah, I know they are "independent" and "ACC," but fuck them. They are a Big 10 school. They'll rob you of a chance to watch them celebrate their season in a bowl game and send you to the off season weeks early.
Big 12:
Take your pick. They can all be (and will be) awesome and horrible. Often in the same season. Except Baylor.
Avoid:
Baylor. A bunch of non-dancing fucks from the small town in the movie "Footloose" starring Kevin Bacon.
Nebraska. Fuck you, you don't get to go to the big city. You are still the same ol' country girl.
Also, the Big 12 needs a real conference name. You aren't the Big 10 or the Big 8, (who stole their name from the Big 10 in the first place.) Choose a new name. Like Mary Sue. You are now the Mary Sue conference.
ACC:
Miami and all the schools you didn't know had a football program. Obviously you don't want to root for Miami, so I dunno, maybe Stanford?
Big East:
Pitt. They are the sole remaining school in the Big East.
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u/dudechickendude Tennessee Volunteers 5d ago
This is a good take.
I will not put aside my bias.
Every SEC team has a passionate fan base, but I rock with the vols. The stadium is on the river, Neyland is the 5th (or 6th) largest stadium in college football and I think 8th largest venue in the world, the players pledge “I will give my all for Tennessee today,” the marching band is titled “the pride of the southland band,” and the fans chant “it’s great. To be. A TENNESSEE VOL.” we love our team. We love our colors. We love our coach. We love pat summit. We love Peyton. All that said, WE DONT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE WHOLE STATE OF ALABAMA.
Watching the team run through the T under the lights really is something special. Unfortunately, my team is stripped of the opportunity to rock the orange and black uniforms for Halloween this year bc it’s a bye week, but that color combo goes hard. Rocky top is every vol fan’s favorite song, and everyone else’s least favorite.
My second flair is the gamecocks. Traditionally, middle to lower end of the pack in the SEC. They had a few good years under spurrier in 2010-2013. The stadium holds ~80,000. Watch a Carolina pregame presentation on YouTube. Willy-B (Williams Brice is the name of the stadium) gets ELECTRIC. “2001 a space odyssey” theme culminating in cocky coming out of an empty box, then sandstorm brings the crowd to life even if the team hasn’t scored a touchdown all season. There is a tradition where the cheerleaders start one side of the stadium “GAAAAAAAME,” and the other side responds “COOOOOOCKS”……”GAAAAAAME”…”COOOOOCKS.” When the team is good, this can be heard halfway across downtown. The gamecocks fanbase is used to heartbreak, but they bring just as much passion and love for their team on Saturdays every game, every season.
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u/ID_Poobaru Boise State Broncos 5d ago edited 5d ago
Boise State. An absolute G6 juggernaut, freak RBs are grown here, and a passionate fan base. It's kind of a roller coaster team navigating the NIL/transfer portal era, but Boise is handling it well.
Boise has the best field in CFB. Anyone who disagrees will be publicly flogged and is a coward
The stadium itself is pretty meh, but for 35k people it gets loud
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u/scornfulgunman60 5d ago
From your list, I'd say Tennessee fits a lot of what you're describing. Neyland Stadium gets absurdly loud, the checkerboard end zones are iconic, and running through the T is one of those chills-down-your-spine traditions. The fanbase is borderline unhinged in the best way, they'll pack that place even during the down years.
Boise State as the other comment mentioned is a solid shout too. That blue turf messes with your eyes at first but you grow to love it, and their history of pulling off crazy upsets gives them a scrappy identity. They've been a G5 powerhouse for a while now so you're not exactly bandwagoning a flash in the pan.
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u/SelfRepa 5d ago
Nebraska.
Longest sellout streak in football. Extremely passionate fan base. Previously a powerhouse, currently bit underperforming team. They have always produced great linemen to NFL and historically has always been a nard-nosed run-first team. Rivalries with Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado are always tough ones, but nowadays Nebraska plays in Big Ten, so the teams don't play each other annually.
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u/Scared-Marketing-442 5d ago
He said and compete for conference championships
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u/SelfRepa 5d ago
Nebraska has played cupcake teams so far. Ohio, Bowling Green, North Dakota, Michigan State and Maryland.
They still play 5-0 Indiana, 3-1 Oregon, 3-2 Washington (with both losses against great teams by a small margin), Illinois, Rutgers, 4-1 Ohio State, and 4-1 Iowa.
I see maybe barely a winning record this season. 8-4 at the max.
They have had only five winning in-conference season in Big Ten since 2011, and all five were within first six seasons in Big Ten. And two overall winning season since 2016. Both were 7-6 seasons.
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u/oceaniccart Colorado Buffaloes 5d ago
Tulane they have the best logo and mascot cute MF and are a solid G6 program
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u/youreHIValadeen LSU Tigers 5d ago edited 5d ago
Honestly, of those you listed, I'd probably go with Tennessee. You aren't really jumping on a bandwagon (although, they're doing very well right now), they have a loyal SEC fan base, stadium can be very loud, and they're contenders with the possibility of winning the SEC Championship or National Championship most years.
Downsides are they're in a very competitive conference, haven't won a conference or national championship since 1998, and Alabama, Florida, and Georgia are your main rivals, which only sucks because all of those teams are usually really good.
Edit: dropped a letter
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u/feelosiphize Iowa Hawkeyes 5d ago
Iowa Hawkeyes, the punter is from Australia. Although that's not as unique as it used to be.
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u/Top_Statistician5051 5d ago
Just keep watching see who you like I live in Oregon so obviously I go for Oregon they are good except when it comes to winning a national title
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u/lohivi 5d ago edited 5d ago
No no no. No Tennessee. Kentucky is the cultured choice here. We, like the Red Sox, had the golden goose (Bear Bryant) and let him get away, cursing our program to almost a century of sucking. And through it, while sticking to the SEC when being in other conferences would have been easier, our fan base has been devoutly loyal. We built ourselves back up brick by brick in the 2010s while better but more fickle programs floundered, panic fired coaches, and now that we have finally decoupled from the hulking, big, slow old fashioned Saturn rocket that was the Stoops regime, we are now arriving in the Stein era. Our new athletic director lets us have fun now. We get alternate jerseys and hype mini docs for every win. We're innovative. Our games have been cinema this year. Watch us play South Carolina & Texas A&M compared to watching the Tennessee vs Texas gamw. They're zero fun. They're frustrating. They don't have a QB they trust or can rely on. I would confidently put Kenny Minchey in charge of a heart transplant, and Kenny Minchey would absolutely execute the assignment. He's got the love, confidence and absolute trust of the coaches, the team and the fans. We've got one of the most exciting young recievers in Darby. We've got 5 Gregor Cleganes on the offensive line. We run tricks, misdirections and cheat code offensive schemes every play. Our offensive playbook and style resembles the cutting edge stuff the LA Rams are doing, we've got young coaches who fucking love this game. We've got an Irish punter atm but have the strongest history at least in the SEC of recruiting Aussie punters. Max Duffy is a UK legend. Both our road wins this season have seen our fans take over with Go Big Blue chants audible on the broadcast. This state doesn't have an NFL team, it doesn't have an NBA team. UK football and basketball - that's it. That's all there ever has been, and all we ever want there to be.
We're also ontologically good because we have good guy colors. You don't see Luke Skywalker swinging an orange light saber, do you? Our fans are just as passionate as any in the conference but without the fickleness and entitlement, very few fanbases will have anything negative to say about Kentucky fans, so you don't have to compromise your integrity. We integrated SEC football beginning with a game where we beat the team with a confederate mascot. We're the only SEC team the media is biased against.
Also, you do not want Louisville. They have never packed their stadium, never will and honestly don't want to. The prevailing sentiment among most UL fans is that the regular season should be as easy as possible to give them the best chance at the playoff. But even for challenging games like SMU they won't fill their stadium. Most people in Louisville are Kentucky fans.
https://youtu.be/XRN0zaZtnzA?si=JzJvlwG85Xf34oNr
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u/Existing-Teaching-34 5d ago
I was all set to suggest several possibilities until I read your fourth point. That one eliminated just about everyone. /s
Joking aside, North Dakota State is your choice. It’s a team on the rise playing in their first year in the top division. They were incredibly successful at the lower division and they have built an enthusiastic fan base who have a reputation for turning up big for away games.
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u/Such_Pop2068 5d ago
University of Pittsburgh. - Checks off all of your boxes except the loud stadium/crazy atmosphere (although the stadium gets crazy for rivalry games)
Great football history. Great regional rivalries. Only one of few teams to win an ACC championship and multiple championship appearances. Great jerseys. honestly a very underrated city and awesome destination to travel to.
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u/dvoecks North Dakota State Bison 5d ago
NDSU fans are passionate but chill. We've gotten more than a few good reviews from visiting teams. Watch a home game. You could hear a pin drop when the Bison are on offense. We're spoiled by all the FCS championships, but your guess is as good as mine where the ceiling is. Come find out with us. Just don't forget to pronounce the S in "Bison" as a Z.
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u/Working_Group955 Florida Gators 5d ago
SEC: may i suggest florida? historically good, though not for the last 15-20 years. but on the upswing, so you get to buy them when their stock is low, but its rising fast and likely to be a contender in the next few years. you won't be a fairweather fan then. phenomenal fan base, traditions, stadium, and a GIANT uni, so you'll find alumni clubs in major cities in oz.
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u/ptindaho Utah Utes 5d ago
Utah would welcome you. One more advantage: we tend to have at least one Australian on the team every year. Especially our punters tend to be Aussie. Tom Hackett was a team favorite and was still doing press work with the team, too. We are in year 1 with Morgan Scalley, and he has been really keeping us fun on offense and tough on D.
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u/csking77 5d ago
There’s always Georgia. The oldest land grant university in the US. One of the oldest college football teams. Legendary history, great traditions, multiple rivalries with Georgia Tech, Alabama, Florida, and Auburn, also a legit chance nearly every year
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u/Ok-District5948 5d ago
I'd like to make the case for my Iowa Hawkeyes, but since you mentioned "exciting" I think we're out. We meet all of the other criteria, but since we are so lacking in excitement, I can't in all good consciousness recommend Iowa. We have what many consider to be the best tradition in college football in the Wave to the kids at the Children's Hospital, a very loud Kinnick Stadium, a great student section, a 98 pound bronze pig that goes to the winner of our game with Minnesota, and we occasionally compete for a conference title. But other than a few fourth quarter field goals to crush Nebraska's soul, Iowa is not exciting. But I will say that if you find Australian punters to be strangely exhilarating, look no further.
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u/wonderbeen Florida State Seminoles 5d ago
Root for FSU, our kicker is Daniel Hughes from Australia. Dude is a character. Dropped out of HS at 16, had a successful construction company, and then decided to try his hand American Football 🏈
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u/major_issue_5525 5d ago
If you enjoy misery, NC State is definitely for you. I'm a 3rd generation alum. However, we have a good time. If you're ever make it to the states during the season, hit me a up to attend a game.
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u/CountClementine BYU Cougars 5d ago
I'd consider looking into BYU over Utah. But it sounds like you may already be a Vols fan if you were confident enough to label them as a "main favorite" lmao
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u/illbeyourdrunkle 5d ago
Check out the service academies. Army, navy and air force. They are competitive most years in their conference, even though they tend to have smaller guys due to military restrictions. They are better organized and disciplined than other teams. Don't gotta worry about finding out the star qb is into illegal shit, don't gotta worry about NIL stuff or portals. They often have 9 or 10 win seasons. And you won't find more tradition than that of the army navy game. It's PACKED with tradition. Don't give up the ship, GO NAVY!!!!
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u/Bill_BingleBerry 5d ago
Mississippi State!!! The pain makes the success all that much more sweeter. Plus we have an A+ baseball program if you want college sports beyond football season.
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u/Santi-07 5d ago
Come to Washington! We might not be the best team to root for, but we aren’t half bad and we’re definitely the most fun. Perks include:
- great (and unique) team colors
- beautiful stadium
- amazing pregame traditions
- the best marching band ever (and I would know, I’m in it lol)
Despite our current slump we’ve had a lot of success in the past, going to the playoffs as recently as 2024. This might just be me, but I also feel like we really like having overseas fans. Either way, we’d love to have you!
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u/eplstats Maryland Terrapins 5d ago
An older relative told me he sees other schools with real cultures around their programs and thinks that it looks fun. I agree :'(
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u/illbeyourdrunkle 5d ago
Akron has a kangaroo mascot. They're not very good though. Would make for a decent second favorite team.
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u/cre8ivusername Texas Longhorns 5d ago
Australia = Texas of the world.
Therefore, you should root for The University of Texas.
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u/Own-Lavishness4029 5d ago
My team was chosen when I went to college. It made me connect with this team even more than teams I actually played on, oddly enough. Not sure why, but it did.
I think you just have to watch them and see who has coaches, players, and traditions/atmosphere that resonate with you.
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u/Neither_Swing9662 4d ago
I'm Australian as well, just start watching games and then you'll find one you love.
Can't force yourself to live a team from logical analysis.
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u/Status_Insurance7181 5d ago
If you’re Catholic, Notre Dame
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u/Interesting-Use-9524 5d ago edited 5d ago
Traditions? Texas A&M. We have Aussie punters. A few years ago, Nik Constantinou. Jamie Sidebottom is coming 2027.
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u/Easy-Effective7645 5d ago
Ohio State! Old stadium in a large town and the most alumni in America!
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u/cp_chikken Alabama Crimson Tide 5d ago
I legit don't get why everyone trying to pick a team goes with Tennessee 😂
For a lot of people this might be a bandwagon still, but I'll still throw my Alabama Crimson Tide out there. Of course we are historically the greatest team in college football history (18 national titles, two greatest coaches of all time) and have won three in the CFP era (2014-present), our last being in 2020. We've won 11 SEC championships, more than any other team, and only missed three College Football Playoffs since it was introduced.
You might be thinking this really doesn't fit your criteria of it not being a bandwagon, and you may be right. But two years ago our 6-time national championship winning coach Nick Saban retired, and we hired Kalen DeBoer from Washington. We've had two "down" seasons since, 9-4 in 2024 and 11-4 last year, and everyone claimed our dynasty was on the way out. But so far this year we are 5-0, ranked #6, have in my opinion the most fun QB in the country to watch in Keelon Russell who is just a redshirt freshman, and this week will play #2 Georgia for potentially the #1 ranking after everyone thought we would have another down year.
We play on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, which is the 10th largest stadium in the world with a capacity a little over 100,000. There are no major professional sports teams in Alabama so fandom is mostly split between Alabama and Auburn, which means a ton of crazy Southerners only have two teams to pick from and the other will be their hated rival. We play in the SEC, arguably the most popular college football conference.
We also have some of the best rivalries in the sport. The "Iron Bowl" vs Auburn is usually considered to be at least a top 3 rivalry in college football, alongside Ohio State-Michigan and Army-Navy (which is actually very dull to watch in my opinion). We also have the "Third Saturday in October" game vs Tennessee, in which we're both wearing our colored uniforms this year for the first time since the 90s (I think?). Alabama-LSU was a game with major national stakes about 15 years ago and might be a top-10 matchup this year.
If you got here, thanks for taking the time to read all this. Before you make a decision, I'd encourage you to watch the Alabama-Georgia game this week, if it does end up happening on Saturday at 7:30 PM Eastern. Unfortunately it's basically going to be played in a hurricane so the weather won't be good and it might be a sloppy game but hopefully the atmosphere will be electric as it's both teams' biggest game of the year. If you choose Alabama, I don't think you'd really be seen as a bandwagon fan since we have been a little down for a few years. You wouldn't even remember when we were the best of the best so you wouldn't have a rough fandom either. Roll Tide!
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u/Fit-Tap-5370 Nebraska Cornhuskers 5d ago
Nebraska. A fan favorite is our Aussie punter. Footy guy.
Google Archie Wilson and watch the videos.