Texas, USC and the 7 college football fan bases living in the past

These college football fan bases are living in the past.

When it comes to sports, college football is just different. If someone is rooting for the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Bengals, or the Los Angeles Lakers, their only allegiance is that they chose that team. Even if you grow up in that city, the ties you have to a professional team will never run as deep as a college team. Many of those fans went to the school, and some are still paying the student loans on them.

Those ties tend to make some fans irrational, especially if that team was once one of the greats. It’s one thing for fans of Ohio State to be obnoxious because we have to deal with it when their team constantly wins. It’s another thing to hear fans boast about their many championships when none of them happened since Y2K. History matters, but it’s nowhere near everything in these arguments.

Still, some fans will constantly hit on their history against the history of “your” team. It’s usually a hollow argument, but good luck telling them that. Some once-great teams just haven’t been good for a long time. They used to make all the right decisions, get the best recruits, hire the best coaches, but now they aren’t even high on the recruitment list. Their fan base thinks they should be at the top of every great players’ list, but it’s usually just smoke and mirrors.

If your fan base is on this list, don’t worry. There is a chance to turn it around. 15 years ago, Alabama Crimson Tide fans would probably be on that list. They made the right hire in Nick Saban and now look at them. This could easily happen to these teams. Honestly, some of these teams are right there, but their fan base just needs to be patient.