What program is the opposite of that? In other words, what historically average to below-average school still has the most supportive fans? Are there any losing programs that fill the stands and don’t call for the coach’s head at the end of every season? Programs that would be thrilled with a winning season but still reliably turn out to cheer on struggling squads?
(Because of mandatory attendance I don’t think military academies should count.)
Thank you!
— Jeff
I can think of two programs in the SEC that absolutely would have qualified prior to the past decade and probably still do: Kentucky and South Carolina.
Both schools have fans that for decades packed their stadiums even though their teams didn’t always give them reason to cheer. South Carolina played football for more than 100 years before winning its first bowl game, yet Williams-Brice Stadium was usually full and loud. Meanwhile, anyone who has been to a non-Joker Phillips era Kentucky football game in the past 25 years would know basketball isn’t the only thing they care about in the Bluegrass State.
The reason I wrote “prior to the past decade” is that South Carolina fans got a little spoiled by the Steve Spurrier era and started expecting results that weren’t consistent with the program’s history. But I think they’ve come back to earth now.
What program is the opposite of that? In other words, what historically average to below-average school still has the most supportive fans? Are there any losing programs that fill the stands and don’t call for the coach’s head at the end of every season? Programs that would be thrilled with a winning season but still reliably turn out to cheer on struggling squads?
(Because of mandatory attendance I don’t think military academies should count.)
Thank you!
— Jeff
I can think of two programs in the SEC that absolutely would have qualified prior to the past decade and probably still do: Kentucky and South Carolina.
Both schools have fans that for decades packed their stadiums even though their teams didn’t always give them reason to cheer. South Carolina played football for more than 100 years before winning its first bowl game, yet Williams-Brice Stadium was usually full and loud. Meanwhile, anyone who has been to a non-Joker Phillips era Kentucky football game in the past 25 years would know basketball isn’t the only thing they care about in the Bluegrass State.
The reason I wrote “prior to the past decade” is that South Carolina fans got a little spoiled by the Steve Spurrier era and started expecting results that weren’t consistent with the program’s history. But I think they’ve come back to earth now.
Yokel, thoughts?
pretty accurate. until spurrier we showed up no matter how shitty we got. we showed a little backbone with muschamp and stopped going when it was clear he was going to continue being muschamp. Beamer has hearts and minds right now, we could probably go 0-12 and sell out the whole way, but idk if it's a true return to the old days of 80k in the stands knowing we were going to get our asses stomped by fucking Marshall
Last Edit: May 9, 2022 16:15:18 GMT -5 by SouthernYokel
