Compelling Reasons to Root

Originally published on FOXSports.com.

There were 1,506 Division 1 Bowl Subdivision college football games played last year—sorry the NCAA requires I use that name--and, at best, your team was involved in less than one-percent of them. If the school you follow was lucky enough to get a full slate of 14 games they contributed approximately 0.93% to the greater sum of games in 2006 which begs the question: what were you doing with all that downtime on fall Saturdays?

Let’s assume that the average college football fan truly follows only one team but watches more than that one game in which he or she is personally invested per week. While under this assumption we’ll also ignore the nasty notion that there are actually people who a) root earnestly for more than one team or b) only watch their team play and spend the rest of that time completing meaningful tasks and gaining favor with their immediate family and friends. That’s not us.

For the loud and proud college football cognoscenti one game a week is like a salad and a cup of water at a tailgate—possibly tasty but far short of satiating. No, the football fan I know starts watching the first Thursday of the season and doesn’t stop until a champion is crowned in January which means that the theoretical fan is spending the vast majority of the season watching games as a neutral observer.

Of course there are domino-effect games where one outcome changes conference or national standings and some people may even have a (hushed tones here) “financial interest” in certain contests, but excepting those you’re still left with a barrelful of games every Saturday where you simply have to pick a side.

So how do you do it? I’ve spent a lifetime figuring this out and there are a couple of methods that are infinitely more compelling than simply reverting to our nationwide Davidian Complex and rooting for the underdog. While we’re at it, we might as well take a look at some of the schools that qualify heading into 2007:

“The Basketball Schools” – KENTUCKY

All-time Winning Percentage: .501

Basketball National Titles/Football National Titles: 7/0

Arch Rivals: Adolph Rupp, Thoroughbreds

Compelling Reason to Root: There’s something about a hoops powerhouse on the gridiron that tugs at the heartstrings and Kentucky, in the football mad SEC, is the easiest to get behind. Bear Bryant still owns more wins at UK than any other coach in their history but he bolted after the 1953 season when he received a watch for his achievements (first SEC title, National Coach of the Year) and Adolph Rupp received a new car. In the decades to follow Rick Pitino, Rex Chapman and Ron Mercer helped bury the football program but this year there is some reason to be optimistic.

Quarterback Andre Woodson led the SEC in total yards and passing yards per game last year, running back Rafael Little chalked up 1,982 all-purpose yards in 2006 and first-team All-SEC WR Keenan Burton returns. They're all seniors and they represent one of the most talented collections of skill position players in the country but they’ll still likely be in a season long battle with Vanderbilt to stay out of the SEC East cellar. Nevertheless, with some serious upset potential, the Wildcats will be much more of a factor in the conference race than previous years.

Further Rooting (BB Titles/FB Titles): Kansas (2/0), Duke (3/0), Indiana (5/0), UNC (4/0)

“The New Kid on the Block” – SOUTH FLORIDA

All-time Winning Percentage: .623

Years in 1A Existence: 6

Arch Rivals: traditional powers that recruit Florida (i.e. everyone)

Compelling Reason to Root: Boise State became the ultimate NKOTB last year by winning the Fiesta Bowl in their 11^th year on the big stage but they’re officially a mid-major power now. Crashing the college football elite is the longest of long shots for a new program but USF looks like the next sleeper school with a chance to at least dent the armor.

Head Coach Jim Leavitt has been at USF from the beginning, repeatedly turning down offers to move up the ladder so if he believes in the Bulls, why shouldn’t we? Sophomore QB Matt Grothe is back after leading the team in rushing and passing in 2006 and one of Phil Steele’s 254 power rankings has USF going undefeated in 2007. With Auburn, North Carolina, West Virginia and Louisville on the schedule—those last three are at home—I have them achieving slightly less but the Bulls could be a factor in the Big East for the foreseeable future.

Further Rooting (Years in 1A Existence): UConn (7), UAB (11), Troy (3)

“Mad Offensive Genius” – TEXAS TECH

All-time Winning Percentage: .507

Passing Yards per Game in 2006: 369.5

Arch Rivals: full-house backfields, INTs

Compelling Reason to Root: Now that the option offense is nearly dead the most compelling reason to watch the amateurs over the pros is to see some crazy coach fling the ball all over the field. There’s a certain appeal to watching a team—playing primarily at night—whose primary goal is to score as many points as possible and hope that’s enough.

Crazy Mike Leach—the Cody, Wyo. native who coached in Finland and earned a J.D. from Pepperdine—isn’t the first coach to take this approach, but over the past decade nobody’s been more successful without achieving big-time success. Tech is the only team in the history of the Big 12 to have a winning record in each year of the league’s existence, but they still ride in the pickup bed of Texas football behind the Aggies and Longhorns. Graham Harrell is this year’s statistical beneficiary of Leach’s Air Raid offense yet even with a returning QB the Red Raiders are a long shot to overtake the rest of the Big 12 South. However, they’ll never be boring.

Further Rooting (PYPG ’06): Hawaii (441.3), New Mexico St. (399.3), UTEP (312.8)

“The True Student Athletes” – STANFORD

All-time Winning Percentage: .563

America’s Best Colleges Ranking 2007: #4

Arch Rivals: low SAT scores, Calculus III

Compelling Reason to Root: Is there an easier group to get behind than the academic heavyweights trapped in big football conferences? While their opponents are racking up P.E. credits these guys not only have to go to class, they want to. It’s the last link we have left to an era where Harvard and Yale competed on a national level.

Of the schools that qualify, Stanford might be the most appealing for 2007 thanks almost entirely to the spunky Jim Harbaugh. In his short seven months as head coach of the Cardinal Harbaugh has already butted heads with two big time programs, citing an internal leak when he claimed Pete Carroll was leaving USC after this season and calling into question the academic integrity of his alma mater Michigan. There’s no way Stanford faces Michigan in this year’s Rose Bowl and USC will likely win their match-up with the Cardinal by 50-points but seeing some of that attitude, on the field or off, should make Stanford at least interesting again.

Further Rooting (ABC Ranking ’07): Vanderbilt (#18), Northwestern (#14), Rice (#17)

This is really just a sampling of the options available to a football fan on a week to week basis. We haven’t even touched on such favorites as the Past Power/Pitiful Present (Ole Miss), Ugly Ducklings (Oregon) or College Team/Pro Town (Boston College), but that’s okay. Fall camp is finally starting and we’ve got about 16 Saturdays and 1500 games to sort it all out.

Remember, you can only follow one team year round but on any given Saturday, anyone is game.