For those of you who are college sports fans, do you root for rival teams from your team's conference to win championships? Or do you root against them?
I can't imagine any Michigan fans were rooting for Ohio State to beat Clemson Saturday night. Likewise, I can't fathom any fans of Texas, Nebraska, or Oklahoma State wanted the Sooners to beat LSU. Would Florida State fans have been cheering for Clemson over tOSU?
Maybe it's a SEC phenomenon for fans from other teams to be cheering for SEC schools. Most of the UK fans I know are rooting for LSU, and they root for Alabama when they're in the championship.
I'm indifferent to LSU, but I'd root for practically anyone over Alabama. The one day of the year I'm a Tennessee fan is when the Vols play the Tide.
In basketball, it's a huge dilemma for me when an SEC team plays Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Georgetown, Indiana, or a number of other schools.
I kind of do in college sports useless it involves a championship. For the most part if the conference does well on the national stage it benefits my team's recruiting by proxy. There are two teams in my conference that I have a hard time rooting for no matter the circumstance: Michigan State and Ohio State. Given I went to high school with MSU fans and have a sister who is an alumni they tend to be higher on the list of rivals than Ohio State (Michigan fan if you haven't caught) or even another team akin to the likes of a Notre Dame.
Living in a FCS Football/Mid-Major Conference team's town (Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois, of the Missouri Valley Conference), I was pulling for Loyola a couple of years ago to win its Final Four Game and advance to the National Title Game (which they did not, as they lost in the National Semifinals)
Every game Loyola won, SIU (and the other MVC schools) were(are?) getting more of that CBS/Turner TV $$$! Last time I looked it up, NCAA Basketball Tourney money is paid out to participating schools and conferences over a period of a few years, unlike the FBS Bowls that pay out "lump sum" every year
Yeah I don't get the whole SEC thing. If Texas loses I'll cheer for anyone playing against OU. Why would you want your rival to be successful?
My favorite team is in the Big Ten but I also have teams in Pac 12 and Big East (basketball). My rooting interests are strictly regional, not conference, though I've heard from many people who are conference uber alles. It does depend on the team. I'm willing to support Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, what have you in their bowl games, but not Ohio or Ped State. Since my Pac 12 alliance is a little looser, and since they seem to always be ranked lower by the selection committee, I just like seeing any of them win cross-conference games to prove that Pac 12 is competitive. By the same token, I like seeing the ACC lose because it makes a stronger case to tweak the current system.
Into pro sports, the teams I like generally don't follow a regional pattern. I'm fine seeing the other AL East teams besides Boston do well. I can't even positively identify into which region each NHL team falls.
When it comes to Bowl Games I never root for Michigan, can go either way with Penn State depending on the situation, and will root for any of the other Big Ten Teams.
As for the football national championship game, I have not yet been faced with the opportunity to have to make such a decision. I know I would definitely root against Michigan and Penn State, but as for the rest of the conference it would probably depend on who they were playing and whether or not they did something against Ohio State that season to make me bitter against them.
Conferences are for weak teams that can't make it on their own.
My two teams are Ohio State and Boise State.
With Boise State I absolutely and actively root for the rest of the conference any time they aren't playing Boise State because I want the Mountain West to look good- as they actually have something to prove.
The Big Ten doesn't have anything to prove, so I'm fairly indifferent other than actively rooting for Michigan to lose.
I'm an anomaly, I root for both Michigan and Michigan State and I have no preference for one over the other. I will not under any circumstances root for Ohio State or Wisconsin. I'm also a fan of LSU, Tennessee, Alabama, Western and Central Michigan, Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah.
Being an alum of an ACC school that's dominated by SEC fans in its own damn city very much gives me an "every man for himself" mindset here. I do usually root for other ACC teams (except Clemson and Miami) if they're playing SEC opponents (and I'll make an exception for those two if they're facing a certain red and black team from the East), but otherwise I can take it or leave it.
I root for the MAC teams during non-conference games or the bowl games in football. Once conference schedules start, I hope they all lose :biggrin:
I have a college T-shirt collection. My favorites are Texas & Minnesota. I have many others near the top such as LSU. Absolutely no to Oklahoma, Alabama, and a & m.
An Alabama victory does not mean Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Missouri, South Carolina, Arkansas, a & m, Mississippi, Mississippi State have good teams.
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 31, 2019, 10:46:44 AM
Conferences are for weak teams that can't make it on their own.
Yeah, cause clearly the best teams are UMass and Liberty.
I'd rather see LSU win than Clemson but the "SEC" chant will likely change my mind.
I don't follow college football or basketball, but have avidly followed Division I college hockey for 30 years. My team is Union College, playing in ECAC Hockey. I generally root for ECAC teams when they're playing out of conference. It helps the standing of the league for at-large NCAA berths and I like to see players I get to see in person do well on the national stage. The only team I'll sometimes root against is RPI (my grad school alma mater) as they're Union's biggest hockey rival. Even that's been tempered by Union's incredibly successful run in the 2010s combined with RPI's mediocrity for much of the decade.
Quote from: Jim on December 31, 2019, 02:22:37 PM
I don't follow college football or basketball, but have avidly followed Division I college hockey for 30 years. My team is Union College, playing in ECAC Hockey. I generally root for ECAC teams when they're playing out of conference. It helps the standing of the league for at-large NCAA berths and I like to see players I get to see in person do well on the national stage. The only team I'll sometimes root against is RPI (my grad school alma mater) as they're Union's biggest hockey rival. Even that's been tempered by Union's incredibly successful run in the 2010s combined with RPI's mediocrity for much of the decade.
It's still weird to me that Big Ten hockey is now a thing along with Notre Dame being part of it. The CCHA tournament in downtown Detroit was some damn good hockey and affordable at the same time. I was a little more open to rooting for CCHA teams since a lot of them were pretty obscure compared to the Big Ten schools.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 31, 2019, 07:53:59 PM
It's still weird to me that Big Ten hockey is now a thing along with Notre Dame being part of it. The CCHA tournament in downtown Detroit was some damn good hockey and affordable at the same time. I was a little more open to rooting for CCHA teams since a lot of them were pretty obscure compared to the Big Ten schools.
I also like to see the CCHA and old WCHA teams that didn't go the Big Ten or NCHC do well.
Quote from: cabiness42 on December 31, 2019, 10:46:44 AM
Conferences are for weak teams that can't make it on their own.
At least teams in conferences don't need sweetheart deals to make major bowl games.
The Pac-8/10/12 has always gotten my support for bowl season, the NCAA's and the CWS. Being a Beaver fan that means cheering on the Ducks some seasons but if they are the top of our conference's batting order, then I will back them when it is trophy time. We need all the wins we can get these days!
Rick
Quote from: Jim on December 31, 2019, 08:02:51 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 31, 2019, 07:53:59 PM
It's still weird to me that Big Ten hockey is now a thing along with Notre Dame being part of it. The CCHA tournament in downtown Detroit was some damn good hockey and affordable at the same time. I was a little more open to rooting for CCHA teams since a lot of them were pretty obscure compared to the Big Ten schools.
I also like to see the CCHA and old WCHA teams that didn't go the Big Ten or NCHC do well.
Personally I would have been good with the Power Conferences staying out of hockey, I always liked the smaller feel of the sport compared to Football and Basketball.
The Big Ten expanding to college hockey fucked the sport, as it tore Minnesota/Wisconsin and Michigan/Ohio State from their longstanding rivals. Attendance has been beyond pathetic no matter how good the teams involved are.
Several Minnesota schools tried a Beanpot-like tournament to keep interest after the Gophers had to leave Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State behind, but it was a failure.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on December 31, 2019, 08:40:35 PM
The Big Ten expanding to college hockey fucked the sport, as it tore Minnesota/Wisconsin and Michigan/Ohio State from their longstanding rivals. Attendance has been beyond pathetic no matter how good the teams involved are.
Several Minnesota schools tried a Beanpot-like tournament to keep interest after the Gophers had to leave Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State behind, but it was a failure.
Yes, all for a seven team league which doesn't have a lot of compelling long standing intra-state rivals. There was a crap ton of Michigan Schools in the CCHA, it was about the only sport where a lot of family who went to smaller colleges really could expect a competitive team potentially. It was a lot of fun on high school following Michigan and being able to drive to rival arenas that weren't Michigan State.
I guess it's all Penn State's fault.
If they hadn't gone D1 the Big Ten wouldn't have reached the 6 team threshold needed to begin conference sponsorship of the sport.
I do kinda miss the CCHA and it's quirky nature (as in: "Wait, we're in the same conference as Alaska-Fairbanks?! ...and who the hell is Ferris State?")
Quote from: Buck87 on December 31, 2019, 08:56:39 PM
I guess it's all Penn State's fault.
If they hadn't gone D1 the Big Ten wouldn't have reached the 6 team threshold needed to begin conference sponsorship of the sport.
I do kinda miss the CCHA and it's quirky nature (as in: "Wait, we're in the same conference as Alaska-Fairbanks?! ...and who the hell is Ferris State?")
I should note this isn't the first time the Big Ten had conference hockey, I suppose it was only a matter of time before they picked it up again. Amusingly Ferris State was one of the easier places for me to visit since I was living in DeWitt Township at the time. I thought it would be cool to go see Michigan play in Alaska but not even my Dad could justify a trip out there (somehow he ended up going to Yellow Knife on business during the same era).
Quote from: Buck87 on December 31, 2019, 08:56:39 PM
I guess it's all Penn State's fault.
If they hadn't gone D1 the Big Ten wouldn't have reached the 6 team threshold needed to begin conference sponsorship of the sport.
I do kinda miss the CCHA and it's quirky nature (as in: "Wait, we're in the same conference as Alaska-Fairbanks?! ...and who the hell is Ferris State?")
Living in Michigan I know where Ferris State is off the top of my head but it seems odd that they were in the same conference as Michigan and Michigan State.
I loved seeing Minnesota beat Auburn, and while I'm glad Michigan ultimately lost, it was kinda neat to be able to say "The Little Brown Jug is leading the Iron Bowl at halftime" earlier today.
I had extra reason to root against Michigan, since with their loss, Ohio State has now passed Michigan in the stat of all time winning percentage. This is actually the 2nd time that's happened this year, as we passed them for the first time ever with the head to head win in November, but briefly fell behind again after losing to Clemson.
Quote from: Buck87 on January 01, 2020, 09:28:48 PM
I loved seeing Minnesota beat Auburn, and while I'm glad Michigan ultimately lost, it was kinda neat to be able to say "The Little Brown Jug is leading the Iron Bowl at halftime" earlier today.
I had extra reason to root against Michigan, since with their loss, Ohio State has now passed Michigan in the stat of all time winning percentage. This is actually the 2nd time that's happened this year, as we passed them for the first time ever with the head to head win in November, but briefly fell behind again after losing to Clemson.
It is really pathetic in a rivalry when one side overwhelming wins Come on Michigan you'll always suck until you can beat Ohio State. Most rivalry games are competitive even when one team wins most of the games.
Quote from: texaskdog on January 01, 2020, 09:30:52 PM
Quote from: Buck87 on January 01, 2020, 09:28:48 PM
I loved seeing Minnesota beat Auburn, and while I'm glad Michigan ultimately lost, it was kinda neat to be able to say "The Little Brown Jug is leading the Iron Bowl at halftime" earlier today.
I had extra reason to root against Michigan, since with their loss, Ohio State has now passed Michigan in the stat of all time winning percentage. This is actually the 2nd time that's happened this year, as we passed them for the first time ever with the head to head win in November, but briefly fell behind again after losing to Clemson.
It is really pathetic in a rivalry when one side overwhelming wins Come on Michigan you'll always suck until you can beat Ohio State. Most rivalry games are competitive even when one team wins most of the games.
What incentive does an Ohio State fan have to watch Michigan win a game that has no bearing on their standing? Likewise I wasn't rooting for Ohio State against Clemson. I'm good with rooting for most of the Big Ten but Michigan State and Ohio State have always been off the table for me. Likewise I wouldn't want to see the Packers win on the professional level but I'd be more cool with the Vikings or Bears.
Depends on the team they're playing against. I wanted Auburn to win yesterday because they have the misfortune of being in the same state as a certain other team. But I wanted Iowa to beat USC because nobody likes USC.
Quote from: thspfc on January 02, 2020, 10:42:38 AM
Depends on the team they're playing against. I wanted Auburn to win yesterday because they have the misfortune of being in the same state as a certain other team. But I wanted Iowa to beat USC because nobody likes USC.
I could conceivably see maybe rooting for a rival if it somehow benefited my team by proxy such as a boost to strength of schedule. That seems like that is more of a factor in basketball than the four team playoff of college football.
Quote from: thspfc on January 02, 2020, 10:42:38 AM
Depends on the team they're playing against. I wanted Auburn to win yesterday because they have the misfortune of being in the same state as a certain other team. But I wanted Iowa to beat USC because nobody likes USC.
Ed Orgeron could have been there coach. Hilarious!!!!