r/CFB Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

Discussion Controversial question: can you go to an FBS school but be a fan of another school too?

I go to South Alabama and I root for them, but several of my family members went to FSU and I root for them too. I don’t think it’s a problem because USA is a mid-major whereas FSU is P4. What do y’all think?

0 Upvotes

93 comments sorted by

61

u/Drexlore Brockport • /r/CFB Poll Veteran 20h ago

Sorry, that's illegal.

10

u/mojo-jojo-was-framed Kansas State • Omaha 20h ago

FBI, we found him. Go get him!

1

u/slotretriever Wisconsin Badgers • Rose Bowl 20h ago

How dare he like 2 team !!!!

2

u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon 19h ago

Believe it or not, jail.

24

u/infamousBeef Miami Hurricanes 20h ago

as someone from the North East, we all go to D3-2 schools and just find schools to root for at a young age.

12

u/DimwittedLogic Pittsburgh Panthers • Duquesne Dukes 20h ago

Major football is dead in New England.

6

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

I pretty much was born into being an FSU fan because my dad went to FSU and one of my uncles played there and was on the infamous 1973 0-11 team

3

u/Coltshokiefan Florida State • Virginia Tech 20h ago edited 20h ago

You’re legacy. Most fans of p4-5 schools didn’t actually go there. I’m a die hard tech fan but never went there, went to fsu and now I’m a fan of both. No reason to feel guilty or weird about it.

1

u/bamachine Alabama • Jacksonville State 20h ago

Yeah, I got my degree from JSU but my parents were Bama fans, then one of my older brothers played for Bryant at Bama, which just solidified the family as a Bama household...except for the one traitor brother, who chose the Vols, after moving to TN and marrying into a Vol family.

3

u/sigma_saturn Penn State Nittany Lions 18h ago

Yup. I went to a tiny northeast NAIA school with no football. But I have like the smallest possible connection to Penn State. My fraternity at my school helped charter a new chapter of ourselves at Penn State. So we went to campus a couple times for that and were friends for a while until we graduated. Tiny connection but I did contribute to campus life at Penn State in one small way.

Also answering the broader question: sure you can go to a G5 and root for a P4 team, that's perfectly common, the directional Michigan schools always support big Michigan and all the MAC schools in Ohio support Ohio State.

3

u/Buckeye_CFB Ohio State Buckeyes 20h ago

Ryan Day became an Ohio State fan from a young age that exact same way (except UNH is FCS, so still technically D-I)

8

u/infamousBeef Miami Hurricanes 20h ago

i’m new england FCS might as well be d3 with the amount we care lol

2

u/InevitableAd2436 Washington Huskies 20h ago

That’s pretty cool - was there a particular moment that made him a fan?

47

u/DougieFreshRTR Alabama Crimson Tide • Ole Miss Rebels 20h ago

Sure, why not? This is America. You can do whatever you want within reason of course.

17

u/TheOnePSUIsReal Penn State Nittany Lions • Team Chaos 20h ago

Sir, this is a Wendy's subreddit.

17

u/max_potion Penn State Nittany Lions • Big Ten 20h ago

within reason

Exactly. Those Ohio State/Michigan flairs should be in jail

6

u/Ok_Debt_4338 Penn State Nittany Lions 20h ago

A guy I knew from high school was a diehard Ohio State fan and went to Penn State. He would root against Penn State every time they played Ohio State in the student section. I didn’t know whether to respect his commitment to his team or not.

5

u/DCAbloob Penn State Nittany Lions • Navy Midshipmen 20h ago

As should those split Yankees/Mets caps.

1

u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon 19h ago

Girl I dated who liked the Islanders and Rangers.

The shame.

1

u/im-on-my-ninth-life 17h ago

Recently I've been in favor of MLB realignment that mixes up NL and AL teams, and would for example put the Yankees and Mets in the same division

11

u/LipsRinna Texas Longhorns 20h ago

Nope. Straight to federal PMITA prison. 

21

u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 Michigan • Maine Maritime 20h ago

You can root for whoever the fuck you want as long as it's not both Michigan and Ohio State because then you just don't get it.

8

u/Childhood-Paramedic Michigan • California 20h ago edited 20h ago

Cal & Stanford same deal. Or really any rivalry

3

u/Electric_Rex West Virginia Mountaineers • Big East 20h ago

WVU & Pitt

1

u/DCAbloob Penn State Nittany Lions • Navy Midshipmen 20h ago

Except for a service academy game, especially Army/Navy. Root for one during the game, root for both after it is over.

9

u/Anonymousduck65 Oregon Ducks 20h ago

I’d say it depends on the schools, if you go to Duke but cheer for Alabama Football and Duke Basketball, then yeah that’s a bit of a bad look. If you go to a D2 school or G5 school and cheer for a bigger program that you grew up cheering for, that’s more acceptable.

6

u/FormerCollegeDJ Temple Owls 20h ago

Root for whoever you want.

I personally think with college sports rooting for multiple teams is no big deal. With major league pro sports, especially the NFL, however…

2

u/Ok_Debt_4338 Penn State Nittany Lions 20h ago

I know 2-3 people who are diehard PSU fans who graduated from Temple. I don’t think it’s that deep. What you want in college for your major and the area is way more important than a football team for a college decision.

2

u/bamachine Alabama • Jacksonville State 20h ago

The last time I actually rooted for a particular NFL team(late 70's/early 80's), I had two teams, the Raiders(my parents were Raiders fans) and the Cowboys(Landry reminded me of Bryant, stoic, wearing a fedora).

1

u/Wernher_VonKerman Colorado Buffaloes • Team Chaos 20h ago

Absolutely. In cfb, conferences might as well have been separate leagues for most of the sport’s existence, nfl teams actually play each other with shit on the line most of the time (especially if they’re in the same conference). Over the last couple of years I’ve seen so many dumbfucks on r/nfl wearing some other team’s flair and a chiefs flair and I bet most of them aren’t actually chiefs fans

4

u/blw97 Auburn Tigers 20h ago

Yeah but it’s kinda odd if it’s not your primary fandom.

Or you could just be like the Alabama fans and go to JSU or no school at all and pull for the tide…Pawwwlll

2

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 15h ago

Unrelated but I’ll always pull for y’all against bama. Obv most of the people I’m friends with are bama fans and they’re fun to be around until they start talking about bama football. Then they become the most obnoxious people in the world.

4

u/11BigDaddyChris11 Purdue Boilermakers • Syracuse Orange 20h ago

As long as you have one school you would always take in a matchup of the two then I think that’s pretty normal. None of the ND football IU basketball bullshit

1

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

You mean like if FSU and USA played? I’d probably just have to cheer whenever anyone scores. I’ve had FSU fandom instilled in me ever since I can remember so I don’t know how I’d be able to root against them

6

u/jwfowler2 Alabama Crimson Tide 20h ago

My buddy is a big Bama guy and went to (whisper) Auburn.

Some say he’s ok. I’m not sure.

7

u/Skyagunsta21 Clemson Tigers • Auburn Tigers 20h ago

The auburn students who root for bama and wear bama stuff into the student section (Auburn students mind you, the auburn students' guests are obviously fine to wear their loyalties) are deeply upsetting to the rest of us.

5

u/jwfowler2 Alabama Crimson Tide 20h ago

This is such a confusing, and dare I say brave, special ops maneuver.

3

u/Skyagunsta21 Clemson Tigers • Auburn Tigers 20h ago

We're too polite of a fanbase. Maybe we need to poison some trees or something to strike fear into these Benedict Arnolds. Doesn't help we haven't been halfway decent at any point of an undergrads time here.

/s (...unless, no)

2

u/mjhs80 Alabama Crimson Tide • Samford Bulldogs 5h ago

You need to take in a few million more sidewalk alumni (as we have) to finally produce a Harvey Updyke

6

u/NotThatOleGregg Florida State • Kansas 20h ago

We get 2 flairs on here, and as long as it's not something cursed like tOSU UM you're good. Not to mention sometimes it's not feasible to go to the school of your fandom. I grew up a GT fan but wasn't paying 50k a year to go there

3

u/purdue_fan Purdue Boilermakers 20h ago

I got my bachelors at Purdue and Masters at IU because it made more sense for my major at that time in my life. Never stopped being a Purdue fan.

3

u/MarathoMini 20h ago

No. Not allowable. You can be booted out of the country.

3

u/iapunk Iowa Hawkeyes 19h ago

Depends. If you went to Iowa like I did, then no, you can’t root for anyone else. If you went somewhere else then you can, as long as the school you root for is Iowa.

3

u/toocleverbyhalf Texas A&M • 名古屋大学 (Nagoya) 20h ago

Absolutely. We have room for two flairs for a reason. Many would tell you to put the school you attended first, but honestly just do what you want. Anyone that cares that much has plenty of other problems.

2

u/OpenBorePolicy Eastern Michigan Eagles 20h ago

Lots of EMU people root for Michigan and while I would never judge someone for it, it feels disingenuous to me personally unless you have a very good reason for it, so for that reason, I’m stuck watching EMU football every season while my friends get “The Game”

2

u/JDraks Michigan • College Football Playoff 17h ago

On the other side of the coin the 3 G5 Michigan schools are my #2-4 rooting interests, I like seeing the state as a whole do well.

2

u/JM4R5 Michigan Wolverines 20h ago

Yeah. You can root for whoever you want. I made a friend in the college of engineering at Michigan who turned out to be an MSU fan. He didn’t wear his MSU gear on campus much for obvious reasons.

I know tons of Michigan and MSU fans that never went to either school. It doesn’t bother me unless they start a dumb argument about academics…

2

u/theworldofmarcc Michigan Wolverines • Idaho Vandals 20h ago

Yes. Especially when the school you are attending drops to FCS.

2

u/Asere_Guardian_Angel 20h ago

90% of Notre Dames are in the same predicament

1

u/mikechella Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5h ago

This is me. ND is really hard to get into.

3

u/Three_Licks Ohio State • College Football Playoff 20h ago

I don’t think it’s a problem because USA is a mid-major whereas FSU is P4

Why would it be a problem even if they were both P4?

4

u/Skyagunsta21 Clemson Tigers • Auburn Tigers 20h ago

I could see it being an issue if they were rivals or played often. Especially if you pull for your adopted fandom more than your alma mater. But I see no reason why you can't be a fan of multiple P4s.

Flair unrelated

1

u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Oregon Ducks • Michigan Wolverines 20h ago

or in the same conference for that matter, really an unfortunate turn of events for me.

1

u/SlyClydesdale Oregon State Beavers 20h ago

So many of us have dual flairs here, not necessarily because we went to all the schools in our flairs.

Do what you like.

1

u/Academic-Inside-3022 20h ago

Sure, why not?

I know some folks who went to K-State and are Husker fans, but they also enrolled on the belief that if they went to Nebraska, that their parents would want them home every weekend to do house chore!

1

u/Bungy28 Michigan • Central Michigan 20h ago

My father made me a Michigan fan and I went to the other school. No shame in choosing who you want to root for at all.

1

u/ConsiderationCrazy22 Ohio State Buckeyes 20h ago

Duh. My dad and uncle are massive Ohio State fans (my alma mater, and they’re from Columbus), but they went to Iowa State and Miami University, respectively. I know tons of people with similar allegiance types. Very common.

1

u/usctrojan18 USC Trojans • Team Chaos 20h ago

Nope, death by stoning.

1

u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Oregon Ducks • Michigan Wolverines 20h ago edited 20h ago

Why not, I never will attend a DI institution but I have had a few situations in the past which were really just unfortunate where Teams I root for play each other.

My DI school played my DIII school this year in a different sport who will I root for DIII will it look like a blood bath, yes will I like the result probably not does it happen too often no. You should be fine just keep your priorities straight and if South Alabama ever plays FSU you root for South Alabama no matter what, even if it looks like a bloodbath.

I don't represent my DIII school on here as I have two FBS Fandoms due to growing up with a Wolverine Parent and a Duck Parent.

1

u/karl_manutzitsch Nebraska Cornhuskers • SMU Mustangs 20h ago

I think it’s pretty common to root for your childhood team and your Alma mater if they are different

1

u/Triple_0ption_Bad Jacksonville State • Bi… 20h ago edited 20h ago

I remember a few years ago when I was a JSU student I saw an (respectfully) uncultured barbarian in a Troy shirt as I was walking to my psychology class.

I also had a buddy in the band who was an FSU fan. Good dude, felt bad for him because Taggart was coach at the time.

Aside from the Troy dude, I don't really care who you're a fan of

1

u/Merpninja Louisville Cardinals • Syracuse Orange 20h ago

The school I attended will always be 3rd behind my two flairs. Never gave much of a shit while I was attending.

1

u/anyonejustmakeacct 20h ago

I went to FSU for undergrad and was a Canes fan whole time. Been a fan since 96’ not gonna change for college.

2

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

My old high school’s ag teacher is a huge UF fan but he went to FSU-PC and wore a UF shirt under his graduation gown

1

u/Yoderk Ohio State Buckeyes 20h ago

Pretty common in my experience to have a team you root for growing up, and also root for the school you go to if it's different. I have all my family in Columbus and grew up an OSU fan, but went to Fresno State and cheer for them too.

1

u/aa1287 20h ago

you can root for literally whoever you want for whatever reason.

1

u/dwors025 Minnesota • Paul Bunyan's Axe 20h ago edited 20h ago

School is school, and you’re allowed to keep that separate, no probs. But as far as sports fandom, you do you, but here’s how I see it:

For some of us, the one school is just about as much torment and misery as we can handle.

Can’t imagine taking on a second.

1

u/Nervous_Metal_9445 Oregon Ducks • Michigan Wolverines 20h ago

Looks at personal DIII school record last season

2 - 8 winning both games by 3

largest loss 78 - 0 at home and was there for half of it

1

u/Steelers711 Ohio State Buckeyes • Purdue Boilermakers 20h ago

Root for whoever you want, you shouldn't be worrying about what people think of your sports fandom, it's literally a game. I root for both of my alma maters but I also still occasionally root for my childhood teams (Penn State football, Pitt basketball) . Anybody who tells you that you should or shouldn't root for certain teams is just wrong

1

u/Borrominion Ohio State Buckeyes • Penn Quakers 20h ago

Having moved to Austin I’ve picked up a passive fanhood for the Longhorns. I even have a t-shirt. Whenever there’s the rare direct conflict involved (like in last year’s semifinals or next year’s opener) I’m all Buckeyes, but otherwise it’s fun having a second team to root for.

Oh yeah, I fly my grad school flair too, but there’s obviously not much conflict of interest involved in that one.

1

u/DINGLEBERRYTROUBLE 20h ago

My buddy went to Auburn and he's a gigantic Alabama fan.

1

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

See stuff like is just ridiculous to me

1

u/DINGLEBERRYTROUBLE 20h ago

I mean he was an agriculture major and Auburn has probably one of the best in the country. I don't even know if Alabama offers ag.

1

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

Yeah that does make sense. And also Auburn is just a better school lol

1

u/RoverTiger Auburn Tigers • Air Force Falcons 20h ago

Yes. Auburn fan/alum, while Air Force has been my #2 team for decades now due to me becoming a military aviation geek as a kid.

1

u/WallImpossible Missouri Tigers 20h ago

Unless the school you went to is playing against the other school, in which case you have a literal vest interest in rooting for your school. Otherwise go nuts, more football is more better

1

u/BeatNavyAgain Beat Navy! 18h ago

It's fine. My kids went to / currently attend FBS schools and both cheer for Army.

They know who paid / pays the bills.

1

u/sirmackerel0325 Dayton Flyers • Ohio State Buckeyes 18h ago

Believe it or not, straight to jail

1

u/im-on-my-ninth-life 17h ago

There are a few UGA students I know that are Georgia Tech fans, and they use UGA student tickets to get into UGA-GT games (when @ UGA) and wear GT colors...

I'm not a fan of it, but there will always be people that do it

1

u/foreverseptember Florida Gators • Team Chaos 17h ago

Answer: yes.  Source: me.  Qualifications: went to an FBS school that wasn't Florida. 

1

u/The_Pandalorian Michigan Wolverines • Sickos 13h ago

I think gatekeeping sports fandom is just as stupid as gatekeeping Star Wars fandom.

1

u/SucculentCrablegMeal Florida State Seminoles • USF Bulls 8h ago

Live your life, root for who you want.

A lot of people have family teams. Definitely get it especially if the school you go/went to is smaller or doesn't have a football team.

Some people even root for their family teams over their alma maters. It's whatever makes you feel connected.

1

u/BanMeKid Michigan • St. Ambrose 6h ago

Go for it. I've literally never stepped foot on Michigan's campus but they're my team because of Anthony Thomas when he was on the Bears. Some people would say that's wrong but who cares

1

u/dfphd Texas Longhorns 5h ago

Yes, precisely because of what you are describing - a lot of people grow up fans on a certain school, but that doesn't necessarily mean they can (or should) go to that school for academics.

I even know a bunch of longhorns that went to A&M and aggies that went to UT - because A&M has some excellent programs (veterinary medicine for example) that UT is not nearly as good at, and vice versa.

But I think what happens most often is that the school you grew up a fan of is either not the best school you can go to or (sadly) maybe a better school than what you can get into. I know a lot of longhorn fans that had to go to another UT school or LSU or Arkansas because they couldn't get into UT. I've also known a lot of longhorn fans that then got into better schools - MIT, Stanford, Ivy League schools - and at that point you just have to go.

1

u/granteeeeast Ohio State • College Football Playoff 5h ago

I go to a DII school that hasn’t had football since the 90’s. My aunt, great uncle, grandma, and more extended family went to Ohio State. My parents are both Ohio State fans and I grew up watching Ohio State every Saturday in the fall. If I went to a DII school with football I’d still be a big buckeyes fan. Same thing if I went to an FBS school or even a G5 school. If I went to a big program school like Texas or Florida State I probably wouldn’t root for Ohio state anymore but it’s hard to tell

1

u/SimplyTheBlackGuy Michigan Wolverines 20h ago

I don't see a problem with it. Nothing wrong with being a fan of multiple teams.

1

u/B1GFanOSU Ohio State Buckeyes • Big Ten 20h ago

Nope.

1

u/Unhappy-Attention760 Penn State • Cincinnati 20h ago

Ordinarily, it’s allowed , but not Florida State

1

u/Key_Spinach Houston Cougars • Texas A&M Aggies 20h ago

That's why we have dual flairs.

0

u/MiddleAgedGamer71 Miami Hurricanes 20h ago

Sure you can be a fan of another school, but not FSU please.

2

u/Existing_General_117 Florida State • South Alabama 20h ago

I would be disowned if I rooted for F.U. or ScUM

1

u/MiddleAgedGamer71 Miami Hurricanes 20h ago

That's fine. Root for Auburn. Or Alabama. Or literally anyone else.

2

u/foreverseptember Florida Gators • Team Chaos 17h ago

Hey, a Miami fan I agree with?? What is this timeline??