Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, the 2016 college football season is right around the corner. The first game of the season is set to take place between Hawaii and California on August 26 in Sydney, Australia, while the first games on American soil are slated for Thursday, September 1.
Though countless teams are supported by huge fanbases, we decided to do a little digging to figure out what the 20 most popular teams were. The list provided is based on ticket sales data from the TicketNetwork Online Exchange for the 2016 season.
For the most part, the results weren’t too surprising, with 14 of the 20 teams members of either the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten Conference. While a few unexpected schools made the list, the most remarkable observation was the absence of some big-name college football programs such as the Clemson Tigers, Oregon Ducks, and South Carolina Gamecocks. Take a look at the 20 most popular football teams below:
Rank (From Least Popular to Most Popular)
Team
Conference
20.
Arizona Wildcats
Pac-12
19.
Pittsburgh Panthers
ACC
18.
Auburn Tigers
SEC
17.
Florida State Seminoles
ACC
16.
Michigan State Spartans
Big Ten
15.
LSU Tigers
SEC
14.
Florida Gators
SEC
13.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Big Ten
12.
Oklahoma Sooners
Big 12
11.
Michigan Wolverines
Big Ten
10.
Georgia Bulldogs
SEC
9.
Mississippi Rebels
SEC
8.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Big Ten
7.
Ohio State Buckeyes
Big Ten
6.
Texas A&M Aggies
SEC
5.
Alabama Crimson Tide
SEC
4.
Tennessee Volunteers
SEC
3.
Wisconsin Badgers
Big Ten
2.
Texas Longhorns
Big 12
1.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Independent
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