Ramblings from the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist

Here is the ranking of my Division 1-A college football teams.  They are divided by conference/division with their overall ranking in parentheses.  The conferences are also ordered from my favorite to least favorite. 

SEC (It’s home to some of my most hated teams but also 4 out of 5 of my favorites.) 

SEC East 

1.  Kentucky (2)- They were the team I grew up with. 

2.  South Carolina (3)-My father’s alma mater and home to the most loyal fans in all of college football. 

3.  Vanderbilt (7)  

4.  Florida (63)- Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow have definitely caused them dropped way down in these rankings, and I bet many other college football fans would say the same. 

5.  Georgia (66) 

6.  Tennessee (67)- They’ve haunted my life since 1984.  Can Kentucky please beat them once in my lifetime!?!?    

SEC West 

1.  Alabama (4)-My mother’s alma mater and home to some of the best fans in college football. 

2.  Ole Miss (5)- Bad stadium.  Alright coach.  Great nickname.  Amazing tailgate.  

3.  Mississippi State (46) 

4.  LSU (47) 

5.  Arkansas (54) 

6.  Auburn (61)

  —————————

 Pac-10 (Fun teams, fun football, fun nicknames.) 

1.  Arizona State (6)- It seems like this is the one conference everyone kinda has a random team they cheer for.  Mine are the Devils because of their miraculous Rose Bowl run in 1996. 

2.  Oregon State (8) 

3.  Stanford (9)

4.  Washington State (15) 

5.  Oregon (16) 

6.  California (25) 

7.  Washington (26) 

8.  Arizona (44) 

9.  UCLA (45) 

10.  Southern Cal (64) 

———————–

Big East (They’re so bad.  It’s hard not to like them.) 

1.  South Florida (13)-I like Skip Holtz, but I sure am going to miss Leavitt. 

2.  Rutgers (17)   

3.  Syracuse (18)

4.  Connecticut (19) 

5.  Cincinnati (27) 

6.  Louisville (48) 

7.  Pittsburgh (53) 

8.  West Virginia (60)   

  ————–

Big 12 (Don’t like many of the teams, but the games are always entertaining) 

Big 12 North 

1.  Kansas (20)- I’m going to miss Mangino! 

2.  Iowa State (21) 

3.  Kansas State (23) 

4.  Missouri (28) 

5.  Colorado (36) 

6.  Nebraska (43) 

Big 12 South 

1.  Baylor (10)-The quintessential lovable loser. 

2.  Texas Tech (14)- Just don’t know how much I can like them with Leach not at the helm.  The man pretty much inspired me to go to law school. 

3.  Oklahoma State (35)   

4.  Texas A & M (39)   

5.  Oklahoma (59)   

6.  Texas (62) 

—————————————–

ACC (Other than Wake there is just not much to like here.) 

ACC Atlantic 

1.  Wake Forest (1)- O Mother So Dear! 

2.  Maryland (42) 

3.  Boston College (52)   

4.  NC State (56)   

5.  Florida State (57)  

6.  Clemson (68)- My most hated team in any sport besides Duke basketball. 

ACC Coastal 

1.  Virginia (22)   

2.  Georgia Tech (24) 

3.  Duke (34)   

4.  North Carolina (37)  

5.  Virginia Tech (49)   

6.  Miami-FL (65) 

——————————————

Big 10 (I don’t really have anything against the conference other than the fact they play boring, barely watchable football) 

1.  Northwestern (11)  

2.  Penn State (12)   

3.  Indiana (30)   

4.  Minnesota (31) 

5.  Purdue (32) 

6.  Illinois (33)   

7.  Michigan (38) 

8.  Wisconsin (41) 

9.  Iowa (50) 

10.  Michigan State (51) 

11.  Ohio State (55)   

———————————–

Independents 

1.  Army (29) 

2.  Navy (40) 

3.  Notre Dame (58)- I don’t hate them as much as a lot of college football fans do, but they’re still not that high on my list. 

———————————

Other 1-A Conferences (Favorites and Least Favorites) 

Mountain West- Favorite: TCU, Least Favorite: Colorado State  

Conference USA- Favorite: East Carolina, Least Favorite: Marshall 

WAC- Favorite: Idaho, Least Favorite: Louisiana Tech  

Sun Belt- Favorite: Western Kentucky, Least Favorite: Troy 

MAC- Favorite: Kent State, Least Favorite: Bowling Green