While at a Super Bowl Party in 2010, I was asked by a fellow guest if I was a Saints fan or if I was just cheering for them tonight. I responded that because of my love for the city as well as great underdog stories, they were definitely my third favorite team in the league. The guest then laughed and said “Third favorite? Do you have a ranking of all the teams?”. I actually don’t have such a list, but after thinking about it for a minute, I decided that I definitely should. Such a list would prevent me from “bandwagon jumping” and overstating my fanhood for certain teams in the midst of good seasons. It should be noted, however, that any rankings of this nature are subject to change depending on a team’s acquisition and disposal of certain players and coaches, as well as for any Cinderella and underdog storylines that emerge. Based on these considerations, I will now publish my favoritism rankings for all NFL, NHL, college basketball, and college football teams (yes, the college rankings definitely change depending on the sport). The reason there is no NBA or MLB rankings is that I don’t have a favorite team in either sport, and you can’t exactly make a list if there is nothing to put at the top. Also, I’d like challenge other fans to make similar lists, as they will likely help you better understand yourself as a sports fan and why you gravitate to certain types of teams. Furthermore, these rankings will hopefully help you understand any fan bias that unintentionally comes out in my columns.

While compiling my college basketball list, I realized that with over 300 different teams in Division 1 it would be impossible to differentiate all of them. I mean does anyone without a special connection have a preference between Eastern Washington and Quinnipiac? Because of this, I decided just to list my favorite team and least favorite team from each of the conferences. Here are the results:

America East– Favorite: Maine, Least Favorite: Binghamton

American– Favorite: South Florida, Least Favorite: UConn

Atlantic 10– Favorite: George Mason, Least Favorite: UMass

ACC- Favorite: Wake Forest, Least Favorite: Duke

Atlantic Sun– Favorite: USC Upstate, Least Favorite: East Tennessee State

Big 12– Favorite: Texas Tech, Least Favorite: Kansas

Big East– Favorite: Butler, Least Favorite: Marquette

Big Sky– Favorite: Northern Arizona, Least Favorite: Weber State

Big South– Favorite: High Point, Least Favorite: Radford

Big Ten– Favorite: Northwestern, Least Favorite: Indiana

Big West– Favorite: UC Irvine, Least Favorite: Cal State Fullerton

Colonial– Favorite: UNC-Wilmington, Least Favorite: Hofstra

C-USA– Favorite: Charlotte, Least Favorite: Marshall

Independents– Favorite: Winston-Salem State, Least Favorite: NJIT

Horizon– Favorite: Youngstown State, Least Favorite: Cleveland State

Ivy– Favorite: Princeton, Least Favorite: Dartmouth

Metro Atlantic– Favorite: Rider, Least Favorite: Manhattan

MAC- Favorite: Buffalo, Least Favorite: Miami-OH

MEAC– Favorite: North Carolina A&T, Least Favorite: Morgan State

Missouri Valley– Favorite: Evansville, Least Favorite: Missouri State

Mountain West– Favorite: Boise State, Least Favorite: Fresno State

Northeast– Favorite: Mount St. Mary’s, Least Favorite: Robert Morris

Ohio Valley– Favorite: Jacksonville State, Least Favorite: Austin Peay

Pac-12– Favorite: Arizona State, Least Favorite: UCLA

Patriot– Favorite: Army, Least Favorite: Holy Cross

SEC– Favorite: Kentucky, Least Favorite: Florida

Southern– Favorite: Elon, Least Favorite: Chattanooga

Southland– Favorite: Texas-San Antonio, Least Favorite: McNeese State

SWAC– Favorite: Prairie View, Least Favorite: Texas Southern

Summit– Favorite: South Dakota State, Least Favorite: IUPUI

Sun Belt– Favorite: Western Kentucky, Least Favorite: Arkansas-Little Rock

West Coast– Favorite: Gonzaga, Least Favorite: Saint Mary’s

WAC– Favorite: Grand Canyon, Least Favorite: Cal State Bakersfield

Also, keep in mind that as the ultimate sports sentimentalist, so I love the mid-major conferences. Therefore, I will still probably be cheering for my least favorite teams from some of the little conferences if they go dancing in March.