A question concerning an issue I see often

[Broken_Hero]

My question concerns the SEC in relation to its College Football divisions. I see a lot of SEC talk from all the fans of the teams in the SEC about how great their division is, and how their weakest team would dominate in the Pac-10, or Big 10 etc....

My questions stems from my own sports perspective, I'm a Washington state based fan, I am a fan of the Seahawks, Mariners,(Super Sonics while they were in Seattle) and the Vancouver Canucks. This past baseball post season one of the Mariners divisional teams, the Rangers made it to the playoffs, and for the life of me I couldn't root for them in the WS, granted I did pull for them to beat Yankee nation. The same with the Seahawks, I can never support any other team, nor root for them to win because the ferocity of divisional/conference battles. Hell, I still harbor bad thoughts of the Chiefs, Raiders, Chargers, and Bronco's and we haven't been in the AFC west for at least a decade....

Am I a minority in sports nation, thinking this way? There is no way I'd pump up the AL West unless my M's where in the dance, the same with my Hawks, and Canucks...but I do see a lot of SEC fans(I read a lot on foxsports.com) that seem to claim there whole division more, than their favorite team. Has anyone else seen this phenomenon before, it truly amazes me that fans from the same conference/division would be cheering for one another....its almost like a M's fan cheering for the A's, or a Bronco's homer hoping the Chiefs pull off a win...boggles my mind.

[bluedigger]

1. I usually root for the team that takes mine out.

Usually. I will never root for the Yankees, for instance. My rationalization is that it makes my team look that much better to lose to the eventual champion. Sometimes it works.:9

[Broken_Hero]

3. I guess I'm different, which isn't bad...

:D With divisional games, I hate the other teams pretty bad, and with due reason, usually they kick the crap out of us...:)

I'm amazed that I'm seeing a lot of fans, who support their whole division/conference, usually there is a lot of bad blood between divisional teams, I guess its a hard switch to flip in my head, to cheer against the Rams and hope for their doom...and then next week root/cheer for them.

[bluedigger]

5. My rationale only kicks in during the playoffs.

Or in short season scenarios like the NFL, where seedings are important...

[JonLP24]

2. I'd love to see Vanderbilt dominate in the Big 10 or Pac-10

I hear what you're saying, though I don't think it is limited to the SEC. I know some fans of other conferences will boast how strong their conference is. I don't care that much about the Pac-10's rep. I will defend it if someone is trashing them, especially if it is unreasonable criticism. Other than that I don't care. I don't strictly root for Pac-10 teams in bowl games like fans of conferences do. I'll probably root for Auburn over Oregon because I'm not at all a fan of Oregon. I do like a lot of teams in the Pac-10 so I'll probably root for quite a few like Stanford over Virgina Tech. However I won't root for Arizona whoever they play.

Other than that, I'm not sure how to answer your question.

[Broken_Hero]

4. Do you think its more a college issue?

In terms of fans supporting/pumping up their division/conference, compared to the professional level.

[JonLP24]

6. Oh yes

I'm not used to seeing things like this on the professional level but I'm sure there pro-sports division fans out there.

[madinmaryland]

7. I'd love to see Vandy dominate the SEC. My folks and eight Aunts and Uncles are grads of Vandy.

Seriesly!

[Upton]

8. SEC fans are not alone..

I live in SW Washington state, actually closer to Portland than Seattle. I grew up near Palo Alto though. So, my main teams are Stanford, Oregon, and UW. However, if any Pac-10 team is playing in a bowl game, they are carrying the banner of the entire conference in front of the whole nation..so I root accordingly. I don't see anything odd about that at all..

[madinmaryland]

12. Nice post, cboy.

You, of all people, talking about who you root for...



:D

[Broken_Hero]

16. So you don't have a clear team in college football?

It boggles my mind, to have three fave teams, in the same conference, it confuses me. I just can't see myself being a M's and A's fan at the same time, to me it sounds like a sure fire way to bring about the Rapture, if I was a M's/A's fan....:)

I see your point, in your last sentence, and it appears a lot of fans are in the same boat, I guess I just hold more animosity to in conference/division rivals than most.

[Upton]

19. For me..

pro and college are different. I'm a San Francisco Giants fan, so I dislike every other team in the division. I may play up the relative strength of the NL West compared to the other divisions, but that's about it. Same goes with the 49ers and the rest of the NFC West, Sharks and the Pacific division.

[HuckleB]

9. I often root for the other teams in "my" teams' division.

It's a sibling thing, I guess. There's no one you want to beat more, but if you don't, there's no one you want to see win besides them.

[abqmufc]

10. I am with you...

B/c I am a Manchester United I will never root for any of our main rivals regardless of our standing in the league or cup competition. The thought of cheering for Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, or Liverpool makes me vomit! In all honesty I'd rather watch golf than Liverpool.

B/c I am an Auburn football fan I will never root for another SEC football team. B/c I am UNC hoops fan I will never root for another ACC team....especially Duke.

Fans of the beautiful game do seem to come together when discussing which country has the best league. In this case fans of English teams will band together and defend the quality of the English league over the Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Dutch leagues.

American sports fans have lost team loyalty due to American's mobility (I swear nobody in Phoenix is a Cardinals fan...as most are from Chicago or New England area) and the fact players no longer have loyalty. It is nothing for a Yankee to become Red Sox but to this day Manchester United will never trade a player to Liverpool. Although that loyalty in England is drastically changing.

[hughee99]

11. In college sports, the reputation of an entire division affects the rankings

of the teams in those divisions. Even if you're team is having a down year, it's better that people believe that it's because your conference is tougher rather than because your team is not playing well. Even a few Alabama fans might bring themselves to grudgingly cheer for Auburn, because next year, it enhances their chances.

Having said all that, at this point I time the SEC is head and shoulders above any other conference. It's not that the BEST team in the SEC is necessarily so much better than other conference winners, or that the WORST team in the SEC could win another conference (I'm not sure Vandy could win the Sun Belt), but over the last few seasons, the SEC has had far more quality teams. I'd take the 5th or 6th or 7th best SEC team over any other division's 5th, 6th or 7th placed team. As a result, the teams in this conference have a better chance of losing week to week.

[Broken_Hero]

17. I see your point,

I wonder how the college football fans deal with it...to hate your rivals, all year, cheer against them, hope they blow it so your team can move up, and then turn on a dime and cheer for their success further down the road. I guess that switch in my brain doesn't work, but it appears the points you have made are pretty commonly shared among college football fans.

[fishwax]

13. I think it's stronger with the SEC than it is with other conferences

There are certainly Big 10, Pac 10, ACC, and Big 12 fans (perhaps even a few Big East fans) who will root for rivals out of loyalty to the conference, but I think the inclination is stronger with SEC teams. I think it has to do with the regional identity, which is more consistent and pronounced in the SEC than it is in any other conference. Every conference (heck, every team--even Notre Dame) has a tendency to believe that the powers that be (the BCS, ESPN, the media in general, etc.) is biased against them, but in SEC country that rhetoric resonates more deeply with broader cultural attitudes than it does in other regions.

I also do think it's stronger in college sports than pro sports, since universities have more structural connections to a state's/regions culture than sports teams do (since they represent opportunity for advancement for citizens; are more important employers than pro teams; and support the business, cultural, and political infrastructures of the state/region by training future leaders, etc.).

In pro leagues, though, there seems to be at least some tendency to support other teams at the conference/league level (as opposed to the division level). If the Mariners don't make the World Series and the AL team that does make the series is not a division rival (or hated for other reasons), are you more likely to pull for the AL team in the Series?

[Broken_Hero]

15. To answer your AL question

in terms of the MLB, no I wouldn't cheer for them. To be clear, I dislike the Yankee's predominately because, shit, honestly they have owned the Mariners in the playoff's, and usually in season, the same with Boston although its more in season because I can't remember the M's and Bosox meeting in the playoff's. With that in mind, usually the Yankee's, or Bosox are making the WS and I cannot support them because like I mentioned above, those teams usually own us/kick the dog piss out of us.

With college I suppose I'm not around many fan's that root/cheer for rivals. A good friend of mine who is no longer with us, was a huge Longhorn fan, and he never cheered for OU, or Texas A&M, or Nebraska. Same with my other two college buds, one whom is a Nebraska homer, and another who is a Ohio State fan, I've never seen/nor heard them cheer for in division rivals. I guess its just a weird aspect of sports that I haven't truly understood/or grasped.

I have seen the aspect of fans who pump their own division/cheer for rivals before(online), just not to the level I currently see within the SEC, although I admit its more than likely due to the SEC winning the NC games the past 4yrs, I'm sure if say Florida State and the ACC was dominating the NC game, I'd see a lot of ACC fans pumping their conference.

[Capt. America]

14. When it comes to bowl time I vote straight "Big Ten" ticket, unless its the Blew, then only if they

are playing against the SEC, because the SEC are the biggest braggarts in the nation. Also, I will never, never, never, root for the Yankmees, as they are evil personified.

[Broken_Hero]

18. Ditto on the Yankmee hate,

:toast: