Best States For College Football Fans: Ohio Stands Up To SEC Country

October 24, 2022 02:38pm

Few states have experienced the level of sustained college football success as Ohio over the course of the past decade.

Thanks to the exploits of Ohio State and Cincinnati, the Buckeye State finds itself among the top states to be a college football fan, when broken down by those teams’ success when it comes to recruiting and attendance, combined with on-field factors, such as winning percentage and College Football Playoff appearances and championships.

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Thanks to the Buckeyes’ 2014 CFP championship and CFP appearances in 2018, 2019 and 2020, combined with the Bearcats CFP appearance in 2021 — the Buckeye State is a heady challenger for the top state in which to be a collegiate fan.

BetOhio.com developed a ranking system of the best states to be a college football fan since the adoption of the College Football Playoff in 2014.

The first category measured attendance between 2014 and 2019 (the most recent year available), via NCAA.com, to determine a ranking for each of the 41 states with at least one FBS team, based on a 1-41 metric (1 being the lowest, 41 the highest).

We used that same scoring metric to measure recruiting, utilizing 247 Sports’ FBS rankings to assign points to each team.

We also ranked each state by winning percentage of its FBS teams since 2014 and by the number of FBS schools per state. We then gave bonus points to states based on College Football Playoff appearances and National Championships.

Here’s a look at the best states to be a college football fan:

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Best States for College Football Fans

Rank	State	Most Teams	Recruiting	Attend.	Win %	CFP Playoff	National Title	Total Points
1	🏈 Alabama	35	38	40	37	40	41	231
2	🏈 South Carolina	28	37	36	40	36	40	214
3	🏈 Ohio	40	31	37	23	41	39	211
4	🏈 Georgia	31	32	31	27	37	38	196
5	🏈 Louisiana	35	29	35	22	35	37	191
6	🏈 Michigan	35	36	39	28	38	0	176
7	🏈 Florida	38	40	38	26	32	0	174
8	🏈 Oklahoma	28	35	30	39	39	0	171
9	🏈 Indiana	31	30	28	14	34	0	137
T10	🏈 Texas	41	41	41	10	0	0	133
T10	🏈 California	38	39	32	24	0	0	133
12	🏈 Wisconsin	7	17	27	41	33	0	125
13	🏈 Pennsylvania	28	27	34	35	0	0	124
14	🏈 Washington	9	22	25	34	32	0	122
T15	🏈 Mississippi	28	34	24	26	0	0	112
T15	🏈 Virginia	35	19	22	26	0	0	112
17	🏈 Tennessee	31	26	33	21	0	0	111
18	🏈 North Carolina	38	28	21	20	0	0	107
19	🏈 Oregon	19	25	11	19	32	0	106
20	🏈 Utah	28	16	20	38	0	0	102
21	🏈 Kentucky	28	24	19	29	0	0	100
22	🏈 Iowa	19	14	26	30	0	0	89
23	🏈 Arkansas	19	20	23	15	0	0	77
T24	🏈 Colorado	28	11	17	16	0	0	72
T24	🏈 West Virginia	9	13	18	32	0	0	72
26	🏈 New York	28	6	16	17	0	0	67
27	🏈 Arizona	19	23	12	12	0	0	66
T28	🏈 Nebraska	7	21	29	8	0	0	65
T28	🏈 Idaho	19	5	8	33	0	0	65
30	🏈 Illinois	28	9	14	12	0	0	63
31	🏈 Maryland	19	18	13	9	0	0	59
32	🏈 Minnesota	7	12	6	32	0	0	57
33	🏈 Missouri	7	15	15	19	0	0	56
34	🏈 Kansas	19	7	12	5	0	0	43
35	🏈 Massachusetts	19	8	11	4	0	0	42
36	🏈 New Mexico	19	4	11	2	0	0	36
37	🏈 Nevada	19	2	7	6	0	0	34
38	🏈 Wyoming	7	1	6	13	0	0	36
39	🏈 New Jersey	7	10	6	3	0	0	26
40	🏈 Hawaii	7	3	6	7	0	0	23
41	🏈 Connecticut	7	1	2	1	0	0	12

States were ranked by each of the seven metrics above. The top state in each category received 41 points, down to 1 point for the last state. A state had to have a team make the CFP or win the national championship to be awarded points in those categories.

BetOhio.com will also have all the latest information on which operators will launch Ohio sports betting apps.

Ohio College Football Among the Best in Nation

By each of our metrics, the Buckeye State stands either atop the standings or near the top, speaking to the steadfast excellence on the gridiron for the region’s top programs.

Ohio’s best score overall came in the attendance category, where the state’s eight FBS programs combined to put up the fifth-most points of any state in the country.

Attendance combined with recruiting excellence and the 41 bonus points handed out for Ohio State and Cincinnati’s CFP appearances and the Buckeyes’ 2014 national championship, meant Ohio wound up with a score of 211 points, coming in third overall behind Alabama (231 points) and South Carolina (214 points).

Better yet for Buckeye State residents is 2022 could add further to the region’s standing in the college football landscape, with Ohio State racing out to a 7-0 start, while the Bearcats sit at 6-1.

As of Oct. 24, both the Buckeyes (No. 2) and Bearcats (No. 20) find themselves in the Associated Press poll, while BetMGM Sportsbook Ohio has Ohio State as the favorite to win this year’s national championship at +175.

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