The SEC’s most obnoxious fans: There’s a new orange No. 1
Our inaugural ranking of the SEC’s most obnoxious fans was presented in 2008, and much has changed over 24 months. Mississippi State has switched coaches. Auburn has switched coaches. (Then again, when doesn’t Auburn switch coaches?) Tennessee has switched coaches twice. Kentucky’s coach quit. Vanderbilt’s coach just quit. Florida’s coach quit and un-quit.
Amid such flux, it’s only fair that our rankings don’t remain static. Indeed, I’m proud — actually, I’m not sure if “proud” is the proper word — to note that our new rankings are completely different. Not one of the 12 positions has gone unchanged, which says … well, I don’t know what it says. But there we are.
A note: I asked for your input the other day, and I have taken your thoughts under the deepest advisement. Indeed, the results of our little poll are included herein. But I must stress that these are my rankings, and I’m a neutral. (Full disclosure: I’m a graduate of Kentucky, which hopes one day to start a football program.)
Oh, and I probably should mention that I attended my first SEC game in 1969, covered my first SEC game in 1976 and have seen a game at every SEC stadium. Meaning: I might be an idiot, but I’m a well-traveled idiot.
And with that, I hereby unveil the 2010 rankings of the SEC’s most obnoxious fans. In honor of our previous champion, fans of the new title-holder are required by executive order to wear jean shorts for the next two years.
12. Tennessee (No. 7 in 2008, No. 4 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Purely a sympathy vote. The formerly Big Orange has seen itself massively devalued from within. It has a lousy AD who hired the brat Lane Kiffin, and now this program is in a world of hurt. (In a display of bravery, the lousy AD just canceled a series with North Carolina) Put simply, I feel sorry for Tennessee fans. They deserve better than ham-handed Mike Hamilton.
11. Vanderbilt (No. 10 in 2008, No. 10 in 2010 AJC.com poll): It’s never a good sign when a coach quits a month before summer camp convenes, but that’s what Bobby Johnson did. He did it because he was tired of losing. Johnson is a fine football man who stands as Vandy’s best coach in the past quarter-century. He went 12-52 in league play. Imagine having to watch that every season, world without end.
10. Kentucky (No. 11 in 2008, No. 11 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Big Blue football rooters didn’t do anything obnoxious these past two seasons. Big Blue rooters save the obnoxious behavior for basketball, a sport for which they have no peers regarding exess. They’ve only moved up — or down, depending on your point of view — to No. 10 because I happened to feel really sorry for Tennessee and Vandy.
9. Mississippi State (No. 12 in 2008, No. 12 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Backers of the maroon Bulldog believe Dan Mullen can win more than his share of games. If so, it would only trigger the scariest words in the English language: More cowbell!
8. Ole Miss (No. 9 in 2008, No. 9 in 2010 AJC.com poll): I can handle Rebel fans most years, but occasionally they’ll get all geeked up and start sounding like Georgia or South Carolina folks. (“This is finally our year! This time for sure!”) For the Rebels, last season was such a time. Naturally, they went 4-4 in SEC play, including an egg-on-the-face loss to Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. And now coach Houston Nutt, who’s nutty, has allowed quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to walk on despite having been kicked off the Oregon squad and having pleaded guilty in separate incidents. Nutt has promised “zero tolerance” regarding Masoli. Me, I anticipate more egg on the Ole Miss face.
7. South Carolina (No. 6 in 2008, No. 7 in 2010 AJC.com poll): I keep thinking the Gamecocks are going to be really good this year. I also keep wondering what will happen with their fans — who have thought the Gamecocks are going to be really good every year since ‘92 (and I mean 1892) — are finally proved right.
6. LSU (No. 8 in 2008, No. 5 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Here’s where you and I disagree the most. I’ve always considered a trip to Tiger Stadium a treat. Then again, I don’t sit in the stands, an experience I’ve been led to believe is most challenging. But I will tell you this: The best scripted moment in all of college football is when the Golden Band from Tigerland and the Golden Girls conduct their pregame march to midfield. Beats Ohio State’s “Script Ohio” six ways to Saturday.
5. Alabama (No. 4 in 2008, No. 3 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Being old enough to have seen Alabama under the Bear, I dreaded the thought of the Tide rising again to eminence. In the ’70s and ’80s, there were no worse fans. (Except maybe Kentucky basketball fans, and even then it was a coin flip.) But I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the relative moderation that has accompanied Bama’s latest national championship. Maybe this has to do with Nick Saban, who never crows and is never satisfied. Whatever the case, I offer this relatively benign ranking as a thank-you.
4. Georgia (No. 3 in 2008, No. 2 in 2010 AJC.com poll): If it’s possible to have sympathy for folks who take pride in trashing their own campus, I have some sympathy for Dawg-lovers. Because I think every Georgia road game this autumn is going to be off the hook. I think this because of Damon Evans and red panties.
3. Arkansas (No. 5 in 2008, No. 7 in 2010 AJC.com poll): It wasn’t enough that Hog fans ran off Houston Nutt and welcomed Bobby Petrino as a conquering hero, not the sinking-ship-deserting rat he was. But now apparently you have to pass a loyalty test to work for an Arkansas radio station. (Reporter Renee Gork was fired after wearing a Florida hat to a press conference; being Petrino, he noticed and objected.) And Hog fans reacted as if her dismissal was a good thing. Where’s Edward R. Murrow when you need him?
2. Florida (No. 1 in 2008, No. 1 in 2010 AJC.com poll): I know, I know. It takes effort not to put the hated Gators — and they’re hated in every SEC outpost, not just Athens, Ga. — at the top of anything involving the word “obnoxious.” But I have to confess: I never understood why everybody hated Tim Tebow. He was a really good player who seemed like a really good guy. If he played for Georgia or Alabama, would those fans have not similarly lionized him? But if you’re asking me to defend jorts … well, that line I will not cross.
1. Auburn (No. 2 in 2008, No. 6 in 2010 AJC.com poll): Because Tiger fans still worship at the tainted feet of Pat Dye. Because they run off coaches on a whim. Because they’ve grown as arrogant as Alabama backers without one-tenth the justification. Because they’re still whining over the national championship they didn’t win in 2004. Because the world’s worst fan — the Montgomery banker Bobby Lowder — is an Auburn man. And because I would pay money (though not a lot) to see Bobby Lowder in jean shorts.
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1,009 comments Add your comment
SEC
August 26th, 2010
11:38 am
The most obnoxious fans would easily be a tie between Florida and Georgia depending on the weekend! enough said…
Auburn…. really??? Mark you obviously don’t go to too many SEC games… idiot?
Icculus
August 26th, 2010
11:38 am
Having Auburn even in the top 5 in this list is absurd. I’ve gone to Auburn every time we’ve played them there in the last 15 years. There really isn’t a more hospitable fanbase in the SEC. You must have some sort of personal bias against them.
Alabama fans, I owuld put at #1, followed VERY closely by Tennessee. I’m an LSU fan, and I could see how we would be perceived as pretty high on the list, but there are definitely good Tiger fans and bad ones, just like any fanbase.
SEC
August 26th, 2010
11:38 am
Enter your comments here
Michael
August 26th, 2010
11:39 am
as an out-of-conferencer, I’d like to submit that you’re all jerks. But at least during the 3.5 years I’ve lived in SEC country, Florida takes the cake. I mean before I had really met any fans, I used to actually like UF.
Cousin Avi
August 26th, 2010
11:40 am
Amen Dawglassville
J Clay
August 26th, 2010
11:41 am
the one you missed mark on the most is LSU…based on experience in their stadium they are the worst…granted Florida may be up there but I’ve not been to a game in their stadium…also, even though UGA grad and fan I have to agree that UGA should be high on list – we have some great fand but also some terrible fans…UT is up there too – everybody is just giving them a pass now becasue Kiffin is gone…
Hogs Baby
August 26th, 2010
11:41 am
Mark will you answer any of my questions?
TS
August 26th, 2010
11:42 am
It’s hard to be humble when you’re a Gator!
On a serious note, I’ve never been more poorly treated than I was at a Kentucky football games three years ago. It was when KY was good and they were beating us going into halftime. I was sitting in front of three obnoxiously liquored up fans and one of them actually hit me in the temple with is hand when they did that, “another Kentucky…..first down!’ He drunkenly threw his cup full of bourbon on a kid sitting in front of us and blamed it on who else? The Gator fans! The most amzing thing – the cops came and didn’t even kick him out! Do that at Ben Hill Griffin stadium and you lose your season tickets!
I’m always respectful of visiting fans in Gainesville because I know the feeling of being in the extreme minority among a bunch of liquored up fans. But I’ll always remember that trip to Kentucky… it was pathetic.
reality
August 26th, 2010
11:43 am
1) Florida – too much success has gone to their jorts
Auburn – way too high on your list
2) Georgia – grown men/young ladies barking probably killed UGA
3) Alabama – now competing for their 49th National Title
4) LSU – Liquored Students University
5) Tennessee – Orange remains reviled
6) Mississippi – Orgeron, Col. Reb, and now Masoli
7) Arkansas – Petrino is a villian, but Stoener and McFadden draw sympathy
9) Carolina – Spurrier = obnoxious
10) MSU – Less cowbell, please
11) Kentucky – no explanation needed
12) Vandy – no explanation needed
Clark
August 26th, 2010
11:43 am
I have been to every school in the SEC to watch a game except for Fl. but I have been to jacksonville 7 times. I think that the type of experiance you have depends on the way you act. How much fun would sports be if everyone cheered for the same team?! Of coarse there are the A-holes who have to show out, but there are also always the people who are there to have a good time and watch some football, I have learned to avoid the hostile fans and just find some that really know what its all about…. B/c trust me there are plenty of both kinds at ANY school in the country!!!
LawDawg
August 26th, 2010
11:45 am
Cousin It, er, Avi:
You can’t truly say UGA is “2nd tier” in the SEC. If you think that, there is a very small top tier with Florida on it only. Look at SEC championships and SECCG appearances. Your basis is way off in your assessment. Comparing UGA to Ole Miss and Arkansas is like saying that Florida fans are classy and have great color combos and style!!
Mark Bradley
August 26th, 2010
11:45 am
About Petrino, Hogs Baby, here’s all you need to know: On Monday he looked Arthur Blank in the eye and shook his hand and told him — this was when the Arkansas rumors were circulating — “You’ve got yourself a coach.” On Tuesday he was in Fayetteville calling hogs.
GP
August 26th, 2010
11:47 am
Auburn actually hired Petrino and then rehired Tuberville or they attempted to. I know that you have no accountability, but isn’t this out in left field. No surprise, because this is where you usually are. I thought they would have planned to hire Petrino, but they got caught. The answer is that AU has had 2 coaches since 1998 – Tuberville and Chizik. Don’t worry about the facts.
Aunt Bee
August 26th, 2010
11:48 am
A Georgia fan calling another fan base obnoxious. Gee, that makes a lot of sense!
LawDawg
August 26th, 2010
11:49 am
BTW, Bradley:
Anyone who wears Tennessee orange has got to be obnoxious. I’ve been to too many games there to know they should be top 3 or 4 on this list.
WDE
August 26th, 2010
11:49 am
Ok, Mark- so you are going to hold Jetgate against the fans? Tuberville wasn’t removed until after 3 straight years of a failed offense. You really are just wrong on this one. I’m not saying we Auburn fans aren’t occasionally delusional [as is any fanbase] and don’t have a little insecurity because we aren’t a “University of (State)” school, but you can not actually think that we are the worst.
Think of the trashtalking you heard from UGA in 2008, or the pure number of times you hear “tradition” from Alabama, or the 17 of 20’s you hear from Florida fans.
Joke of a column
August 26th, 2010
11:50 am
Bobby Petrino was never the head coach of Auburn. To say otherwise is just childish.
Barney
August 26th, 2010
11:51 am
Aunt Bee:
Go get Opie’s lunch ready, GEEZ!!!
Dan
August 26th, 2010
11:51 am
Mark, seems you have a thing for Bobby Lowder
FLA DAWG
August 26th, 2010
11:51 am
You’re offsides Mark,
UF should be Number 1 with Auburn way down the list. Yeah, Auburn fans are a pain – but so are all of us SEC Fans. And by the way, they have a right to whine/complain forever about the 2004 Royal Szcrewing they received. And every SEC team since then has proven it.
elroy
August 26th, 2010
11:52 am
AJC most over rated, boring columnists!
Jiffy's Jackets
August 26th, 2010
11:52 am
AU is is no way the most obnoxious. I dont think most UGA fans “take pride in trashing their own campus”, at least I hope not – those are stupid frat boys and rednecks. Third, Bama fans have got to be the most obnoxious currently – but it’s a toss-up between UF, UGA, and Bama. I love the Dawgs but I can see how opponents would find barking obnoxious.
Tosh.No
August 26th, 2010
11:53 am
Too bad they can’t fire all of you “sports writers” over here at the AJC. What a joke this paper has become. Can’t wait to see the sarcastic comment from Mark either. Always classy when the bloggers (sports writers) over here start acting like children with their responses to people too.
A.J. Cee
August 26th, 2010
11:53 am
Bradley, why would you ever pay money to see another guy in jean shorts? You truly are a well traveled idiot….
dawgs01
August 26th, 2010
11:53 am
Florida fans are the worst. My cousin goes there and her dad went there i go there all the time and their fans are awful and alot of them dont even know the names of the players on the team. If you go to Jville be prepared to get sucker punched at any moment especially at the Landings. I have seen Florida fans (a man) punch another florida fan (a women) square in the face and then take off running. Florida fans fight each other all the time in Jville. They go there just to start fights. My buddy got suckered punched by a Florida out of nowhere after the game last yr in Jville we were in the landings it was beyond crowded as usaul. I grabbed the little MF and threw him through a store window. The crowds are so bad at the Landings by time the cops could get in there we were long gone but by buddies face was f-ed up but i am sure that florida fan was cut head to toe.
gatorman770
August 26th, 2010
11:53 am
Christina, Tim didn’t jump around any more than great players like David Pollack who was one of the kings of unbridled obnoxious enthusiasm after a good play and on the sideline. Tim just got more media/camera exposure as quarterback.
LawDawg
August 26th, 2010
11:54 am
I agree that all SEC fans can be obnoxious. That is also the reason SEC football is king. High expectations and loyal fans are great!!! Without that combo you would be…….Tech!!
ATLNative
August 26th, 2010
11:55 am
Mark, your “ranking” has been sacked more times than Brodie Croyle in the 2005 Iron Bowl. Time to move on to your next inflammatory article to rile up the SEC masses.
Earl
August 26th, 2010
11:55 am
I heard an Auburn fan at Jordan-Hare say that Auburn never loses when he goes to the game.
Johnny Fontane
August 26th, 2010
11:58 am
Glad to see that we are finally No.1 in something. Thanks Mark.
ATL_AU_FAN
August 26th, 2010
11:59 am
I do disagree with AU fans being the worst. As for me personally, I have always tried to be a fan of my team and, at the same time, have respect for fans of other team(s). Those on these AJC blogs that know me will tell you the same thing. (Cuz, can you believe this?) The vast majority of AU fans that I know do the same. There are some “bad apples” in every bunch. Oh, and when exactly was Petrino a coach at Auburn? And what percentage of the fan base is actually responsible for the underhanded meeting? Yep, let’s not allow facts to be a part of an article.
Andy
August 26th, 2010
11:59 am
This article is a complete joke. The Auburn message boards are bombarded with posts from visiting fans about the hospitality of Auburn fans. AU fans have never worshiped any coach, Pat Dye or anybody else. I think you have the fanbases confused. It is Alabama fans who worship coaches. Auburn fans are fans of their school, not just the football team. Alabama had Dubose, Francione, Price, Shula, and now Saban..all within 10 years. Yet Auburn runs off coaches? To my knowledge we’ve had 2 coaches since 1999.. This is the biggest joke of an article I’ve ready in a LONG time.
Mike in ATL
August 26th, 2010
11:59 am
Gork brought it upon herself. She knows what she did was wrong. She’s apologized. As an Arkansas fan, I say apology accepted and good riddance.
The Nutt fiasco was an in internal issue. Had nothing to do other teams/fans. Nutt was a coach that could take so much and do so little with it. Besides what he did, or didn’t do with McFadden at Arkansas, take a look at last year’s Ole Miss/S.Carolina game. Was I the only one saying “why is he not using McCluster?” I’m curious to see how Sir Houston Nutt of Mississippi will do in the upcoming years. I’m predicting the SEC west basement.
Was what happened to Nutt a little harsh? Nope. This is SEC football. All is fair in love, war and SEC football.
I’m happy to see that Petrino got the heck out of Atlanta and away from the dirty birds. Would you want to coach someone like Dangelo Hall and friends? Would you want to work for someone who wouldn’t let you take charge of the team? Why wait until Arthur Blank pulls a move like he did to Dan Reeves. Bravo, Bobby Petrino. Good riddance the Atlanta Falcons and Arthur Blank.
flagboy?
August 26th, 2010
12:01 pm
What a crock. For the most part, SEC fans are the BEST in the entire nation. Are we sometimes a little over the top? Yes. But I recall these boards last year giving congratulations to the guy whose daughter won the contest to have box seats for the Kentucky game I think. Maybe I have that wrong or whatever. But the outpouring of support for this man and his daughter from complete strangers was incredible, one poster even going as far as to offer season tix to another game.
All SEC teams, like any team in the nation, have their share of obnoxious people, but I’ll take our fan base over any other conference in the nation any day of the week.
Eagle5
August 26th, 2010
12:01 pm
Mr. Bradley,
Couldn’t get a buyout from AJC, aka the sinking Titanic? Now we see why. Being nice, listing Auburn # 1 most obnoxious is about as “contrarian” as the flat earth society.
You clearly have not researched nor observed Bama fans sufficiently before you slung this piece of dung out.
Eagle5
Aunt Bee
August 26th, 2010
12:02 pm
Barney – Hope Goober has the delivery truck gassed up and ready to go!
bamaguy
August 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
I think the fans of all SEC schools, with the possible exception of Vanderbilt, have an obnoxious factor. This is explained by what a Georgia alum friend of mine dubbed Walmart fans. Georgia residents whose only connection to UGA is the baseball cap they bought at Walmart. The never attended UGA but have followed the football team their entire life. They support the Dawgs, not the University of Georgia. I have always wondered what % of each school’s season ticket holders are alumni of that school. It’s why I like most Tech fans, they are Tech graduates.
I am still laughing over the Auburn fan who stated that their overall football record is equal to Alabama’s. That’s not obnoxious, it is delusional.
ATL Gator
August 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
As a lifelong Florida Gator I will say we belong in the top three, if only for a vocal minority from the swamp land in Bradford County and around Jacksonville (which most of Florida would just as soon give to Georgia) but I have to say I did most my growing up in Knoxville, I could chunk of it in the Peyton Manning years and there is no more obnoxious fan in any conference than a Vol fan whether they are 5-7 or 13-0 they are equally as obnoxious. Yes Gator fans can be down right untolerable on Saturdays but I base my obnoxious rankings on how far removed a fan base is from reality. You can walk into a UF classroom in a UGA or UT hat on any day but Saturday and nobody will think anything of it, thats if they even notice or care. I know because i’ve done this when i first moved down for school and i still considered Tennessee my second favorite team before the horrible mishandled firing of Phil Fulmer and the unforgiving hiring of Lane Kiffin which severed all ties for me with UT for all time. I wore a UT hat often not so much for the Vols but more as a sign of pride for where i came from and a bit of homesickness, not one word was ever uttered to me, not one.
Subsequently if you wore a Gator hat to class in Knoxville, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, or Athens you wouldn’t even make it into the building and not anyone on here can in good conscience argue otherwise. UF has turned into a HUGE research institution and an academic powerhouse and the student body is way too diluted at this point with people who don’t care or don’t even know what football is to be considered obnoxious. The folks UGA encounters in J-ville I can confidently say have probably never even entered the Gainesville city limits.
Jiffy's Jackets
August 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
LOL @ Arky fans getting all butt-hurt about a hat. HA!
Dumbo
August 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
reality…I hate to tell you and some other less intelligent people that happen upon this site…Put Your Smiley Faces or Frowning Faces where the sun don’t shine….that was a biggie what 20 years ago not today….that is about as Passe’ as Passe’
Jed
August 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
JORTS! (Sounds like a word that Muppet Swedish Chef would create)
Patrick
August 26th, 2010
12:05 pm
Kentucky basketball and Alabama football have no peers in obnoxiousness, year in and year out.
Dawgy Style
August 26th, 2010
12:05 pm
IMO, Auburn and LSU fans are great, they sure know how to party. Some, not all, Florida and Alabama fans are pure white trash. Yeah there are exceptions in every fanbase, where the idiots come out.
UGA has some, but for the most part the students are respectful. We can’t help that the rednecks come out to party on campus and trash North Campus. Side note: I witnessed a SC fan taking a crap beside a tree on North Campus, but your right Mark it’s all the students fault. Journalism has never been so unreliable than it is in today’s age.
Oh yeah, UT fans are the worse. Go visit the mountain folks and you will see what I’m talking about.
jingle dingle
August 26th, 2010
12:06 pm
The funniest part of all this, is that the top 3 on the list for the SEC are also in the top 3 nationally.
war eagle
August 26th, 2010
12:07 pm
Really. I’ve been to UGA about 5 times and can’t stand that place. We bought tickets on the 50 yard line from some kid. We literally had to show our tickets to about a dozen GA fans because they were so ticked that we sat in our section.
Mark-You get dogged by 680 The Fan all the time for being a poor journalist. I never paid much attention but I’m starting to see their point.
RJM Dawg
August 26th, 2010
12:07 pm
Cousin Avi…. How does being 1 out of 3 teams in the entire conference (out of 12, mind you) to win more than one SEC championship in the last decade (10 years in a decade… unfortunately I have to spell it out for you) make you 2nd tier? Apparently simple math is a problem for you.
You say we backdoored into the 2005 Championship?? Who gives a S**t! A championship is a championship.
Do you not give credit to LSU for winning the Nat’l Championship when they had 2 losses three years ago? I guess the NCAA just shouldn’t have awarded a championship that year??
If you’re trying to state a case for something, at least have a valid point.
ATL Gator
August 26th, 2010
12:08 pm
UGA can’t make an informed argument on this because they never have to go to Gainesville, and I promise most the students don’t make it to Jacksonville academics is overwhelmingly most important on UF campus.
As sad as it is to say i would wager our student body is more on par with Georgia Tech than another SEC football power.
Farnsworth
August 26th, 2010
12:10 pm
Alabama first, Georgia second, Tennessee third. Auburn’s somewhere in the middle.
db
August 26th, 2010
12:11 pm
Disagree. UGa #1, UF #2, TN #3… After that it’s all about the same.
Gen Neyland
August 26th, 2010
12:11 pm
To sing the praises of Mike Hamilton would be akin to my granddaughter’s kindergarten class bellowing off key tunes. At least my granddaughter’s class is trying. I personally despise the way Hammy has run his department, especially Tennessee football. Bruce Pearl was a good hire. Different sport, different mentality. CDD is a wait and see. As far as CDD dropping UNC or any other OC game, that’s no big deal. He wants to align things Atop Rocky to his liking instead of taking whatever schedule was left him, well, it’s his show now. It’s not like any other school has ever restructured OC matchups, right..?. Again, no big deal to me.