michigan/norte dame are possible but they havent been contenders forever
What does contending have to do with this?
I will now educate you
The Geography of College Football Fans (and Realignment Chaos) - NYTimes.com
If you add up these results across all 210 markets,
the three most popular teams are the three that also usually have the largest home attendance: Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State.
These teams get to have their cake and eat it too, dominating a series of smaller markets while also scoring points in some relatively large ones like Philadelphia and Detroit and having large enough alumni bases that they even have some reach in places like New York.
Following these three teams are Notre Dame and then six southern schools, led by Texas and Texas A&M. Two teams from Alabama manage to make the top ten because the states football avidity is more than enough to make up for its mid-sized population.
This approach isnt going to be perfect unless you were willing to spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on a scientific survey of college football fans, youre going to have to resort to some educated guesses.
Nevertheless, it ought to provide us with some insight. The S.E.C.s interest in Texas A&M becomes easier to understand once you recognize that the Aggies have among the largest fan bases in the country. The fact that Notre Dames fans are dispersed throughout the country explains why theyve been loathe to join a conference.
Take a lap and apologize.
