Michigan Wolverines fans ranked No.114 in 2017 Fandom 250
After another year of voting is complete, Michigan Wolverines fans ranked No. 114 in the 2017 Fandom 250 rankings and 11th in the college rankings.
There are a lot of great fan bases in the world of sports and especially in the world of college athletics. But there are few fans as intelligent, passionate and loyal as the fans of the Michigan Wolverines.
That passion and excitement for Michigan sports was reflected in the Fandom 250 rankings, which were released by FanSided Tuesday. Michigan Wolverines fans competed against fans from other colleges, other sports and entertainment, as well as brands. And when the rankings were finished, Michigan fans ranked 114th overall and 11th among college sports fans.
Also, in an unfortunate turn over events, the Fandom 250 rankings awarded Ohio State fans the label of the world’s greatest fans. Sickening I know. But here is the criteria and how the Buckeyes fans earned that honor.
In terms of overall ranking, Michigan Wolverines fans dropped from 48 to 114. In college, they dropped from sixth to No. 11. Other college fans that ranked ahead of Michigan were Penn State, USC, Clemson, Duke, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Alabama.
One thing that hurt Wolverines fans a little bit, was the lack of success on the football field. The FanSided judges attended the Ohio State-Penn State game and that had a profound impact. Ohio State also has one of the largest fan bases. The Buckeyes have had a lot of success and their fans, are unquestionably passionate about their teams.
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But No.1? Not sure I can get behind that. In terms of who watches games, Michigan Wolverines fans rank right there with anybody. Michigan football has had 280 consecutive games with more than 100,000 fans in attendance. The Wolverines also hold the single-season record for attendance with an average of 112,500 fans per game in 2012.
The rankings cite Ohio State’s attendance in 2016, but that finished up at just 102,000 per game. The post about the Buckeyes also cites its social media presence. Yet it fails to compare to the online community of Michigan Wolverines fans.
The school twitter page has 192,000 followers, which is shy of Ohio State’s 295,000. Yet the Buckeyes football and basketball teams combined have 287,000 followers. Michigan’s football and basketball teams have close to 1.1 million. The Michigan Wolverines basketball team alone has 273,000 followers.
Michigan Wolverines Football
Michigan also blows Ohio State out on Facebook too. The OSU football team has 744,000 likes, while the Wolverines have 1.4 million. Michigan basketball also has 440,000.
So in terms of size, Michigan should have the edge on Ohio State. Longevity should be a tie, since both have grown up hating each other and loving their own teams. That leaves buzz and passion as the separating factors.
However, there’s a reason why the Michigan Wolverines had three of the most-watched college football games in the country this past season. Their contests with Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State all had huge ratings. So did night games against Michigan State and Minnesota. That displays not only passion, but also fierce dedication.
The fact that the Wolverines ended up being the most watched team on TV in college football, despite their 8-4 record, also says something. It’s easy to watch when your team always wins, but Michigan fans don’t have that luxury. In fact, they suffer through a lot of painful Saturday’s, but that never, ever stops them from tuning in.
Michigan also has a lot of buzz, not only because of Jim Harbaugh, but because of the Jordan brand and the fact that the Wolverines won the Big Ten Basketball Tournament and made a run to the Sweet 16. Few schools are as successful in football and basketball as the Wolverines are, giving Michigan fans two marquee programs to follow.
It’s hard to say which fan base has more passion. But Wolverines fans have certainly more to feel negatively about. Michigan hasn’t beaten Ohio State in six years in football and hasn’t won a Big Ten Championship since 2004.
Michigan Wolverines fans also have to rank among the most intelligent fans out there, which is a gift and a curse. It causes us to lose our minds completely at times. And that anger, which came out multiple times this fall, could be a valid reason for the drop. That, and the football team needs to start winning more games, playing on bigger stages and giving the fans more to celebrate.
But no matter where fans of the Michigan Wolverines rank, they can take pride in being recognized as one of the best fan bases in college sports, as well as across the entire realm of sports and entertainment.
They can also take solace in the fact that if a few things change next year, they could easily find themselves sitting near the top of the Fandom 250 rankings.
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It’s not cool to see Ohio State on top of anything, but like in football, the Wolverines fans are coming for the Buckeyes top spot next season.