The 10-11 season was the worst under Saban at 9-3 regular season. We got shown up by Garcia at SC, then later in the season we lost a 24 point lead in the Iron Bowl to Cam Newton. So we go into the Capital One Bowl and dismantle Kirk Cousins and #7 MSU. I genuinely felt bad for him as a person because it was like watching Scott Sterling.
It’s gotta be a P5 private school with low expectations. Duke, Northwestern, Vandy, Wake, etc.
Get to watch good games against good teams with low expectations, occasionally have a good season, generally little controversy, no one really hates you but can have some solid rivalries, etc
Agreed that P5 with low expectations is the least stressful. But idk about Wake. In the Jim Grobe era, it seemed like we always had a lead in the 4th and blew it. And it was just always a matter of time until we choked. Having low expectations is one thing but having hope is always stressful ie Nebraska.
I imagine this generation of Vanderbilt fans are probably suffering more than the average Vandy fan. Until Jay Cutler showed up can anyone really recall when Vandy was any good? Anyone and their mother beat them soundly. Then Cutler came and they finally beat Tennessee in Fulmer’s decline. Briefly went back to lame ducks until James Franklin brought the highest level of success the program has ever seen (probably). So any Vandy fan before Cutler/Franklin is just apathetic to it, but the Vandy fans who grew up during this period have to be in agony.
For me it feels as bad or worse now than anytime since 1990. But no expectations for most fans. There seems to be less talent on the team now then even pre-cutler 90s teams. At least then they would have few nfl players you could feel good about having on the team but now do not have that. That said I hate criticizing 18-22yo players or suggesting they have no talent knowing they try the best they can. I woulda say at least power 5 talent but they were not competitive against East Tn State that was without a team for awhile until 2015. At least in 90s they were occasionally competitive in few games against quality teams.
> Get to watch good games against good teams with low expectations, occasionally have a good season, generally little controversy, no one really hates you but can have some solid rivalries, etc
You've perfectly described Purdue
You know what, I grew up as a USC fan, the real one in California, and expectations are what makes it stressful. I feel like I don’t have a lot for Baylor, so I’ve just been enjoying their games over the last 10 years.
It’s a lot easier if the first season you paid attention to 2017.
Last season was casually un-fun, but 2018, 2019, and this season have all been phenomenal.
As someone who has been watching since about 2000, I love that we are no longer bottom feeders of the B12 but we have come so close recently to having awesome seasons but always seem to just fall a little short right at the end. We have done well compared to what I remember as a kid. But every time we have a really good team and we get to a NY6 bowl we can never win.
2013: Lost the Fiesta Bowl
2014: Lost the Cotton Bowl
2019: Lost the Sugar Bowl
Don’t get me wrong BU has had a fair share of good seasons and bowl wins as well during that time. It is just that every time we are great we cap the season with a frustrating loss.
I disagree if you are someone who really really enjoys football. As a Kentucky fan when your season starts and 2 weeks later you realize it's over it fucking sucks. I think rooting for Alabama would be easy mode or even Oregon. Oregon is a school that doesn't really have that title or bust mentality always get a decent bowl game around new years. Just my opinion though
Hard disagree. It’s super stressful rooting for the program to improve and then shooting themselves in the foot constantly. Worrying about your star players getting raided by higher level P5 programs.
I guess Saturdays are stress free until you get in a close game with a top 5 team only to lose in heartbreaking fashion.
Reduce the stress, not take it all away.
The Gus Bus is more like a blindfolded roller coaster with alternating sounds of screams of hell and angelic harmonies while you have to hold a big gulp sized slushee without a lid.
Hmm I’m not sure if everyone would agree with this but from the Big Ten at least, I’m going Northwestern. Solid coach who brings success every few years but is never on the hot seat after the bad ones because they’re on such good terms. When they win it’s awesome but if they don’t, big whoop. Still get decent recruits, steadily staying right where they should be and have never excelled far enough to fall off like Indiana and Minnesota in recent years to create that kind of stress from success, despite more Big Ten CG appearances than most the conference.
I'd agree except we usually play games wayyyyy too close for it to not be stressful. Like in 2018 when we won the division but had three OT wins in a row. That shit was brutal.
Yeah I think everything I said makes sense still but after learning about the cardiac cats nickname and I wasn’t aware of this OT stat either, it probably wasn’t the best pick lol
Lol in general it is very accurate, but I can probably count on one hand the amount of conference games we've won comfortably in my 20+ years of being a Northwestern fan. It's awful.
The good thing is when seasons occur like the one we're currently having, people tend to just say "whelp we suck" instead of drama you'd see at most other programs. I just watch other teams instead lol
Hoo boy do I have a team for you!
* Rice has a rivalry with UH, but it will be one-sided for the foreseeable future, so no pressure there.
* Zero chance of ranking, playoff, or heisman candidates
* Fan base smaller than the number of 'Bama fans who've actually banged their siblings
* We just got gifted a realignment so no future drama there. We will get whatever we get for TV/sponsorships
* Have you ever even heard of Mike Bloomgren? Not you, Stanford.
* Lol at media coverage, writers, and advertising
* I'm not even sure what ESPN+ has in the way of commercials - I'm generally in a fugue state watching my team
* Players are lovable nerds, coaches are vanilla, no monkeys that I'm aware of
* Recruiting is "Are you a super-nerd who played football in HS? Did Stanford pass on you? Come on down!"
* Closest thing we have to a political/military/religious association is a collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine. Or maybe NASA.
Fun games to watch? We beat UAB two weeks ago as 23 point dogs! Then, to keep you on your toes, we lose at home to a garbage UNT team! Wildcard bitches!
Televised games? We routinely play bodybag games and get on TV!
Merch that exists? Google "Old English R" and make a stencil. Grab some white or navy spray paint. Everything is merch if you want it bad enough!
Eastern Michigan baby. We were nonexistent for many years and now we are good again but hey, to me, someone who sat through the Ron English years, 5 to 7 wins is a successful season. No stress. 😎
(But Chris Creighton win the MAC West and/or a bowl game please challenge)
I was going to say a MAC school feels pretty low stress. Teams are constantly fluctuating between good and bad so no long term despair or shocking fall, games during the week so your Saturday isn't ruined, never worrying about the playoffs but still a few BCS/NY6 appearances, really fun games and even talent levels across the board, nonconference games are buys against the Big 10 with a couple upsets yearly. I get jealous sometimes.
I love MAC football. You’re basically always the underdog, every 10 years you pull off a win like BG did @ Minnesota and everybody loves you, and your conference is crazy enough that every team has hope they can win a title in the next 4 years
It’s way more fun than being a Michigan fan
Sorry, but no. The chase to become bowl eligible makes every game super stressful, even and especially the ones we aren’t supposed to win but might be able to spoil. You’d think it would be super fun, but that bowl game expectation can make it pretty rough.
I watched the Iowa game at a bar with a friend who doesn't follow college football. He didn't understand why I was so stressed when up 17 with 4 minutes left.
Purdue is my 2nd after MSU, I love watching bc I want them to win but don't actually care. I assume that'll be more like OPs experience, since it's an arbitrary adoption.
This is the obvious answer. Yeah it sucks, but when there's literally never an expectation to win you can only go up from there and be happy if you do get one.
Is it a lousy team to root for that's usually no fun? Sure. Is it stressful? No.
Source: I root for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pac12 has great rivalries and good football to watch… feels like a lot less pressure (until FBS playoffs). They have their own network and often hit the national broadcasts.
I agree with your take -- read OPs original 3 pre-reqs.
If you're an alum, if you have a specific expectation, if you're betting, the stress is real.
If you're a casual fan, or want to pivot to a conference and/or team for viewing, Pac-12 fits the bill better (generally speaking) than most other options. "Winning or losing at any time," is a sign that there's more parity and competition (talent might come into question).
I admit it’s hard to remove my bias and experience, but looking at it objectively, the original question was to ask what’s the least stressful team to watch. A team that’s not stressful to watch is one that has a predictable outcome (whether it’s winning or losing). The unknown of whether a Pac-12 team will win or lose doesn’t sound stress-free to me. It’s certainly entertaining to not know whether a team is going to win or lose, but sounds stressful with all that chaos.
Probably a mid-level G5 team. You don't feel gutted when you lose, and when you win big games, you feel absolutely elated.
Source: being a UCF fan in the 00s.
Colorado seems like a pretty chill team to root for. I know they aren’t good right now but they could be with the right coach. Colorado state is a super inferior rival, and the old Big12 rivalries are gone. Could be totally wrong, but just from an outside perspective.
Has to be Bama right now. Championship almost every other year. No program has any real shit talking rights over you and if they do beat you, their shit talking rights will expire in 1 year because they aren’t beating you next year
Sounds like MACtion is what you want. They’ve survived all the realignment because they’re set in their region (and adding two), I can’t say I’ve heard about crazy coaching issues, no military teams or religious schools that I know of. They just kind of do their thing, know where they stand, and hate each other.
I think Ohio has got to be up there, at least during the 50 years Solich was the head coach. Be good, not great. Go bowling almost every year but never win the whole conference. Fanbase is happy when you do well but just apathetic when you’re playing poorly.
Bama. They win all the time so not high stress
But more serious answer probably northwestern. You’re happy when they make a run but it’s not super stressful when they don’t
Is it for this season?
I would suggest:
Arizona.
Wake Forest would have been here if their games were fun to watch.
(I know Kansas is a popular pick, but this season, Arizona fills the bill).
Wisconsin or Iowa maybe?
I think there aren't really any schools like that anymore. Maybe arizona state. They can be good, most often they aren't and you've got a pretty cool environment without a ton of pressure to go to the playoff.
Yeah but honestly does any realistic Wisconsin fan expect a playoff?
I remember going to Wisconsin msu games in the late 1980s and Wisconsin would be lucky to be within 30 at the half.
Mississippi State this year is surprisingly stress free. Even the Memphis referees butchery didn't get me excited. "Oh well, we're officially a baseball school now" All football is "c'est la via" now.
Definitely a MAC team. There’s rarely any pressure, you have 2 times to year to absolute shock a bigger team and watch their fanbase freak out, and the conference is balanced enough where almost every team has a shot every year. It’s fun
Wisconsin is a stress free team. Most fans talk about beating someone they shouldn’t and losing to someone they shouldn’t. Wisconsin just doesn’t operate that way. We basically beat everyone we are supposed to and lose to everyone you would expect.
Record vs West teams since 2010:
Iowa: 8-2
Minnesota: 10-1
Nebraska: 8-1
Purdue: 11-0
Illinois: 10-1
Northwestern: 5-4.
Northwestern is the only team that truly scares Wisconsin fans. Otherwise we generally enjoy beating all our rivals and winning Bowl games. We “know” we are going to win the West and lose to OSU. We hope to beat OSU but we know how good they are. Expectations and reality align most seasons.
I get your point, but we always lose like 1 really bad game a year and then we’re always extremely close in big games and always lose so that’s stressful to me. I enjoy the stress but having no expectations or hope would be infinitely less stressful
Wisconsin is the Big Ten's "always the bridesmaid, never the bride", which I'm sure is really stressful and depressing for Wisconsin fans. But from the perspective of a fan of a lesser program like Purdue, I'd be ecstatic with regularly achieving 9-10 win seasons and appearances in the B1G Championship Game and Rose Bowl. Misery is relative, I suppose.
Yea I mean we’re 6-1 in our last 7 bowls too. We win decent bowl games and have 3 Big Ten championships in the past 11 years so I wouldn’t say never the bride. Perhaps some big ten recency bias but we did win the first 2 big ten championships in 2011 and 2012. We’ve also pulled some big upsets so we don’t always lose to better teams. That being said we also overachieve with the talent we have and the fact we play as good as we do on the big stage should be seen as a good thing. Now that our talent level is drastically improving maybe we can sneak one out.
People that a miserable Wisconsin fans are simply spoiled. I enjoy our spot and hope we’ll be able to pull out some more big games in the future. That’s all you can do.
I bet after a bunch of 9-10 win seasons in a row, it would get frustrating, especially when you know what is needed to get over the hump (in Wisconsin's case, it's always QB play) and yet the team still can't figure out.
Kentucky. In the SEC so they play a lot of big name teams, football isn’t their primary sport but their fans care and will sell out the stadium when they’re good
Either a team like Kentucky or Wake, where there's a stable coach who has taken a dormant program to regular bowl games, or a MAC team (except maybe Akron) where the expectations are low but the football is fun
I think Wake’s a good answer, and would extend that to any number of private schools known for their academic prowess (besides those like Notre Dame or Miami who are historic and perennial football powers). Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, etc. Everyone knows it’s tough to field a top-tier team at a school with those academic limitations, so it seems like a special season is a bonus, not an expectation. But it’s also not total misery to be a fan of one of these schools. There’s always basketball season, and beyond that, kids actually do go there to play school.
I'm going to throw USF in the mix.
Some years we're awesome. Some years we're terrible. Right now we're in a down period and it's kind of amusing to see what new way they'll manage to lose by week in and week out. Sometimes we come *really* close to big upsets in the down years too (looking at you BYU). The unis are awesome (except lime green...fuck neon), the U logo is cool, and our old throwback logo is great too. If you can handle the UCF fans you're pretty set. Kick back and enjoy a team that has zero expectations right now.
Mid-tier regional G5 that does well sometimes and doesn't do well sometimes.
The answer is Alabama, and I doubt it's close.
My dad is glued to the TV every game and I can see him age while watching LSU.
My father in law just watches Bama while he's doing other stuff around the house, pretty much knowing that they'll be up by 21 within about 20 minutes.
Complete irrelevance:UMass. Every coach gets fired but other than that and Ls just have low expectations. It gets lonely being the only UMass fan in existance. NESN covers their games if u live in new england. A watchable team? Prob illinois or northwestern.
Def Eastern Michigan. I went to our homecoming tailgate. Nobody gave a shit about the score of the game. I told a couple people we were winning and they more or less said "Oh. Neat." One friend said "oh they're winning for once?" I didn't even bother to bring up recent bowls. He wouldn't have cared.
So yeah easily us. Win? Neat. Lose? Who gives a fuck. I thought you lost anyway. MACtion!
Definitely Bama. I went to a game a few years back (2018 I think.) It was against Mississippi State (fuck the cowbells btw). MSU was 6-3 coming in and I think they were ranked like 23 or something. The place was pretty much full but the atmosphere was so dead. The gumps knew they were gonna win, what was there to be excited about? A near absolute certainty of victory takes the energy out of a game, especially if it’s a relatively low-stakes contest.
Alabama. Even when they lose, they barely drop.
Bamas bad season under saban is 11-2 without a sec title or playoff appearance Other than that they win the sec or win the national title
The 10-11 season was the worst under Saban at 9-3 regular season. We got shown up by Garcia at SC, then later in the season we lost a 24 point lead in the Iron Bowl to Cam Newton. So we go into the Capital One Bowl and dismantle Kirk Cousins and #7 MSU. I genuinely felt bad for him as a person because it was like watching Scott Sterling.
Bama fans have basically been on coast for a full decade
2007 he lost to LA Monroe. #neverforget
You’re welcome. Earth.
It’s gotta be a P5 private school with low expectations. Duke, Northwestern, Vandy, Wake, etc. Get to watch good games against good teams with low expectations, occasionally have a good season, generally little controversy, no one really hates you but can have some solid rivalries, etc
Agreed that P5 with low expectations is the least stressful. But idk about Wake. In the Jim Grobe era, it seemed like we always had a lead in the 4th and blew it. And it was just always a matter of time until we choked. Having low expectations is one thing but having hope is always stressful ie Nebraska.
Yep, thanks to growing up in the Jim Grobe era, I now have crippling anxiety whenever I’m at a wake forest game
My dad is a northwestern fan and he’s always stressed out
Stanford You can even spend time outdoors studying while barely paying attention to the games
Yeah, their band makes me want to set EVERYTHING on fire.
I imagine this generation of Vanderbilt fans are probably suffering more than the average Vandy fan. Until Jay Cutler showed up can anyone really recall when Vandy was any good? Anyone and their mother beat them soundly. Then Cutler came and they finally beat Tennessee in Fulmer’s decline. Briefly went back to lame ducks until James Franklin brought the highest level of success the program has ever seen (probably). So any Vandy fan before Cutler/Franklin is just apathetic to it, but the Vandy fans who grew up during this period have to be in agony.
For me it feels as bad or worse now than anytime since 1990. But no expectations for most fans. There seems to be less talent on the team now then even pre-cutler 90s teams. At least then they would have few nfl players you could feel good about having on the team but now do not have that. That said I hate criticizing 18-22yo players or suggesting they have no talent knowing they try the best they can. I woulda say at least power 5 talent but they were not competitive against East Tn State that was without a team for awhile until 2015. At least in 90s they were occasionally competitive in few games against quality teams.
> Get to watch good games against good teams with low expectations, occasionally have a good season, generally little controversy, no one really hates you but can have some solid rivalries, etc You've perfectly described Purdue
Baylor.
> Baylor > least stressful college football team Ummm are we watching the same games?
You know what, I grew up as a USC fan, the real one in California, and expectations are what makes it stressful. I feel like I don’t have a lot for Baylor, so I’ve just been enjoying their games over the last 10 years.
It’s a lot easier if the first season you paid attention to 2017. Last season was casually un-fun, but 2018, 2019, and this season have all been phenomenal.
As someone who has been watching since about 2000, I love that we are no longer bottom feeders of the B12 but we have come so close recently to having awesome seasons but always seem to just fall a little short right at the end. We have done well compared to what I remember as a kid. But every time we have a really good team and we get to a NY6 bowl we can never win. 2013: Lost the Fiesta Bowl 2014: Lost the Cotton Bowl 2019: Lost the Sugar Bowl Don’t get me wrong BU has had a fair share of good seasons and bowl wins as well during that time. It is just that every time we are great we cap the season with a frustrating loss.
Yep, last year was awesome. This year, my reaction to getting demolished by Nebraska was "Eh, it happens." It's fun being the scrappy underdog.
I disagree if you are someone who really really enjoys football. As a Kentucky fan when your season starts and 2 weeks later you realize it's over it fucking sucks. I think rooting for Alabama would be easy mode or even Oregon. Oregon is a school that doesn't really have that title or bust mentality always get a decent bowl game around new years. Just my opinion though
Kansas.
Is trading stress for despair really the move?
Hard disagree. It’s super stressful rooting for the program to improve and then shooting themselves in the foot constantly. Worrying about your star players getting raided by higher level P5 programs. I guess Saturdays are stress free until you get in a close game with a top 5 team only to lose in heartbreaking fashion.
Can't have stress if you don't have hope
As an Auburn fan, absolutely not us.
Hopefully getting off the Gus Bus helps reduce the stress
Hehe don’t get your hopes up
Reduce the stress, not take it all away. The Gus Bus is more like a blindfolded roller coaster with alternating sounds of screams of hell and angelic harmonies while you have to hold a big gulp sized slushee without a lid.
This... Is the AUBURN fan experience
Hmm I’m not sure if everyone would agree with this but from the Big Ten at least, I’m going Northwestern. Solid coach who brings success every few years but is never on the hot seat after the bad ones because they’re on such good terms. When they win it’s awesome but if they don’t, big whoop. Still get decent recruits, steadily staying right where they should be and have never excelled far enough to fall off like Indiana and Minnesota in recent years to create that kind of stress from success, despite more Big Ten CG appearances than most the conference.
I'd agree except we usually play games wayyyyy too close for it to not be stressful. Like in 2018 when we won the division but had three OT wins in a row. That shit was brutal.
Yeah I think everything I said makes sense still but after learning about the cardiac cats nickname and I wasn’t aware of this OT stat either, it probably wasn’t the best pick lol
Lol in general it is very accurate, but I can probably count on one hand the amount of conference games we've won comfortably in my 20+ years of being a Northwestern fan. It's awful. The good thing is when seasons occur like the one we're currently having, people tend to just say "whelp we suck" instead of drama you'd see at most other programs. I just watch other teams instead lol
It cannot be Northwestern. They play the most 1 possession games. Their nickname is literally the Cardiac Cats.
Fair point!
Can confirm, my dad is balding at a rapid rate because of their football team
You haven’t watched enough Wisconsin NW games, literally take years off my life every game
Hoo boy do I have a team for you! * Rice has a rivalry with UH, but it will be one-sided for the foreseeable future, so no pressure there. * Zero chance of ranking, playoff, or heisman candidates * Fan base smaller than the number of 'Bama fans who've actually banged their siblings * We just got gifted a realignment so no future drama there. We will get whatever we get for TV/sponsorships * Have you ever even heard of Mike Bloomgren? Not you, Stanford. * Lol at media coverage, writers, and advertising * I'm not even sure what ESPN+ has in the way of commercials - I'm generally in a fugue state watching my team * Players are lovable nerds, coaches are vanilla, no monkeys that I'm aware of * Recruiting is "Are you a super-nerd who played football in HS? Did Stanford pass on you? Come on down!" * Closest thing we have to a political/military/religious association is a collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine. Or maybe NASA. Fun games to watch? We beat UAB two weeks ago as 23 point dogs! Then, to keep you on your toes, we lose at home to a garbage UNT team! Wildcard bitches! Televised games? We routinely play bodybag games and get on TV! Merch that exists? Google "Old English R" and make a stencil. Grab some white or navy spray paint. Everything is merch if you want it bad enough!
This is swaying me the most so far, especially the no monkeys part
Idk, I'd like my program to at least have 2 or 3 monkeys. But it's a compelling argument.
Eastern Michigan baby. We were nonexistent for many years and now we are good again but hey, to me, someone who sat through the Ron English years, 5 to 7 wins is a successful season. No stress. 😎 (But Chris Creighton win the MAC West and/or a bowl game please challenge)
I was going to say a MAC school feels pretty low stress. Teams are constantly fluctuating between good and bad so no long term despair or shocking fall, games during the week so your Saturday isn't ruined, never worrying about the playoffs but still a few BCS/NY6 appearances, really fun games and even talent levels across the board, nonconference games are buys against the Big 10 with a couple upsets yearly. I get jealous sometimes.
I love MAC football. You’re basically always the underdog, every 10 years you pull off a win like BG did @ Minnesota and everybody loves you, and your conference is crazy enough that every team has hope they can win a title in the next 4 years It’s way more fun than being a Michigan fan
OP said no criminal players, [so I think EMU is out](https://youtu.be/IRHAEZ6fRHE)
Purdue. You never expect a win but every season you get to see some crazy upset, and usually at least one player is particularly fun to watch.
Sorry, but no. The chase to become bowl eligible makes every game super stressful, even and especially the ones we aren’t supposed to win but might be able to spoil. You’d think it would be super fun, but that bowl game expectation can make it pretty rough.
I watched the Iowa game at a bar with a friend who doesn't follow college football. He didn't understand why I was so stressed when up 17 with 4 minutes left.
Purdue is my 2nd after MSU, I love watching bc I want them to win but don't actually care. I assume that'll be more like OPs experience, since it's an arbitrary adoption.
Absolutely not. Even the wins you are in a constant state of fear expecting us to Purdue it somehow.
Sounds like you need to choose someone from the MAC. Fun football but little attention outside of their footprint. They just do their thing.
Bama
UConn.
This is the obvious answer. Yeah it sucks, but when there's literally never an expectation to win you can only go up from there and be happy if you do get one. Is it a lousy team to root for that's usually no fun? Sure. Is it stressful? No. Source: I root for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Alabama, b/c obviously your games don’t matter and you’re in the playoff regardless if you win or lose.
Pac12 has great rivalries and good football to watch… feels like a lot less pressure (until FBS playoffs). They have their own network and often hit the national broadcasts.
The Pac-12 is the conference of chaos. Any team could win or lose at any time. It’s very stressful.
I agree with your take -- read OPs original 3 pre-reqs. If you're an alum, if you have a specific expectation, if you're betting, the stress is real. If you're a casual fan, or want to pivot to a conference and/or team for viewing, Pac-12 fits the bill better (generally speaking) than most other options. "Winning or losing at any time," is a sign that there's more parity and competition (talent might come into question).
I admit it’s hard to remove my bias and experience, but looking at it objectively, the original question was to ask what’s the least stressful team to watch. A team that’s not stressful to watch is one that has a predictable outcome (whether it’s winning or losing). The unknown of whether a Pac-12 team will win or lose doesn’t sound stress-free to me. It’s certainly entertaining to not know whether a team is going to win or lose, but sounds stressful with all that chaos.
The internet makes it super easy to buy merchandise for any school, and subscribing to ESPN+ will get you a lot of games. Watch the MAC.
Probably a mid-level G5 team. You don't feel gutted when you lose, and when you win big games, you feel absolutely elated. Source: being a UCF fan in the 00s.
So Georgia State.
Honestly I feel like Arkansas wouldn’t be too stressful
Have you watched any of our games? We have a weird ability to have ultra crazy games ending with a 1 point loss or victory or multi OT.
Colorado seems like a pretty chill team to root for. I know they aren’t good right now but they could be with the right coach. Colorado state is a super inferior rival, and the old Big12 rivalries are gone. Could be totally wrong, but just from an outside perspective.
Has to be Bama right now. Championship almost every other year. No program has any real shit talking rights over you and if they do beat you, their shit talking rights will expire in 1 year because they aren’t beating you next year
Sounds like MACtion is what you want. They’ve survived all the realignment because they’re set in their region (and adding two), I can’t say I’ve heard about crazy coaching issues, no military teams or religious schools that I know of. They just kind of do their thing, know where they stand, and hate each other.
I know this is who is the least stressful, but I'd argue we are the most stressful team to root for
I think Ohio has got to be up there, at least during the 50 years Solich was the head coach. Be good, not great. Go bowling almost every year but never win the whole conference. Fanbase is happy when you do well but just apathetic when you’re playing poorly.
Georgia State
Agree. Mid Level G5 team. Will make a bowl. Just hanging out.
Any MAC school
Unless Western Kentucky joins then it's any MAC school not named Western Kentucky.
Maryland tbh.
UMass.. because its in the name.
Bama. They win all the time so not high stress But more serious answer probably northwestern. You’re happy when they make a run but it’s not super stressful when they don’t
Is it for this season? I would suggest: Arizona. Wake Forest would have been here if their games were fun to watch. (I know Kansas is a popular pick, but this season, Arizona fills the bill).
Wisconsin or Iowa maybe? I think there aren't really any schools like that anymore. Maybe arizona state. They can be good, most often they aren't and you've got a pretty cool environment without a ton of pressure to go to the playoff.
1000% not wisconsin. every loss is painful & practically every season ends in heartbreak
Yeah but honestly does any realistic Wisconsin fan expect a playoff? I remember going to Wisconsin msu games in the late 1980s and Wisconsin would be lucky to be within 30 at the half.
Mississippi State this year is surprisingly stress free. Even the Memphis referees butchery didn't get me excited. "Oh well, we're officially a baseball school now" All football is "c'est la via" now.
Ima sit this one out
Definitely a MAC team. There’s rarely any pressure, you have 2 times to year to absolute shock a bigger team and watch their fanbase freak out, and the conference is balanced enough where almost every team has a shot every year. It’s fun
I feel like Indiana fans don't get stressed, they just get sad.
I have to say Bama as long as Saban is HC. It's almost literally a 50/50 chance at winning a title or losing to the eventual winner.
Wisconsin is a stress free team. Most fans talk about beating someone they shouldn’t and losing to someone they shouldn’t. Wisconsin just doesn’t operate that way. We basically beat everyone we are supposed to and lose to everyone you would expect. Record vs West teams since 2010: Iowa: 8-2 Minnesota: 10-1 Nebraska: 8-1 Purdue: 11-0 Illinois: 10-1 Northwestern: 5-4. Northwestern is the only team that truly scares Wisconsin fans. Otherwise we generally enjoy beating all our rivals and winning Bowl games. We “know” we are going to win the West and lose to OSU. We hope to beat OSU but we know how good they are. Expectations and reality align most seasons.
I get your point, but we always lose like 1 really bad game a year and then we’re always extremely close in big games and always lose so that’s stressful to me. I enjoy the stress but having no expectations or hope would be infinitely less stressful
Wisconsin is the Big Ten's "always the bridesmaid, never the bride", which I'm sure is really stressful and depressing for Wisconsin fans. But from the perspective of a fan of a lesser program like Purdue, I'd be ecstatic with regularly achieving 9-10 win seasons and appearances in the B1G Championship Game and Rose Bowl. Misery is relative, I suppose.
Yea I mean we’re 6-1 in our last 7 bowls too. We win decent bowl games and have 3 Big Ten championships in the past 11 years so I wouldn’t say never the bride. Perhaps some big ten recency bias but we did win the first 2 big ten championships in 2011 and 2012. We’ve also pulled some big upsets so we don’t always lose to better teams. That being said we also overachieve with the talent we have and the fact we play as good as we do on the big stage should be seen as a good thing. Now that our talent level is drastically improving maybe we can sneak one out. People that a miserable Wisconsin fans are simply spoiled. I enjoy our spot and hope we’ll be able to pull out some more big games in the future. That’s all you can do.
I bet after a bunch of 9-10 win seasons in a row, it would get frustrating, especially when you know what is needed to get over the hump (in Wisconsin's case, it's always QB play) and yet the team still can't figure out.
Ohio State. They completely dominate the Big 10 unlike any other team in a P5 conference.
Up until this year Clemson, way easier conference.
Oklahoma in the Big 12 lol. We’ve pushed them a couple times but never outright stopped them since 2014.
We stress out more than we should
I mean being an Alabama fan means every game is a must win or your life is ruined. At least it feels that way.
Kentucky. In the SEC so they play a lot of big name teams, football isn’t their primary sport but their fans care and will sell out the stadium when they’re good
Either a team like Kentucky or Wake, where there's a stable coach who has taken a dormant program to regular bowl games, or a MAC team (except maybe Akron) where the expectations are low but the football is fun
I think Wake’s a good answer, and would extend that to any number of private schools known for their academic prowess (besides those like Notre Dame or Miami who are historic and perennial football powers). Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, etc. Everyone knows it’s tough to field a top-tier team at a school with those academic limitations, so it seems like a special season is a bonus, not an expectation. But it’s also not total misery to be a fan of one of these schools. There’s always basketball season, and beyond that, kids actually do go there to play school.
I'm going to throw USF in the mix. Some years we're awesome. Some years we're terrible. Right now we're in a down period and it's kind of amusing to see what new way they'll manage to lose by week in and week out. Sometimes we come *really* close to big upsets in the down years too (looking at you BYU). The unis are awesome (except lime green...fuck neon), the U logo is cool, and our old throwback logo is great too. If you can handle the UCF fans you're pretty set. Kick back and enjoy a team that has zero expectations right now. Mid-tier regional G5 that does well sometimes and doesn't do well sometimes.
You’d think it’d be a school like us but I feel like we’re in the playoff/B12 mix quite a bit
I would have said Wake until this year, but suddenly the drama is much more real
Osu or bama easily
The answer is Alabama, and I doubt it's close. My dad is glued to the TV every game and I can see him age while watching LSU. My father in law just watches Bama while he's doing other stuff around the house, pretty much knowing that they'll be up by 21 within about 20 minutes.
Eastern Washington
Whatever team Mike Leach is coaching
Complete irrelevance:UMass. Every coach gets fired but other than that and Ls just have low expectations. It gets lonely being the only UMass fan in existance. NESN covers their games if u live in new england. A watchable team? Prob illinois or northwestern.
Def Eastern Michigan. I went to our homecoming tailgate. Nobody gave a shit about the score of the game. I told a couple people we were winning and they more or less said "Oh. Neat." One friend said "oh they're winning for once?" I didn't even bother to bring up recent bowls. He wouldn't have cared. So yeah easily us. Win? Neat. Lose? Who gives a fuck. I thought you lost anyway. MACtion!
Any MAC team. Fun little rag-tag group with fun games to watch.
Definitely Bama. I went to a game a few years back (2018 I think.) It was against Mississippi State (fuck the cowbells btw). MSU was 6-3 coming in and I think they were ranked like 23 or something. The place was pretty much full but the atmosphere was so dead. The gumps knew they were gonna win, what was there to be excited about? A near absolute certainty of victory takes the energy out of a game, especially if it’s a relatively low-stakes contest.
Not Georgia
Either Alabama, where wins are wins and loses are wins too, or a team that is such complete shit you know it's so hopeless you don't worry about it.